I love my mom’s potato salad, but it takes several hours to make and sometimes I don’t have that much time (or energy! phew…. this pregnancy stuff is draining!). I came across this potato salad recipe eons ago on Brown Eyed Baker and its simplicity intrigued me. I have made it twice in three weeks, which is not something that I generally do. Because it is so easy to make, so tasty, and it goes well with so many main courses, this will be a mainstay in our house. Best part? No potato peeling required! Yahoo!

Continue reading: herbed vinaigrette potato salad

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted a new recipe! I’ve been vacationing in Hawaii celebrating one last big hurrah before baby comes!

One of my favorite local restaurants is Lettuce because I can order a HUGE salad heaped with fruits, veggies, cheese, and nuts and still leave feeling healthy with money in the bank. I love a great salad, but when it comes to chopping ingredients, I am super lazy. I tend to serve “greens with dressing” more often than not because the idea of pulling out a cutting board and chop, chop, chopping for the next 15 or 20 minutes just to make something that will be a side dish is incomprehensible.

The last time I went to Lettuce a girlfriend suggested that I try the half salad, half sandwich combo. She assured me I’d still get plenty of salad along with a hearty sandwich. I just had to be willing to take a leap of faith and try it. And so I did! I was served my usual salad with a side sandwich comprised of layers of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers and fresh basil all on a thick, fluffy cloud of focaccia bread. Oh. My. Gosh. It was heaven. The sandwich/salad combo is now a new favorite and I decided to replicate the sandwich at home. This of course meant that I needed a decent focaccia recipe. I have a few favorite blogs that I use to find fail-proof recipes and one of those is Annie’s Eats. Her promise that this focaccia would bowl me over was not in vain. It really is amazing, even if you should get a doctor’s note before you can eat it.

I don’t often make fancy sandwiches for lunch but this was a special occasion. My dear friend Michelle spent 7 hours with me one Saturday painting the nursery and helping me register at Buy Buy Baby. I value time more than almost any other resource, so I wanted to make Michelle a lunch she wouldn’t soon forget. I re-created the salad/sandwich combo from Lettuce (yes! all that chopping!) and we feasted like kings… or, in my case, like a pregnant lady.

This focaccia is out of this world. It is absolutely worth the effort to make it. It is moist, delicious, and stunning both as a sandwich bread and as a bread for serving alongside a hearty soup. You won’t be disappointed.

Continue reading: herbed focaccia bread

By writing this post, I am perfecting my procrastination skills. I am supposed to be cleaning house for our family Easter gathering tonight, but instead I’ve decided to finally share this recipe with you. In the grand scheme of things, what is more important: vacuumed floors or bacon? Right. Bacon.

This dish was a big winner in our house! Brant and I are both terrified of squash, but I thought that the pine nuts, crispy bacon and fried sage might be enough to win us over. I was right! This pasta dish is packed with flavor and we even liked the squash in it, which is a miracle.

Okay, I seriously need to go clean house now. In the mean time, thaw some bacon and peel some squash. You’ll want to eat this for dinner soon

Continue reading: roasted butternut squash and bacon pasta

When my husband decided at the last minute to go out for Vietnamese food for dinner, I decided to treat myself to a special meal including recipes that I knew that Brant might snub. Brant is skeptical of most biscuit recipes except this one, so I took advantage of his absence to make these white cheddar biscuits. Oh, and how delicious they were! My dad stopped by the next evening and I toasted one for him and covered it with slabs of butter. He devoured it it in no time… and then asked for a second one!

These aren’t your traditional biscuits. They’re more like a cheese bread shaped like a biscuit, and that makes them all the more delicious to me! I loved the subtle rosemary and cheesy tastes and thought that the biscuits were delicious both plain and smeared with salted butter. Try them alongside a hearty stew and let me know how you like them!

First off, I see a new trend. First, there were mufcakes. Now there’s muffin cake. I promise. I’ll make something that doesn’t include “muf” in it at some point.

Secondly, I don’t want you to make this. Nope. No sirree. Because then you’ll buy more blueberries, which will mean fewer for me. The last time I checked, my Costco had PLENTY of frozen organic blueberries in stock. If I go tomorrow, I will buy some before you catch onto this craze. At the worst, I did plant 9 blueberry plants a couple of years ago. Come June, there is no stopping the blueberry madness in my house!

Third, if you do make this, you’ll want to hide it from yourself. Probably in a high place behind a heavy box. It’s delicious, but with a stick of butter in the ingredients list, it really can’t be considered a health food (although, I think that with two cups of blueberries, I could be convinced otherwise).

Eat this warm out of the oven or reheat it a bit. Either way, slather some salted butter along the middle or the sides (not the top! don’t ruin the perfectly crunchy top!). And enjoy!

Continue reading: blueberry muffin cake

I don’t know how it is where you live, but in my part of the country, people can’t seem to get enough citrus right now. My dwarf orange tree has exploded and my husband and I recently realized that even if we continue to eat an orange a day we may still be eating oranges in July. I see lemon trees literally drooping under the weight of all their fruit. Clementines, tangerines, and other citrus are widely available at our markets too. It’s citrus season!

When I saw this recipe, I had to try it. The original blogger deemed these muffins so that she could justify eating them for breakfast. I don’t blame her. However, I think that while they do have  a hint of muffin texture, they would definitely be appropriate to serve as dessert in cupcake fashion. And so, enter the mufcake. Here at Dishing The Divine, we dish more than just recipes. We also dish up entirely made up food categories for your foodie entertainment.

Continue reading: clementine mufcakes (muffins? cupcakes? you decide!)

Oh dear. I thought I had shared these with you earlier. I cannot believe I have been holding out on you for so long! These are so, so delicious. At first when I made them I wasn’t sure they would be as fabulous as I wanted them to be. I had no idea how wrong my initial judgment was. A friend stopped by just as these came out of the oven and I gave her some to take home and share with her husband. I also shared them with my students. We all loved them! Better yet, they are best a few hours after baking because the chocolate has a chance to set up a bit, so these are the perfect muffin to make and take to a brunch or dinner or even to have ready a couple of hours before the kids come home. As for breakfast the next day? They are not quite as healthy as these oatmeal chocolate chip muffins, but they are just as tasty. Make these. You won’t be disappointed!

Continue reading: chocolate chip muffins

When I told my husband that I was making creme brûlée for my secret recipe club assignment, he nearly swooned. If you have been following Dishing the Divine for a while (and God bless you if you have… man, we’ve been through a lot together! ) then you already know my hilarious creme brûlée story. You also know that I don’t like creme brûlée. Sometimes being a good wife means making something special just for the hubby. So, while this makes creme brûlée for two, in our house it really is just creme brûlée for one, served twice.

Continue reading: creme brûlée for two (secret recipe club)

I’m not much of a chicken-breast-for-dinner girl. I used to be. When I was younger, it used to be my first choice when I ate at restaurants. Now I prefer chicken *in* my meals instead of chicken *as* my meal. When I saw this recipe, I thought, “Hmmm…. maybe I can bend the rules just this once.” I’m so glad I did. This was a phenomenal meal. So much cheese and basil and a hint of garlic all layered in and on top of a chicken breast that is cooked to perfection… I’m drooling at the thought of it. Serve this along with rice or potatoes or, better yet, these buttermilk biscuits. And swoon.

Continue reading: easy stuffed chicken breasts with parmesan and basil filling

My friend Elba’s mom survived mostly on strawberry milkshakes while Elba was in her womb, and now Elba swears that’s the reason that the very idea of a strawberry milkshake is a turnoff for her. My mother loves peanut butter and finds all kinds of ways to slip it into her diet. She must have indulged this habit when I was in her womb, because for some reason, I have never loved peanut butter.* I know! Insane, right? Who doesn’t love peanut butter? And paired with chocolate? Am I even a proper foodie? Probably not. Oh, well.

Nevertheless, I know that many of my readers (and friends!) are peanut butter lovers, so I still occasionally stash away a peanut butter recipe to share with everyone else in my life who is apparently more “normal” than I am. My friend Kim asked me to make a few desserts for a celebration dinner, so I decided it would be a perfect opportunity to make these peanut butter cookie and brownie layer bars. The recipe appealed even to me! I avoided making this for a while because it seemed too complicated. When I finally took the time to make it, I was surprised at how easily it came together. I saved a piece for my mom to try and her response was, “Yummy, yummy! Please send more!” Kim said that it was a hit at her event too. I guess that seals the deal. These are a winner!

Continue reading: peanut butter cookie & brownie layer bar