Category Archives: Recipes

It’s possible that bread might just be the most evil of all drugs — it’s certainly the one I can’t do without.

How fitting, then, that I married this bread-baking man, who’s recently added the dreamy goodness that is challah to the litany of good smells that fill our home.

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and probably one of the simplest of his bread recipes to conquer… I’m pretty sure I could live on just fresh challah if given the chance. Maybe a little bit of herb butter. Which is why we just had to share the recipes here…

Well that and it was a really good excuse to ask him to make me a loaf or five.

P.S. Did you catch yesterday’s HUGE giveaway? Scroll down to the bottom for links to days two and three of 24 Merry Days!

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There was a time in my life when I avoided pasta like the plague… it probably coincided with my being able to walk a whole day in heels, since I can’t imagine either having ever existed. Those times aren’t so much lost because of old age (despite hitting the big 3-0, I won’t start saying that quite yet) as having hit a point of just plain having better sense.

A life without pasta is a life unlived.

… I’m sure someone said that once.

And if you’re gonna live, cream sauce is most certainly the way to do it.

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We’re all getting ready for the holidays in the Heeley House — for us, of course, that means decorating, thinking about presents and food. This salad would be a perfect addition to the menu. For Austin it means dreading the boring meal and looking forward to the presents.

But for the scruffiest of puppies, the smallest of the Heeley clan, it means clearing away the muck and mess of a mop that’s accumulated and begun to collect leaves over the fall.

I’m not sure how he manages to get quite so roughed up between haircuts, his days are pretty tame — eat, sleep, patrol the house, occasionally go for a walk and threaten the other dogs with their life.

The only explanation I can think is that he must sneak out at night. Out to take care of those threats the only way a rough and tumble yorkie can. On the streets.

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Early on, one of the first hikes Mark and I took together was on Sugarloaf Mountain, which is just about the most perfect place in the world when the leaves are at their best.

But when he proposed the trip, Mark didn’t just promise me leaves… he also promised me cider at the bottom of the hill — and I don’t think I need to explain the absolute joy that goes hand in hand with any mention of fall leaves and hot cider.

… so we packed our things and headed out for a nice fall day outside.

And it really was perfect. There were leaves, views… everything a girl could want.

Except cider.

The sadness hit hard.

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Fall in the Heeley house…

Mark: Has he told you what he wants to be for Halloween?

Me: No?

Mark: He wants to wear a red body suit and carry a machine gun and run around screaming.

[pause]

… that’s what’s in his head.

Austin: [From upstairs, screams like a banshee and hits the bed, again – but thank god it’s not the wall – with a light-up sword that only makes the fun noise when it hits something hard.

… because toy manufacturers hate us all.]

Mark [ominously]: How scary is that?

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Have you ever tried to make your own cocktail bitters? It’s way less daunting than it sounds… all you need is a few herbs, roots, spices, and grain alcohol to make it happen.

I taught a little workshop on the subject at our last Field + Foundry event, and today I’m over on West Elm’s blog detailing the process!

Be sure to stop by, and let me know if you try it out! It’s a pretty fun little science experiment, and we’re sort of obsessed with the orange-cardamom bitters we brought home from the event.

… they’ll be perfect for the long weekend ahead.

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Happy Friday! While I work on fighting off a nasty little bug that followed me home from France, head on over to Little White Whale for this delicious grilled peach tartine.

And have an amazing weekend! Soak up some of the last few rays of summer while you snack on this deliciousness for me.

Hi! This is Audrey from This Little Street. Is Laicie so lucky to be traveling to France and Ireland? I lived in both places, and I know she’s in for a treat! Talking about treats, here’s a fall favorite – I call it the Blackberry Bliss smoothie.

Bliss because blackberries already remind me of my childhood summers growing up in France. My parents had the biggest blackberry bush by their vegetable garden – the kind of berries that are the perfect combination of being sweet and sour all at once – and I have countless memories of afternoons spent picking these big juicy berries. Let’s just say that not all of them ended in my basket, mmmmmm ok? 🙂

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