blog crushes

Crushing On Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks and Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

These flourless peanut butter cookies are rolled in cinnamon-sugar just before being baked for an extra pop of flavor. Bonus: they’re also gluten-free!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

If you’re a blogger, chances are you’ve received a comment—or many comments—on your blog posts by Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks. If you’re a baker, you’ve probably discovered one of her many sweet treats in online searches or through many of her super popular Pinterest-favorited recipes.

Prolific, dedicated, and one of the hardest working bloggers who makes her blog her business, Averie of Averie Cooks creates recipes that put the sweet in “sweet tooth” like this cinnamon sugar flourless peanut butter cookie recipe that she’s letting me share at the end of this post, baked from her new cookbook Peanut Butter Comfort.

When her blogging journey began in 2009, Averie originally authored the blog Love Veggies and Yoga, aligning her lifestyle as a vegetarian and avid yoga enthusiast. There she shared yoga poses that went far beyond the Downward Dog, (Half Bound Lotus Standing Forward Bend, anyone?) and stretches most humans envision only at a sidewalk pretzel cart. Or maybe that’s just me.continue to the recipe… about Crushing On Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks and Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

Lighter Caramel Seven-Layer Bars Recipe

Greek yogurt, egg whites, unsweetened coconut and fat-free sweetened condensed milk make these caramel bars a lighter version of the classic 7 layer bars.

Healthier 7 Layer Bars Recipe

Typically when you hear the words “baking” and “healthy,” they’re not in the same sentence, especially when it comes to the holidays. It seems like a bit of an oxymoron, eh? The holidays are the time to just let go, to overlook better choices. Or is it?

Luckily bloggers like Amy Atherton, of Amy’s Healthy Baking are changing the way people think about virtuous sweets.

With simple substitutions like alternative flours, healthier oils and natural sweeteners (and less of them), baked goods can in fact be healthier and tasty at the same time, and this is something Amy has undoubtedly figured out. So to all of you skeptics out there, her mindset is for you.continue to the recipe… about Lighter Caramel Seven-Layer Bars Recipe

Easy Crème Brulee With Spoon Fork Bacon

Don’t be intimidated by this classic egg custard dessert’s fancy perception. With these easy rules, crème brûlée really is one of the simplest desserts to master.

We’ve had eggs on the brain lately, but we’re not the only ones. Jenny Park and Teri Lyn Fisher — the lovely ladies behind one of our favorite blogs, Spoon Fork Bacon, recently published their second beautiful cookbook, and it’s all about eggs.

The Perfect Egg includes 70 recipes that celebrate eggs in every from. It features snacks, entrees, and of course, desserts like this surprisingly easy crème brûlée.

“Eggs are such a versatile ingredient and something we eat and use almost everyday of our lives so we were immediately drawn to the subject,” says Jenny.

Since Jenny and Teri Lyn’s blog never fails to spur recipe inspiration and adoration, and since we think eggs are definitely all they’re cracked up to be, we couldn’t help but be drawn to “cracking” the covers of their book.

Oh yes, I did say that.

continue to the recipe… about Easy Crème Brulee With Spoon Fork Bacon

Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with Table For Two

These easy, cheesy vegetarian lasagna roll-ups put traditional lasagna on its side with a smaller portion that won’t leave you with a whole pan of leftovers.

There are some food blogs you come to rely on — your go-to blogs when you’re having chef’s block trying to figure out what to cook. Julie Wampler’s blog Table For Two is one of those blogs for us. Time and time again, we know we can visit Julie’s site for some sound and easy inspiration in the kitchen.

Her recipes are healthy, fast and pretty darn delicious, and while her blog offers several savory recipes, Julie’s penchant for sweets means that her dessert section is really something to behold. Hellooooo, Peanut Butter Cheesecake and Cookie Dough Brownies! The D.C.-based blogger is also a seasoned traveler, and we love living vicariously through her adventures around the globe.

continue to the recipe… about Spinach Lasagna Roll-Ups with Table For Two

Confetti Cake With Buttercream Frosting

This homemade version of confetti cake has one of the tenderest crumbs I’ve ever tasted, but the buttercream frosting with colorful sprinkles takes it over the top.

Perusing through Shelly Jaronsky’s blog Cookies and Cups is like touring Willy Wonka’s magical Chocolate Factory. It’s full of tantalizing sweets and treats that are a feast for any sugar-lover’s eye—and palate.

It’s especially a goldmine for all of you self-proclaimed cookie monsters out there, with so many cookie recipes your sweet tooth won’t know what hit it.

Shelly knows her desserts and is a woman after our own hearts.

Shelly recently released her first book, The Cookies & Cups Cookbook: 125+ Sweet & Savory Recipes Reminding You to Always Eat Dessert First, and we’re elated to have a copy to pillage when our sugar bug strikes.

Today we’re sharing Shelly’s recipe for Confetti Cake, a recipe that has been made no less than four times by my 12-year-old daughter. It’s already become her signature baked good and once you make it, I’m betting it will become part of your go-to arsenal too.continue to the recipe… about Confetti Cake With Buttercream Frosting

10-Minute Maple-Crusted Salmon

In this maple glazed salmon, a spicy sweet rub tops salmon fillets that are broiled then drizzled with maple syrup to create a caramelized crust for a healthy, easy dinner ready in under 10 minutes.

Featuring a lifestyle that’s a little bit healthy with a whole lot of clean eating, we’ve been smitten with the pint-sized Boston blogger Lexi Kornblum of Lexi’s Clean Kitchen ever since we enjoyed a girls weekend in her hometown of Boston, MA where we were immediately drawn to her her ambition, passion and throaty, deep-voiced laughter that puts Scarlett Johansson to shame.

For Lexi, what started out as a spur of the moment Instagram account to document the changes she made in her diet to combat chronic health issues has evolved into a full-fledged blog where we can’t get enough of her healthy, beautifully photographed, and approachable recipes that work for everyone in the family (try her Slow Cooker Thai Curry Chicken), and it’s looking good that you’ll feel the same.

“I truly believe in the power of food,” Lexi writes in her new cookbook. And that motto shines bright on each and every page with recipes just like this fast to the table 10 minute maple salmon you’ll find at the end of this post.continue to the recipe… about 10-Minute Maple-Crusted Salmon

Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

Flipping through the glossy pages of Irvin Lin’s baking book, Marbled, Swirled, and Layered: 150 Recipes and Variations for Artful Bars, Cookies, Pies, Cakes, and More, puts those famous images of Wonka’s spectacular chocolate factory to shame. And as the creator of the blog Eat the Love, Irvin has many reasons to be chuffed at the success of his baking book, including the fact The New York Times recently included it on their list of the Year’s Best Baking Cookbooks — excellent work, Irvin.

From whimsically imaginative treats like hazelnut cocoa linzer cookies with blackberry-mint jam, to vanilla and peach-bourbon ice cream pie with honey-cornflake crust, each page is a dessert lover’s delight.

Just make sure you’re armed with a sleeve of cookies or something when you settle down with a copy, because it’ll definitely cue the sugar cravings.

With my birthday coming up next week, I knew a cake should be in the making and this Classic Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake immediately spoke to me. And there’s no reason to wait for someone else to bake one for me when I have a book like Irvin’s to guide me along the cake-baking way. continue to the recipe… about Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

Crispy Smoked Paprika Chicken Recipe with Barefeet In the Kitchen

Juicy baked chicken thighs get a crispy skin thanks to a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkling of paprika spiced salt that takes just 5 minutes to prepare.

Some cooks seem like they were born with a wooden spoon in hand. But food blogger Mary Younkin’s cooking skills didn’t bloom until after marriage.

“When I was a newlywed, I couldn’t cook,” she admits. “I don’t say that lightly either, I really and truly was clueless in the kitchen beyond things that could be cooked from boxes and bags and sauces in jars. The only cookbooks I had at the time used a lot of ready made ingredients and I swear that everything wound up tasting the same,” she explains.

At that time, Mary wasn’t the only cook in the kitchen. “If we wanted a nice made from scratch dinner at home, my husband Sean was sure to be the one cooking it. I could bake and create pretty amazing desserts, but main dishes, side dishes, anything creative at all? That just wasn’t happening,” she concedes.

Until she began dreaming up recipes and started a food blog.continue to the recipe… about Crispy Smoked Paprika Chicken Recipe with Barefeet In the Kitchen

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken With I Heart Naptime

This super easy teriyaki chicken takes only 10 minutes to prepare and then the crockpot does the rest of the work for a true family favorite.

Chances are if you’re a mom, you’re familiar with the blog I Heart Naptime. It’s a treasure trove of family-friendly meals and crafts, activities and DIY’s for kiddos, that are a godsend if you’re a parent. Six years ago, founder Jamielyn Nye started the successful blog when her own experience with motherhood inspired her to create a space for women that would spark their creativity.

With a keen eye for design and creating, Jamielyn has built an impressive following (her blog receives millions of visits each month), and now she’s got a brand new cookbook to boot. The I Heart Naptime Cookbook features 100 easy, no-fuss recipes you can make in under an hour.

continue to the recipe… about Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken With I Heart Naptime

Smoky Roasted Salsa with Not Your Mama’s Canning Book

This authentic smoky salsa is wonderful on its own dunked with chips, used as a sauce for enchiladas or poured over meats or chicken cooked in the slow cooker.

Rebecca Lindamood is a something of a renaissance woman. She’s a cook, recipe developer, cooking instructor, pilates and barre fitness instructor, and a freelance writer who runs the successful blog Foodie With Family, she’s a mom to five boys (who she homeschools), and she’s got a heck of a sense of humor. Basically, she’s a woman after our own hearts. And we love that we can always rely on her blog as a source of inspired creations, complete candor, and lots of laughs.

If all that weren’t enough, Rebecca just released her first cookbook, Not Your Mama’s Canning Book: Modern Canned Goods and What to Make With Them, and ever since we got our hands on it, we’ve been elbow-deep in Ball jars, farmer’s market produce, and tradition. Needless to say, we’re bonkers for this book.

Not only does Rebecca’s book feature canning basics and tips, as well as a slew of canning recipes, but she also conveniently includes almost 40 recipes for dishes to make with your canned goods! Curry Cauliflower Pickles or Brown Sugar Bourbon Peaches, anyone?continue to the recipe… about Smoky Roasted Salsa with Not Your Mama’s Canning Book

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri and Heather Christo

A garlic marinade infuses grilled skirt steak topped with a garlic and herb chimichurri sauce with fresh cut tomatoes and red onions.

Everyone has a love language and blogger Heather Christo’s is food.

Her way of saying “I love you,” comes in the form of sweet and spicy apricot chicken wings, creamy mushroom pasta, and blackberry scones with vanilla glaze. Those are just a few of the recipes from her new book, Pure Delicious: More Than 150 Delectable Allergen-Free Recipes Without Gluten, Dairy, Eggs, Soy, Peanuts, Tree Nuts, Shellfish, or Cane Sugar.

We’ve been fans of Heather’s for years (as featured on my list of 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now), and always come back to her blog for the brightly-hued, eye-catching photography and inspiring recipes. This culinarian honed her culinary chops at the famous Le Cordon Bleu and for years brought those skills to family favorite recipes on her blog Heather Christo.

But then things took a swift left turn.

Two years ago, Heather and her young daughters, Pia and Coco, discovered they ALL had a slew of food allergies that were wreaking havoc on their health. As a result, they were forced to drastically change their diets.

As daunting of a task as it sounds, Heather changed her cooking style without sacrificing any flavor, and transitioned the recipes on her blog to food-allergen-free recipes fit for families, that then turned into a cookbook with delectable recipes like this Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri recipe at the bottom of this post.
continue to the recipe… about Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri and Heather Christo

Cucumber Basil and Watermelon Salad with Love & Lemons

Fresh fruits of cucumber, mango and watermelon are dressed with a zingy Asian dressing of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and ginger, with a kick of spice from jalapeño.

Since 2011, we’ve been head over heels for the blog Love & Lemons. Run by Austin-based husband and wife duo Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Matthews, Love & Lemons is brimming with fresh, seasonal, healthy recipes, and bright, colorful photography.

Their little nook of the food blogosphere is one of our favorite spots to spend some time. It’s where we turn for inspiration when we’ve been in an unhealthy eating rut, or feel the need to meet our mostly vegetarian ways.

Jeanine and Jack just published their first cookbook, The Love & Lemons Cookbook: An Apple-to-Zucchini Celebration of Impromptu Cooking, and it’s a new favorite addition to our kitchens.

The book features 100 vegetarian recipes (never before seen on the blog), including vegan and gluten-free options.

The cookbook is categorized by vegetable rather than the traditional appetizer, side dish or dessert categories and is reflective of Jeanine’s approach to cooking.

Her method? Finding “star” ingredients at the farmers market and using them with ingredients she already has on-hand.

“Since this is really the way I learned how to get inspired by cooking, I thought it would be helpful to write a book organized by vegetable rather than by meal type,” she explains. “I want to inspire people to check out their local farmers markets and not to be intimidated to cook with gorgeous fresh vegetables.”

continue to the recipe… about Cucumber Basil and Watermelon Salad with Love & Lemons

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce With Andie Mitchell

These well-seasoned meatballs are incredibly tender, cooked directly in a thick tomato sauce. Serve with any tubular pasta for an easy dinner your whole family will love.

The first thing you notice when you meet author and food blogger Andie Mitchell is her 1,000-watt smile. The next thing you notice is her intense interest in you. YOU have all of her focus, all of her attention. It’s like the two of you are the only ones in the room.

That’s why Andie is a favorite among food bloggers, and, well, pretty much anyone who comes across her path.

Andie’s path isn’t your normal path. It’s been littered with strife, struggles and depression. But it’s also emerged as a path of victory, including her 130-pound weight loss story and her newly announced engagement to her life-long love. She’s the first to admit her path hasn’t been an easy one. But she’s determined. She’s authentic. And she’s she’s taking all of us along on her rocket ride of success.

We first featured Andie on FoodieCrush almost two years ago, sharing her incredible weight-loss journey as part of our “5 Food Bloggers’ Weight Loss Success Stories” piece.

Andie has a way with words. Whether it’s a personal anecdote, weight loss advice, a recipe written on her blog, (AndieMitchell.com formerly known as Can You Stay For Dinner) or while inspiring others online in her TED Talk, Andie is honest and relatable and a documenter of real life when she shares her own vulnerabilities and experiences.

Last year we devoured her moving memoir and New York Times Best Seller It Was Me All Along, so it’s only fitting that we would love her new cookbook, Eating in the Middle: A Mostly Wholesome Cookbook, beautifully photographed by the talented Aran Goyoaga, of Cannelle et Vanille.

Andie’s cookbook is chockfull of stunning photography and 80 healthy (but not too virtuous) recipes, all of which we want to stuff our faces with, including her family favorite PJ’s Meatballs and Sauce that you’ll find at the end of this interview. So, let’s dig in.

continue to the recipe… about Meatballs and Tomato Sauce With Andie Mitchell

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

This easy chicken kebab recipe is especially flavorful thanks to a simple soy and orange marmalade marinade and it is sure to become a family favorite.

Like many other food bloggers out there, Shawn Syphus has no formal culinary training. Instead, a series of happy kitchen accidents, and some one-on-one lessons with her mother-in-law helped shape her into the cook she is today.

The food obsessed mom of four has been cooking and writing for her blog I Wash You Dry since 2010, creating quick and easy recipes that require minimal clean up — and obviously by the name of her blog, she’s not so fond of dishes!

Shawn’s first cookbook, Express Lane Cooking includes 80 quick and easy recipes with five ingredients. We love that Shawn’s cooking style is fuss-free and to the point. Her recipes are simple and approachable, fast and delicious.

Having fewer dishes to wash and recipes like these Hawaiian Chicken Skewers that you’ll find at the end of this post also makes us weak in the knees!

continue to the recipe… about Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

Mango and Avocado Salad With The Healthy Apple

The combination of nutrient-packed greens and antioxidant rich fruit makes this a super superfood vegan salad with a tangy ginger and berry dressing.

Some of us deal with minor gluten intolerances, occasional heartburn, and lactose-intolerance. But we’re still able to enjoy most of the foods we love, and frequent just about any restaurant.

But for some, like food blogger Amie Valpone, life can throw a pretty major curveball when it comes to eating food we all suppose is healthy for us.

Amie is the unbelievably friendly and incredibly vivacious blogger behind The Healthy Apple — a wellness blog devoted to clean eating. I first met Aimee at a food blogging event where she exuded boundless energy and vivaciousness.

I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone so outgoing and so friendly, or who can talk so fast. Anyone who knows her will attest to that.

So when she shared with me her health story, I was shocked. This petite, energetic woman who simply radiated from the inside out and drew you into her passionate world was a far cry from the 20-something year old girl who found herself immobile and deathly ill. She was chronically sice, bedridden and riddled with questions of what was wrong with her, and doctors didn’t have the answer.

But that didn’t deter this ball of fire. She pursued her own personal health crusade. She didn’t have a choice. For her, it was life or death.continue to the recipe… about Mango and Avocado Salad With The Healthy Apple

5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now

I was adamant about winter not ending.

After the past few years of abysmal winters here in Utah, this winter’s forecast of El Niño striking the mountain west with droves of snow had me in a literal tizzy of anticipation. And hope. And please, please, please, give me a white Christmas.

And it delivered! And then some. And I’ve relished every snow flake of different shapes and sizes.

Even just two weeks ago, when Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his groundhog hole to declare it would be an early spring, I was still hopeful winter would prove him wrong and the snow would continue to fall.

But then it turned warm. And these 50-degree temps in February have made me a turncoat as I shoosh Old Man Winter through the back door to greet Mother Nature and the spring in her step into my welcoming arms.

Bring on spring and new beginnings!

The change of weather has me craving healthier fare, food with a lighter hand. Too soon I’ll be trying on swimsuits and that means this girl’s gonna watch herself.

5 Food Blogs You Should Be Following Too

Because I’m often asked about new food blogs I’ve discovered, who I’m reading now, and where to find inspiration for great recipes and beautiful food photography, I’m always excited to share a few food bloggers that are favorites in my blog reader. BTW, I use Feedly and Bloglovin’ and highly recommend them both for keeping up with your favorite bloggers latest inspiration.continue to the recipe… about 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now

Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork With The Clever Carrot

This recipe for the classic Chinese takeout dish is made healthier thanks to lean pork that’s sautéed instead of deep-fried, and a naturally sweetened honey balsamic stir fry sauce.

Emilie Raffa finds inspiration of all kinds, all around her.

In colors, textures, sounds, people, and travel.

Even in the form of a Hawaiian shirt. “The other day, I saw a complete stranger in a tropical t-shirt and suddenly, I was inspired to make a key lime pie (I ended up buying one at Trader Joe’s)!”

Like Emilie, we find inspiration everywhere we look, but we’re particularly inspired by her blog, The Clever Carrot. We’re captivated by her vivid images and charismatic charm, which pull us in with each post we read.

Her aesthetic is natural and unfussy, and her recipes (like this Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork from her new cookbook and shared at the bottom of this post) are seasonal, colorful, healthy, and creative.

But it isn’t just her great recipes and photography that lure us to her blog and her debut cookbook.

It’s her witty banter and totally engaging writing style that keep us coming back for each and every post. To discover what her young boys have gotten themselves into. Or to send her a virtual high five when her dad stops by to surprise her with the new issue of Oprah magazine where her recipes are featured (!).

In fact, it’s the combination of all of these reasons that Emilie was featured here on FoodieCrush as one of our 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now. We may not be Oprah (cars for evvvvveryone!) but we do share her great taste!

When Emilie let us know she would be publishing a cookbook, we were elated, knowing if her book would be anything like her blog, we were in for a real treat.

And let’s make this clear. This cookbook isn’t just a listing of recipes. It’s smart. It’s a huge help in meal planning because it teaches how to use the precious time we have in the kitchen wisely. It truly delivers on strategies and tips and 100% lives up to it’s name, The Clever Cookbook: Get-Ahead Strategies and Timesaving Tips for Stress-Free Home Cooking.

If I were ever to publish a cookbook, it’s everything I would want my cookbook to be. But I don’t even need to think about that now. I have Emilie’s cookbook to save my day.continue to the recipe… about Healthier Sweet and Sour Pork With The Clever Carrot

Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs With Barbara Bakes

A no-bake cheesecake filling tops strawberry jam in these light and airy cream puffs that are a surprisingly easy dessert to make at home.

There are a handful of baking recipes I excel at. Like my German Chocolate Cake and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re my basic classics, recipes handed down to me from my mama and grandma.

Luckily, there are also a handful of baking sites I refer to time and time again, sites that move the needle past my comfort zone. When I go to these sites I KNOW I am going to get a rock star result.

So when it comes to baking desserts and breads like Samoa Macarons, the best crunch rolls, the flakiest crescent rolls, or a sugar-spun, towering Croquembouche, I know exactly where to turn. I head to one of my favorite bloggers, Barbara Schieving of the food blog Barbara Bakes, and the creator of these Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs from her new book Simply Sweet Dream Puffs, with the recipe at the end of this post.

continue to the recipe… about Strawberry Cheesecake Cream Puffs With Barbara Bakes

The Best Steak Fajitas With Simply Scratch

A homemade spice blend and killer marinade infuses flavor into thin cut steak for these fast and easy homemade steak fajitas made in the skillet.

Laurie McNamara’s blog Simply Scratch reminds us that no matter how busy life gets, sometimes we just need to slow down and take the time to cook a proper meal, like these onion and sweet bell pepper topped Steak Fajitas.

One with real, honest, unadulterated ingredients your grandma would recognize. There’s simply nothing like a true homemade meal. Especially one void of preservatives and artificial ingredients, yet simple enough to entice all levels of home cooks.

For a few years now, we’ve been turning to Laurie’s blog, Simply Scratch, for solace in the kitchen. Her photography is beautiful and her food styling is seemingly effortless. Her recipes are nourishing and familiar without being too time-consuming or elaborate. She even has several recipes for those with diet allergies and restrictions to appease us all.

Needless to say, when we found out she was publishing her first book, Simply Scratch: 120 Wholesome Homemade Recipes Made Easy we were thrilled, because this girl knows how to cook.

Her Skirt Steak Fajitas recipe at the bottom of this post was one of the first to catch our eye. And here’s why…

continue to the recipe… about The Best Steak Fajitas With Simply Scratch

Beef with Broccoli Recipe and Crushing On Iowa Girl Eats

This incredibly easy but incredibly flavorful recipe for one of the most popular Chinese dishes can easily be made gluten-free or traditional style.

Kristin Porter has been entertaining us with healthy, easy recipes, motivational workout routines, travel tales, and more, since the birth of her blog, Iowa Girl Eats six years ago.

Suffice it to say, when she contacted me about creating an e-book about helping others go gluten-free by sharing her own story and personal struggles, I knew she had a winning formula and signed on right away. Her new e-cookbook and beginners guide, Gluten-Free for Beginners: 30 Day Meal Plan and Guide for Gluten-Free Success, is so much more than an e-book. It spells out everything one needs to lead a healthy, vibrant life by embracing their dietary needs.

First, contributor Hayley Putnam interviewed Kristin to find out more about her journey, where she’s been and the success she’s found now. Later in this post you’ll find one of the recipes from Kristin’s e-cookbook, Gluten-free Beef With Broccoli. Take it away Hayley.

continue to the recipe… about Beef with Broccoli Recipe and Crushing On Iowa Girl Eats

Tequila Sunrise Cocktail and Crushing On Latin Twist Cookbook

The vibrant color of this classic Mexican cocktail made with tequila, fresh OJ and grenadine makes for an impressive brunch or evening cocktail.

We’d be lying if we said we weren’t crazy about bloggers’ Vianney Rodriguez and Yvette Marquez’s new book Latin Twist: Traditional and Modern Cocktails. After all, Vianney who blogs at Sweet Life Bakes and Yvette who blogs at Muy Bueno Cooking have devoted entire book devoted to cocktails.

But the love for this book gets personal on my part and goes a few steps deeper than just flipping through it’s pages, because I (Heidi) designed their cookbook.

Latin Twist follows Yvette’s first cookbook collaboration with her mother and sister, Muy Bueno: Three Generations of Authentic Mexican Flavor, in which Yvette designed each page and created every graphic element of the cookbook. Realizing the amount of work that goes into the process, she was ready to have someone take that part over this time around.

That’s when Yvette asked me to design the book for them.

To say I was honored to be considered is an understatement. With Yvette’s keen eye for design and Vianney’s superb flair, I was a little apprehensive about whether I would meet their expectations. But I think I did. And in the end, it was a super fun collaboration to be a part of.

continue to the recipe… about Tequila Sunrise Cocktail and Crushing On Latin Twist Cookbook

5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now

It’s something about the feel of fall in the air that turns me into a vicarious baker.

It’s all I want to do, to get into the kitchen and start baking all the banana breads, all the cinnamon rolls (of which I collect every single recipe but have yet to make from scratch) and whip out the recipe to my childhood favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Too bad I’m on a perennial diet. At least my daughter and all of her friends love me for my seasonal obsession.

My craving for baking is just one reason this month’s selection of food blogs I’m following now is leaning toward the baking and sweets style of food blogging, with a few totally healthy options thrown in.

5 Food Blogs You Should Be Following Too

If you missed them, check out past month’s lists of Food Blogs I’m Following Now.

Get April 2015’s list here.

Get December 2014’s list here.

Get September 2014’s list here.

Get May 2014′s list here.

Get April 2014′s list here.

Get March 2014′s list here.

Get February 2014′s list here.

And now, onto the show and this month’s list of bloggers who make me deliriously happy. And hungry. Here’s who I’m crushing on now.

continue to the recipe… about 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now

Crushing on Funny Girl Bev Weidner of Bev Cooks

Our crush on food blogger Bev Weidner, of Bev Cooks runs deep. She wows us with her cooking, and entertains us with her sassiness and unabashed goofiness. Plus, she’s been a friend since the very first issue of FoodieCrush magazine when she showcased her wit and sensibilities when she authored our foodiecentric-Mad Libs-style feature.

We admire her candor and excitement for life, which is deeply rooted in her writing and photography. Not to mention the woman has killer taste in tunes. She also has a knack for taking cute photos of her twins and creating hysterical quote captions for them on Instagram where her motto is, “I change food and cook diapers. Wait.”

Just so you know, looking at photos of Bev’s twins will give you serious baby fever. You’ve been warned.

Bev originally hails from Little Rock, Arkansas, but in 2004, she followed a boy to Kansas City, and she hasn’t looked back. She confesses she didn’t always love cooking.” I remember sitting in my (then) boyfriend’s basement apartment about 10 years ago, pouring a jar of janky pasta sauce over gummy, lumpy spaghetti and thinking, ‘What the h, man. I can do better than this.'”continue to the recipe… about Crushing on Funny Girl Bev Weidner of Bev Cooks

Grilled Corn With Spicy Buffalo Butter

Easy grilled summer corn gets a kick in the tastebuds with a slathering of yummy buffalo sauce and blue cheese-spiked compound butter.

My husband has three fetishes when it comes to eating seasonally come summer.

First, watermelon. Seedless please.

Second, cucumbers. Even though he’s allergic to them he still puts us through listening to him clear his throat for minutes at a time because he can’t stop eating them. Lovely.

And third, corn. Corn, corn, corn.

Virtually every menu we’ve grilled up this summer has been peppered with the addition of grilled corn. Corn with burgers. Corn with ribs. Corn with chicken. And yes, even corn with (and on) pizza. While we’ve certainly been known to toss the cobs into the big stock pot to cook for a mere minute or three, our most favorite way to enjoy it is cooking it alongside whatever else is on the grill to make it, “charred corn for the win!”

However, corn would be nothing without butter. And this blue cheese buffalo compound butter is all about the slather. Off your chin. Like this butter is guaranteed to be.

continue to the recipe… about Grilled Corn With Spicy Buffalo Butter

The Best Fattoush Salad + Crushing On Rose Water & Orange Blossoms

This classic Lebanese salad is a combination of tangy and sweet with a minty dressing and simple salad fixings mixed with pita chips for added crunch.

There are many food bloggers who become writers because of their blogs. Where just the right photo and recipes featuring the most buzz worthy food trend trump the words and the message. Maureen Abood’s blog isn’t that blog.

“In learning to make candy, I found the perfect metaphor for what was happening in my life, learning to temper, respect, listen…to myself. And what I heard when I listened closely was a call to the kitchen, and not just for a weekend or a week, but to head in full-on and full-time.” This is an example of just one of the passages that made me feel like I was reading a novel rather than a cookbook and accompany just one of the inspired recipes in Rose Water & Orange Blossoms.

As a blogger and freelance writer, Marie’s food blog and cookbook of the same name celebrate not only her well-developed recipes, but the stories of her Lebanese culture and family in a totally lyrical style that only a true writer could. I could read this cookbook like a novel. And I have. Take that 50 Shades of Chicken.

continue to the recipe… about The Best Fattoush Salad + Crushing On Rose Water & Orange Blossoms

Crushing on Marie Saba of Cocina Marie Who Literally Makes Art With Her Food

It’s not every day you hear someone ate actress Blake Lively or singer Adam Levine for dinner. But it’s true. It’s happening now.

Food blogger Marie Saba’s philosophy is you’re never too old to play with your food, and we whole heartedly agree with her sensibility. The Austin native, and former law school student-turned-chef is the founder of the blog Cocina Marie, where she’s been sharing her recipes since 2011.

“My husband John came up with the name, Cocina Marie. ‘Cocina,’ pronounced ‘co-SEE-na’ means kitchen in Spanish, and is a nod to my part-Mexican heritage and its influence on my cooking. Over the years I’ve heard people say it ‘co-CHEE-na,’ which actually means ‘dirty pig’ in Spanish. So basically the name of my blog name is either ‘Marie’s Kitchen’ or ‘Marie, the Dirty Pig’, which is hilarious and awesome and humbling all at the same time.”

Marie’s been in our sights since early 2012. She first caught my attention when she graciously responded to my desperate plea for a tried and true red velvet cupcake recipe. She even wrote a whole post about our exchange. Beyond flattered, I baked up a batch of her cupcakes, and that is when the clouds parted, birds sang, and we blissfully rejoiced over the best cupcakes I have ever made. They were so delicately tender, so fluffy and made with real butter instead of oil (!) — basically everything I had been searching for in a red velvet recipe. I knew even then that Marie was one to watch.

While Marie’s recipes (both on her blog, and in her cookbook) are fresh and fuss-free, healthy, and totally approachable, what’s really garnered her a rabid following is the totally unique, playful and artistic way she’s plating her food then sharing it on Instagram.continue to the recipe… about Crushing on Marie Saba of Cocina Marie Who Literally Makes Art With Her Food

Charred Corn with Rosemary Grilled Pizza and Crushing On Naturally Ella

Sweet grilled corn, fresh rosemary, mozzarella and gorgonzola mingle together on an easy homemade pizza dough that’s grilled for maximum flavor and a perfect char.

There was a spate of about 6 months when I went vegetarian. My reason? I was in hopes of gaining clarity and focus on how my body felt and how my mind clicked. Paying attention to what goes into my body and how it affects me on every level was great place for me to start.

I’m not sure that I remember what bumped me off the vegetarian train. Most likely I was lured by something from the grill that I’d simply been missing on my plate and far from the fresh flavors of this charred corn grilled pizza recipe I’m sharing today.

Since then, my habit of eating more greens and whole foods going strong and thus, I follow a lot of food bloggers who espouse the vegetarian lifestyle.

One of those bloggers is Erin Alderson, the whole foods force behind the vegetarian blog Naturally Ella and the author and photographer of The Easy Vegetarian Kitchen.

So how did Erin find her vegetarian roots? It came down to a life changing event when her father suffered a massive heart attack. Discovering this was a path that ran in her family,Erin began questioning her own eating habits and her road to vegetarianism—and her food blog—began.continue to the recipe… about Charred Corn with Rosemary Grilled Pizza and Crushing On Naturally Ella

Caprese Zucchini Salad with Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized

An interview with blogger Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized, about her new cookbook, plus a recipe for Caprese Zucchini Salad.

I bought my first spiralizer for a photo shoot 15 years ago at a Japanese market. It was green, looked a bit like an pterodactyl and I couldn’t read the instructions on how to use it. But I thought, “What a cool gadget.”

I’m all about the gadgets.

In 15 years, I used it once. I’ve since misplaced the blades to make thinner or thicker spiraled vegetables. It’s stuck on one setting. And now, after receiving Ali Maffucci’s cookbook Inspiralized, it might be time to upgrade.

Spiralizing veggies is all the rage, and I have a feeling that Ali has helped propel it into the mainstream because of her blog by the same name as her cookbook, Inspiralized.

Giving Ali all the credit for popularizing this cooking trend would be a little heavy handed, but since her decision in 2013 to dedicate an entire blog to one single cooking method, she’s garnered a legion of fans who are visiting her blog (over 2 million page views a month) and putting their own spin on healthy eating too.

So maybe more than a little credit should go to this 28 year old entrepreneur.

Hailing from the fine state of New Jersey where she currently lives with her fiance, Lu, this former vegan’s introduction to spiralizing came from where many of us learned our cooking secrets—from her mom. But her mother wasn’t simply trying a new food trend. Instead, she was saving her own life by changing her eating style, then shared this new way to prepare vegetables and fruits with her daughter.

Breakfast, lunches, dinners and yes, even desserts, can be spiralized. Ali’s recipe for Caprese Zucchini Salad is just one of the 80 in her new book and it’s the one I’ll be sharing at the end of this post.continue to the recipe… about Caprese Zucchini Salad with Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized

5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now – April 2015

I try to keep up with my ever growing list of food blogs. But man, there are so many in the web-o-sphere now that I feel inept at keeping up with the sheer waves upon waves of talent that breathes life into our online food community.

I’ll troll over a fraction of my Feedly list, with the best of intentions to visit and leave a comment, to lend my support and say, “Hey”, to Pin an image or tweet a fave, and then *POOF! I’m distracted by this that or the other and my online direction makes a 180.

Oh look! Amanda got a new puppy! My roots are terrible, I better see if I wrote down my next appointment. I can’t remember if it’s our turn to take treats to this weekends soccer game, I’ll just look real fast. I need to order these sandals NOW!

As an adult in the year 2015 with 934 other things on my mind, and another 637 diversions within easy access of my nimble fingers to take me to places all over the web, I’m guessing (make that hoping and praying) that I’m not alone.

But when I do somehow stay focused enough to get to the comment section of the blog I’m visiting, I’m continually struck by the number of unfamiliar blog names I see leaving comments. Which then leads me onto yet another click fest akin to Huck Finn as I set out to discover who these talents are.

And that makes me realize, that I really need to do more commenting. Instead of just lurking.continue to the recipe… about 5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now – April 2015

Roasted Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

A slow beef braise and roasted mushrooms are the secret to the best beef stroganoff recipe, the most popular dish at Salt Lake City’s Copper Onion, and the only way I’ll ever make beef stroganoff again.

Salt Lake City is on a local food scene high and I’m one of the lucky locals to reap the benefits. This Beef Stroganoff recipe is just one meal of the many that locals call a favorite.

The first time I had it was while sitting at the counter of one of the most popular restaurants in Salt Lake City, Copper Onion, and I immediately started quizzing the chef cooking directly across from me for details about the recipe. I absorbed about half of the instructions in between forkfuls, but now, thanks to the new cookbook Salt Lake City Chef’s Table, I don’t have to rely on my fading memory.

Instead, it was the first thing I made from the cookbook’s pages authored by Becky and Josh Rosenthal of the food blog The Vintage Mixer. And I’m sharing the recipe and it’s secret as to why its my comfort food fave.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

Crushing On Averie Sunshine of Averie Cooks and Flourless Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

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Lighter Caramel Seven-Layer Bars Recipe

Healthier 7 Layer Bars Recipe

Easy Crème Brulee With Spoon Fork Bacon

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10-Minute Maple-Crusted Salmon

Vanilla and Chocolate Marbled Bundt Cake

Crispy Smoked Paprika Chicken Recipe with Barefeet In the Kitchen

Slow Cooker Teriyaki Chicken With I Heart Naptime

Smoky Roasted Salsa with Not Your Mama’s Canning Book

Grilled Skirt Steak with Chimichurri and Heather Christo

Cucumber Basil and Watermelon Salad with Love & Lemons

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce With Andie Mitchell

Hawaiian Chicken Skewers With I Wash You Dry

Mango and Avocado Salad With The Healthy Apple

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5 Food Blogs You Should Be Following Too

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Tequila Sunrise Cocktail and Crushing On Latin Twist Cookbook

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Crushing on Funny Girl Bev Weidner of Bev Cooks

Grilled Corn With Spicy Buffalo Butter

The Best Fattoush Salad + Crushing On Rose Water & Orange Blossoms

Crushing on Marie Saba of Cocina Marie Who Literally Makes Art With Her Food

Charred Corn with Rosemary Grilled Pizza and Crushing On Naturally Ella

Caprese Zucchini Salad with Ali Maffucci of Inspiralized

5 Food Blogs I’m Following Now – April 2015

Roasted Mushroom Beef Stroganoff

How to Make the Best Potato Salad

How to Make Classic Macaroni Salad

How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon

The Best Greek Chicken Marinade

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Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies Recipe

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5 Food Blogs You Should Be Following Too

5 Food Blogs You Should Be Following Too

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