Tortillas and Honey

Chocolate Macadamia Caramel Bars My dad's family is originally from Hawaii, so I grew up eating and loving macadamia nuts. Since New Mexico is so far away and macadamia nuts weren't as available as they are now (not to mention expensive!), whenever we got our hands on some, they were a special treat. I love that you can purchase macadamia nuts a lot easier now and that you can find a huge can of Mauna Loa at Cost Co. You can also find a good sized bag at Trader Joe's, though they're Australian macadamias and not Hawaiian.I know, I like to support the local stuff! I originally found this recipe in Relish magazine several years ago(you know the ones that come in Sunday paper?), and it quickly became one of my favorites. Over the years I've changed much of the recipe it to fit my tastes and every time I make it, I think of how I could make it even better. I originally changed the crust to a shortbread crust from a brown sugar crust. I felt it was a little too...

Grandma's Homemade Flour Tortillas I fully realize that I haven't really explained the name of my blog yet. I planned to do so in one of my initial posts, but time and recipes got away from me. But, this ends up being great timing because of Mother's Day to share with you the story behind the name as well as one of my favorite family recipes. As a child, I was one of the pickiest eaters. One of the things that you could get me to eat was my grandma's homemade tortillas. My grandma used to watch my brother and I before/after school and sometimes during vacation. For lunch, she'd never let me have leftover bacon from breakfast because she would always save that for my grandpa (have you had tortilla and bacon sandwiches? yum!), but would always make me peanut butter and honey sandwiches using her homemade tortillas. Now imagine if she had let me have that bacon with my peanut butter and honey tortilla sandwich, double drool. (Okay, I wouldn't have eaten ...

Elvis S'mores Bars Back from vacation! I had a wonderful time in Virginia/DC spending time with family and going to my cousin Brandon's wedding. His wedding was the most beautiful wedding that I've ever been to; I am so grateful to have been able to be a part of all the memories. Times like these are so precious. We all live so far apart and don't get to see each other very often, I really cherish all the time that I'm able to spend with family. Now, I had every intention of taking pictures of some of the deliciousness I encountered on my trip, I was so caught up with everything that I didn't get a chance. But here are some of the places that I got to visit if you ever get the chance to visit them yourselves! The Green Turtle , Tuscarora Mill , La Madeleine Bakery and Cafe , Clyde's Willow Creek Farm (rehearsal dinner), Raspberry Plain (where the wedding was held-- absolutely beautiful!), and China Garden . My cousin Teddy and his wife Heiz also did...

Eggplant Ricotta Bake This is another one of my favorite recipes that I'm sharing with you today! It's like an eggplant lasagna using eggplant as the noodles. Generally, I'm not a fan of leftovers. I can eat leftovers for maybe a meal. If I'm stuck with more than two days with leftovers, chances are I get so sick of eating that dish that I won't make it again for a very long time. If ever. This is a great dish because it only has four servings, so it's a great dish where you don't get a lot of leftovers. And if you're single and just cooking for yourself, you can easily split this dish into two bread pans (9x5) so that you can bake one and freeze the other so that you can heat and serve later! The original recipe doesn't call for salting the eggplant, but you should seriously consider it in case you get a bitter eggplant. Salting the eggplant and letting it sit releases the waters and is supposed to help get rid of some of the bitterness. ...

S'mores Bars If you've ever been to Kim's Lovin' from the Oven blog, you know that she's absolutely a baking genius! I've been reading her blog for the past couple of years, and she has some amazing creations. So far, this is my favorite recipe that she has posted. While I like s'mores, they're really not something I crave. These s'mores bars, however, are so good I made it twice in less than a week! One regular version; the other an Elvis remix (coming to you next week!). This recipe is so simple, so delicious, there's not really much more to say except go try it! You won't be disappointed! Come back next week for Elvis S'mores Bars! Ready to come out of the oven! Close-up... can you see the graham cracker flecks? One of the best creations ever! S'mores Bars from Lovin' from the Oven Ingredients: 1/2 c. butter, room temperature 1/4 c. brown sugar 1/2 c. sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp va...