Panettone & The New Artisan Bread in Five Cookbook Worldwide GIVEAWAY

When I received my review copy of The new Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I didn't know which recipe to tackle first. Initially I wished to feature the olive bread to illustrate our day to day life. We always have bagels with cream cheese, multi grain and multi seed bread toasted with jam in the morning, pita with hummus as a snack and olive bread with feta and sliced tomatoes on top with a dash of salt as a lazy lunch.

The Ramen That Won Us Over

Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in Gotham West won both me and Jonathan over. The Barista at Blue Bottle Coffee Co. got such a kick out of me when I was trying to tell him about our magical ramen discovery when I was ordering coffee the next morning.

Brunch at Sylvester's in Western MA

Holidays make me think of brunch and brunch thoughts made me think of Sylvester's in Western Mass. This Oreo Latte above, Jonathan's niece ordered and so well modeled, looks sensational. I am not a big fan of commercially made cookies and sweets, but I have a weak spot for Oreos. I never eat them myself, but with S's allergies, growing up, it was one of the only commercially made cookies he could have and he absolutely loved them. I think he still does.

Brussels Sprouts Potato Latkes & CA Olive Ranch EVOO Trio GIVEAWAY gift pack

I developed this recipe for California Olive Ranch's 'Holiday Classic re-invented with EVOO' campaign. It was a no brainer since the miracle of Chanukkah was all about this little jug of olive oil that could. Besides, olive oil is a large part of my cooking on any given day not just the holidays. In addition to shallow frying latkes (potato pancakes) in olive oil, I also wished to re-invent the latke this year. 

Freekeh with Brussels Sprouts, Apple, Dried Cranberries, Honey & Pomegranate

When Freekehlicious approached me about a professional collaboration featuring this ancient grain, Freekeh,  I said yes without a shred of hesitation. What better way to celebrate this ancient grain with fall/winter seasonal ingredients on this momentous occasion, Thanksgivukkah ! This hybrid of Chanukah and Thanksgiving holiday comes around only once in a lifetime. This year the first day of Chanukah falls on Thursday, November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving. Next time these two holidays will collide will be in 77,798 years.