Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Shortbread Cookies + Instagram

If you can't tell from the filter and frame of this photo, I've hopped on the Instagram bandwagon. I'll be publishing everyday life photos, works in progress for the shop, and other projects that I'm working on (my next big project is making a couple sofa tables). If you'd like to follow me, my screen name is harvestinghart.

Now, moving on to the cookies. These cookies are melt in your mouth delicious and so unbelievably easy to make. I made them for a potluck Tuesday, and I think people thought they were just circles cut from a roll of cookie dough. Should've made a sign .. Oh well. Now I have about eight of them left just for me! You can find the recipe on Paisley Jade's blog here. I follow this recipe by the book. It's so great.

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Here's another sweet treat I made for my mom's birthday (along with the coffee syrups) and they were so yummy. I halved this recipe to only make about 16 cupcakes for a small celebration, but you can see the full recipe here. It looks intensive because of the long ingredients list, but it was really pretty simple. You could even use a box cake mix for the cupcakes and just make the frosting and ganache. Also don't substitute peppermint essential oil for peppermint extract like I almost did. The bottle was open, ready to be poured when I had an "aha!" (or maybe more like a "stop it stupid!") moment to make me come to my senses. Peppermint is known to be awakening, after all.

Make Your Own Coffee Syrups

Here's a super easy way to make your own coffee syrups. These recipes come from A Beautiful Mess, but my recipes below are halved to fit in these 7 oz World Market bottles. See below the recipes for a gift wrapping idea! This is the perfect inexpensive and easy gift.

Vanilla syrup: 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract. Heat water and sugar in a pan over medium low heat, stirring constantly until dissolved. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour into container.

Caramel syrup: 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup caramel. Heat water and sugar in a pan over medium low heat, stirring constantly until dissolved. Stir in caramel until disolved. Pour into container.

For a raspberry syrup recipe, click here. They also have lavender and honey recipes here.

I gift wrapped the bottles in the box they came in. This is the box before decoration. Reusing this box helps so the bottles won't fall over in the gift bag and possibly leak. You can purchase the bottles for $3.99 (for both!) at World Market.

For the next part, all you need is some kraft paper, a pen, double sided tape and a bit of scrapbook paper. For the bottle labels, I just wrote the labels and designs on kraft paper, cut the circles out, and used double sided tape to stick the labels to the bottles. For the box, simply cover the printing on the front with a written label. I gave these to my mom for her birthday this weekend and she didn't know that I made them until my husband told her!

Tomato Sausage Risotto Recipe

This is one of my staple recipes. It's easy to make from what you have at home, comes together in one pan, and is super delicious.

Tomato Sausage Risotto
Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 4
Adapted from marthastewart.com

1-28 oz. can diced tomatoes
3/4 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 cup dry white wine (or chicken stock)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup orzo pasta
1 bunch (10 oz) spinach or kale, chopped, tough stems removed
2 tbsp butter
Salt and pepper

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and onion, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion translucent, 3-5 minutes.
2. Add pasta, stirring until coated, 1-2 minutes. Add wine, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.
3. Add tomatoes. Simmer covered over medium-low heat until liquid is absorbed, about five minutes. Add water one cup at a time, waiting until the previous cup is absorbed before adding the next, stirring occasionally until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.
4. Remove pan from heat. Stir in Parmesan, spinach, and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Panera Style Tomato Soup Recipe

I love me some Panera tomato soup. Every time I go there in the fall and winter, that's what I order. I've been looking for a good copycat recipe for a while, and hadn't found one until just a few weeks ago. When I was still in my apartment, I tried a recipe for this soup that called for, among other things, six cups of milk. Six. It was so gross that I still remember the milk content of the recipe. I wish I had photos of that soup to show you, but just picture salty (yes, I did try it) tomatoes floating in milk. Gross.

Luckily for you (and for me!), I came across this recipe from Running to the Kitchen. I can seriously vouch for this one .. I've made it three times already! My encounter with this recipe luckily coincided with my fall tomato crop. This recipe also freezes well. Just freeze soup in freezer bags in two cup portions. Then set it on the counter about an hour before you're ready to eat to let it soften up, put it in a pot and heat it up! Super easy homemade soup anytime.

Panera-Style Tomato Soup
Serves 5-6

8 large tomatoes, quartered
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 head of garlic
1 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 piece of whole wheat bread, toasted and cubed
1/4 cup heavy cream or milk
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place quartered tomatoes on the sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
2. Cut off top of head of garlic, drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil and place on the sheet too. Bake for 45 minutes.

3. While tomatoes and garlic are roasting, heat butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, and saute until softened, about 6 minutes.
4. When tomatoes are done roasting, add them and the garlic to the pot, and cook for five minutes.
5. Add parsley, tomato paste, vegetable broth, brown sugar, and bread. Simmer 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Do not be afraid! This is what your soup will look like after step 5.

6. Add cream (or milk) and parmesan, and stir. Remove from heat, and blend with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender until creamy.

There you go! Make yourself a grilled cheese and enjoy! If you don't know what to do with all that leftover tomato paste, freeze it! I made tablespoon-size blobs on wax paper and stuck them in the freezer. Once frozen, transfer them into a freezer bag. You can also do this with the heavy whipping cream, except use ice cube trays, of course!

Tomato Basil Summer Pasta

One of the benefits from my job is being able to take off Fridays in August. The office is slow, so I don't need to be there as much.  I love having a three day weekend, being able to have an extra day of the Saturday morning feeling (my absolute favorite time of the week), and having enough bright sunlight when I cook to take photos! Here's recipe I found online and adapted to my liking. It's fresh and light, perfect for a summer lunch or dinner.

Tomato Basil Summer Pasta
Adapted from Ina's Summer Garden Pasta
2 pints grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
12 basil leaves, sliced
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
8 oz whole wheat angel hair or capellini pasta
3/4 cup shredded parmesan


1. In a large bowl, place the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature for four hours.

2. Prepare pasta. Drain and add to the tomato mixture. Add cheese and toss to coat. Garnish with basil and extra cheese.


Total time: 4 hours 15 minutes
Hands on time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3

Easy Artisan Bread!

Finally! FIN-AL-LY! I've found a recipe for artisan bread that I can make and not mess up.  You may have read about my bread misadventures here and since then, I've had a couple more mishaps trying to make bagels and other bread. I'm applauding my own persistance right now. The photo above is exactly how it came out of the oven. It's like it just popped in the pot all perfect just because I put in so much effort to find a recipe I couldn't mess up. If you'd like to make some yourself, click here. It comes from Simply So Good and she also suggests different add-ins too. 

The only catch to this recipe is you need a cast iron Dutch oven. I received mine as a gift, but it's from World Market (you can see it here). And at $50, it's pretty reasonably priced. I'm not sure exactly how much heat the World Market Dutch oven knob can handle (most are 400-500 degrees F), but I also received a replacement knob (here) to make sure that the Dutch oven can go in the oven at higher temperatures.

This bread is so good, I can't wait to make some other flavors with add-ins! Enjoy!

A Monster Baby Shower

I had the great honor last weekend of throwing a baby shower for my friend Kristyn. And the theme? Monsters! Kristyn didn't want a set theme for her baby boy’s room, so she has done an amazing job mixing monsters, robots, owls, and other cute ideas into his new nursery. I decided to take one and run with it! Take a look at the photos of her pretty party below.

This was the start of my planning. I made the poster and went from there. Making up little monsters is so fun!

Little monster water bottles with different coordinating colored paper made these little bottles super cute. I drew out these monster circles on Adobe Illustrator, and made five different designs and changed colors.

Monsters everywhere! For favors, I made cookies from this Cowgirl Cookie recipe and put them in bags with ribbon and little thank you monsters.

I made this banner from some inexpensive, thin fabric I bought at JoAnn's (the table runners in the other photos are also made from this).  

Food! Cake stands (thanks, Amanda!) were perfect for adding height to the table and displaying garlic parmesan pull-apart bread, veggie cups with dressing in the bottom, coffee cake, and petit fours.  Thanks for the help with food and set-up Amanda, Cathy, Mandy, and Shauna!

I also added a couple signs to the food that wasn't self-explanatory (see under the garlic parmesan bread). And coordinating plasticware, napkins, and plates!

Counter space was used for drinks (that's a punch dispenser) and food overflow.

Super adorable petit fours by Amanda

Look how excited the momma to be is! :)

Momma and Poppa to be

A few of the guests .. Ladies from our church small group!

End of shower! Momma takes home the decorations!

A Gigantic Salad

There's a food blogger that I follow who recently posted about her healthy habit she swears by: eating a gigantic salad every week day for lunch.

I thought this was a great idea because everyday when I go home for lunch (I have the luxury of living a mile from my work), I eat leftovers from the night before, which can be heavy, and make me sluggish and uncomfortable for the rest of the day. I decided to give it a try from the first day she posted it, which was Wednesday, and so far, I've been feeling great in the afternoon! I also don't feel quite as guilty about indulging on sweets later on either (like these Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars I made a couple days ago), knowing that I had a great lunch.

If you'd like to read what Andie has to say about her habit, click here. She also followed up with ways to add variety to your salads.

Zuppa Toscana

This soup is so good that even though the recipe isn't mine, I felt like I had to share it with you anyway. I love Olive Garden unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. Zuppa Toscana is my favorite soup they have there, and I was overjoyed to find this recipe! I made it last night and it turned out great! Pair it with some greens with balsamic vinaigrette and you'll have a wonderful lunch .. plus leftovers for a few days!

You can find the recipe on Steak n Potatoes Kinda Gurl's website. Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as hers but it still tastes amazing! The only thing I changed was rather than dicing the potatoes, I thinly sliced them to make the soup more like Olive Garden's. This reduced the simmer time to about fifteen minutes from twenty.

Easy Whole Wheat Bread in a Bag

I've had my share of bad bread making experiences .. making bread from a popular bread book only to have the end result turn out so salty it was inedible; letting foccacia rise on parchment paper which did not allow it to slide onto the bread stone then deciding to flip it over only to get it all over the inside of the oven .. yikes! This recipe for bread is so easy, I've made it several times without any glitches. I'm still going to work on my artisan bread skills, but for now I'm enjoying making homemade wheat sandwich bread. Here we go!

Sorry for this crummy on-the-fly photo! You get the idea..

Whole Wheat Bread in a Bag
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 packet dry yeast (or little less than 1 tbsp)
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp honey
1 cup warm water
1 cup white bread or all purpose flour

1. Add whole wheat flour, yeast, and salt to a 1-gallon zip close bag. Shake it.
2. Add vegetable oil, honey, and warm water to the bag. Shake, squeeze, pound, etc. for about 10 minutes.
3. Add white flour to the bag. Squish it up for another 10 minutes.
4. Let sit in a warm place covered with a towel  for 1 hour.
5. Spray a bread pan with cooking spray. Add the contents of the bag to the pan and smooth over the top. Cover with a towel and let sit another hour.
6. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes.

Summer Veggie Pizza

This pizza is perfect for using some of those vegetables at the farmers market .. and for getting in all your veggies for the day! I was a little skeptical when I first tried this recipe a couple weeks ago, but it ended up being so good, I'm craving it for dinner tonight.

Summer Veggie Pizza
Adapted from Cooking Light
Prep time: 35-45 minutes, Servings: 4-2 slice servings

1 package pizza dough mix or pre-made pizza crust
Cooking spray
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 cup sliced onion
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 oz asparagus, cut into 2" pieces
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1/2 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, quartered
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella (add more if desired)
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1. Preheat oven according to directions on dough packaging; prepare dough.
2. Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add 4 teaspoons olive oil and the garlic. Cook 2 minutes then remove to small dish.
3. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. Add onion and bell pepper. Cook 5 minutes then place in a separate bowl. Mix in the asparagus, corn, and tomatoes with the onion and bell pepper.
4. Roll out dough. Brush the dough with the garlic oil. Top with veggie mixture. Sprinkle on cheese, salt, and pepper. Bake according to dough instructions. After removing from oven, garnish with chopped basil and red pepper flakes.

Easy and Fun Planting: Green Onions

I had no idea how easy it is to plant green onions, so I'm guessing many of you reading didn't know either. I needed green onions for a recipe this week so I bought some (99 cents a bunch), but then what do you do with the white, rooty ends of the onions? Throw them away? WRONG! You can plant them and they'll grow more green onions. Pretty sweet, huh? I had no idea, I saw this idea on a blog somewhere and decided it was worth a try. I cut each green onion a couple inches above the white part and planted it by burying the white part of the onion. Most have new shoots growing already (the photo above was taken a couple days after planting) and all of the previous shoots have grown significantly. Now you know ..

And if you must have all things green onion, bacon, chicken and cream cheese, then for the love of all things wonderful and delicious, try this recipe. You won't regret it.

My version of Kayotic Kitchen's Katucky Chicken

Stuffed Strawberries

These strawberries are the best, and the perfect part about them is you don't need to stick to a recipe (I'll still give you mine, though!). You can make them with just the cream cheese filling or add a chocolate filling too, like I just did for the first time. It's completely up to you. And I won't judge if you eat the leftover filling right out of the bag, it's too good to waste!

Here's what you need, plus two plastic bags to pipe the filling into the strawberries and a teensy bit of milk.

Wash the strawberries and take a knife to the center, cutting out the stems and a little of the insides (be careful!)

Mix together the cream cheese, powdered sugar, strawberry dip, and vanilla. In a separate bowl (not pictured), mix together the chocolate chips and butter. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between intervals until melted and blended. Add a splash of milk and mix well.

Fill a small baggie with the cream cheese mixture. Close the top of the bag, cut a corner of the bag off and squeeze onto one side of the inside of the strawberry as shown below.

Next, spoon chocolate mixture into a separate bag, close the top and cut a corner off.

Squeeze chocolate mixture on top of the cream cheese mixture to fill the rest of the strawberry.

That's it! Soo easy and definitely worth the little time it takes to make these. Here's the full recipe:

Stuffed Strawberries
2 quarts strawberries
1-8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup strawberry dip (you could also try cool whip or yogurt for this)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp milk

1. Wash and hollow out the strawberries. Lay them on their sides to fill.
2. Mix together cream cheese, strawberry dip (or substitute), sugar and vanilla until well blended. Spoon into a plastic bag, seal the bag, then cut a corner off of the bag. Pipe the cream cheese mixture into half of the strawberries.
3. Place chocolate chips and butter in a microwave safe dish. Heat in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval, until melted. Mix in the milk until well blended.
4. Spoon chocolate mixture into a plastic bag, seal the bag and cut a corner off. Pipe the chocolate into the top half of the strawberry.

Strawberry Blueberry Crostata

Strawberry Blueberry Crostata

Before I get into the crostata, I absolutely love going to garage sales, so I wanted to share a find from last weekend with you: 1950s Steelmaster canisters! The owner said they were his wife's grandmother's, and was not wanting to give them up. I bought all four of them for $4:

 My sister came over for dinner tonight and since she was bringing pizza, I wanted to make something yummy for dessert. I saw a recipe from Buns in My Oven, and changed it a bit to my liking. This crostata was so good, I had another piece after she left .. and I'm planning on having one for breakfast .. and maybe lunch, too.. It's extremely easy to make. Here's how it's done (full recipe is at the bottom).

These are your ingredients, so simple.

Strawberry Blueberry Crostada 
Adapted from Buns in My Oven
1 pound strawberries, rinsed, hulled & sliced
1 pint blueberries, rinsed
2 tbsp sugar, for sprinkling
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
1 pie crust, store bought or homemade

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix together cream cheese, flour, sugar and vanilla in a small bowl
3. Place the pie crust in your pie pan (or you can use a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; this method will allow the crostata to be flatter with a smaller amount of crust on the sides). Use a spatula to spread half of the cream cheese mixture on the pie crust leaving at least a 1" border. Place half of the fruit on top of the cream cheese. Layer the remaining cream cheese mixture, then the remaining berries.
4. Fold up the edge of the pie crust
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool. Sprinkle with sugar. Serve at room temperature or slightly warm. I also enjoyed it cold from the refrigerator.