While this post is not a new glorious spring recipe to welcome in the 90 degree heat here in Texas, I would love to introduce everyone to Noonday Collection, my latest blessing and adventure. I came across Noonday through my sister who was lucky enough to attend one of their trunk shows this past fall. Noonday is a fair trade organization that works to provide a stable income for women all of the world.

When I was in college, I began hearing real life stories for the first time about individuals around the world who were oppressed, enslaved, and starving. I learned that companies like Noonday were providing these people with jobs and teachings them trades to help them pull their families out of the daily struggles of poverty. These stories not only moved me and encouraged me, but also got me thinking: If I was hearing these stories for the first time, how many other people out there would be encouraged to know that there are organizations and businesses built around helping these families succeed.

Today I have the privilege and opportunity to share with you the stories of these amazing artisans and the products they create, while at the same time helping you step up your style with vibrant colors and trendy designs! One story that sticks out in my mind is a group of women in Ethiopia who have been removed from their village because they are HIV positive. These women live together outside the city where they collect artillery shells and bullet casings from the Ethiopian conflicts and turn them into beautiful beaded necklaces and bracelets. The money they make from Noonday has enabled them to vaccinate themselves and others against the spread of HIV as well as provide them with a stable income to live off of.

I have literally been moved to tears by this stories and so many other like it. It’s pretty powerful to think that I get to be a part of supporting these women! By purchasing from Noonday, you can be assured that you are having a direct impact on someone’s livelihood.

And if supporting these women isn’t enough to encourage you, we also support adoption. If you or someone you know is adopting we will donate 10% of trunk show sales in cash to go towards the adoption.

Feel free to take a look at my website to see all the beautiful pieces we have! www.robinreynolds.noondaycollection.com If you’re interested in hosting a trunk show or doing a blog giveaway please feel free to contact me! Even if you’re not in Texas, I can connect you to the right ambassador. robinreynolds22@gmail.com

Is it just me, or do the veggies at the farmer’s market look just a little bit brighter and just a little more enticing as the weather gets hotter? In my heat-induced delirium I choose to believe that it is nature’s way of drawing me in as the heat intensifies and my resolve to cook wanes…

Because my resolve to cook is waning… Can’t use the oven, too hot to grill, tired of salads, what’s a cook to do??? With a counter covered in produce and the air filled with the smell of basil, this quick pasta recipe is a lovely way to get dinner on the table!

Gather Up:
3 pounds garden tomatoes, mixed varieties if you wish, peeled and quartered
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ pound penne pasta, cooked al dente
2 teaspoons sugar
½ pound loose Italian turkey sausage
3 zucchini, or summer squash of your choice, sliced and halved
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Large handful fresh basil leaves

In a large heavy sauté pan put the garlic and the tomatoes. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly over medium low heat until the tomatoes are falling apart and their juices have mixed with the olive oil to form a nice sauce, about 30 minutes. Stir in the sugar and taste for seasoning.

In a separate sauté pan, heat a few splashes of olive oil and sauté the sausage until brown and caramelized. Remove. Add another splash of olive oil if needed and sauté the zucchini until caramelized around the edges.

Add the sausage and zucchini to the tomato sauce. Toss in the cooked pasta.

Remove from heat, and gently work in the Parmesan with tongs. Top with torn basil leaves and serve.

Adapted from Tyler Florence: Quick Farmer’s Market Pasta

About two weeks ago I got put on a new client project at work. My role on this particular project is all about food. I’m responsible for creating content. About food. Ummmm, could this be a more perfect match? I’m thrilled. I was actually on a business trip for a different client when the spot opened up, and I will love my boss FOREVER for suggesting my name. She pretty much made my life.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been researching and writing. Cooking and baking. Snapping pictures and editing. And it has been FUN. I haven’t had this much fun at work in a loooonnngggg time. I feel excited and inspired. It’s refreshing.

You know what else is refreshing? Sherbet. Specifically, this raspberry buttermilk sherbet. It’s icy and creamy. Light and dense with flavor. It’s the best of both worlds: everything there is to love about the fruitiness of a sorbet combined with the flavor and density of an ice cream. It hits the perfect summer note.

Gather Up:
6 cups raspberries (4-5 pints)
1/4 cup 100% grape or apple juice
1 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt

Puree the raspberries, juice and sugar in a food processor until smooth. Stir in the buttermilk, cream and a pinch of salt. Cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, about 4 hours.

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm.

To serve, allow to thaw on the counter for about 20 minutes before scooping.

Enjoy big spoonfuls, or in ice cream sandwiches, with the cookie of your choice. We used mini gingersnaps – yum!

Recipe from the Food Network Magazine

This recipe is all about the carrots… The kind pulled fresh out of the ground, sweet and crunchy and carroty. I think I love garden carrots as much as I love garden tomatoes!

I’ve wanted to make a version of this sandwich all season long… It has been in the “Spring/Summer Want-to-Make” pile ever since I drooled over it week after week during a show about food trucks on the Food Network.

I knew there was something special about the flavors in this sandwich, and I correctly figured if it could be made in a food truck it could be made in my kitchen!

Sad to say, the banh mi truck did not win, (nor did the food truck from Austin…). The winning truck was from New York, and they made killer burgers, which now that I think about it actually seems kinda boring compared to a few bites of this sandwich!

Gather Up:
3 cups shredded garden carrots
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
Pinch kosher salt
1/3 cup shoyu soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons garam masala, recipe follows
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1.5 pounds thin pork loin chops
6 soft rolls
Mayonnaise
1 cucumber, thinly sliced
Fresh cilantro
Jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced circles
Fresh limes

About 2 hours before serving prepare the pickled carrots. Whisk the sugar, vinegar and salt until dissolved. Add the carrots, cover and refrigerate.

About 1 hour before serving, combine the soy sauce, sugar, garam masala, black pepper and garlic. Pour over the chops, seal and marinate in the refrigerator.

Heat a heavy pan over medium high heat and oil lightly. Take the pork chops out of the marinade and place in pan, being careful not to crowd the chops. No meat should be touching, so do this step in 2 batches.

Cook on each side about 2 minutes; each chop should be a caramel brown color. Remove to carving board and let rest for 5 minutes.

Slice the chops into thin strips. Lightly toast the buns.

To assemble sandwich, spread mayonnaise over bottom of bun. Pile a layer of pickled carrots, then a layer of cucumber slices, then some sprigs of cilantro. Add a generous amount of pork strips, thin slices of jalapeno and a big squeeze of lime juice over the whole thing!

Garam Masala (This is totally worth making and keeping on hand!)
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground fennel seed
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix well, using a spice grinder if some of your spices are still in seed form. Store in a tightly closed container and use at will!

Recipe inspired by Texas carrots and adapted from Banh Mi Wrap

I love hippies. I always wanted to be one. My children think I was, and I do nothing to dispel that notion… So naturally, health food places and local sustainable farming is my thing… (That part, at least, is true.)

There is a certain restaurant in Austin (probably the hippie capital of Texas, or maybe the entire Southwest even…) where they serve local produce, embrace all manner of vegetarians, remain eternally chill and operate 24 hours a day. If you have been to Austin, someone has told you to go to Kerbey Lane, and heaven help you if you did not go!

The pancakes have a cult following, and let me tell you, once you have eaten their peach pancakes in the summer, they will haunt you… In a good way…  In a come-back-for-more kinda way… So go. I will not judge you.  And sister… neither will they!

Gather Up:
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 ½ cups buttermilk, at room temperature
4 tablespoons oil
2 ½ cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
Pinch nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
2 cups ripe, peeled, diced peaches

Blend egg, milk and oil. In a separate bowl blend dry ingredients together.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Gently fold in peaches. Let sit 5 minutes. Batter will be lumpy.

Heat griddle until drops of water sizzle. Grease lightly if needed.

Drop large spoonfuls of batter onto hot grill and smooth out slightly. Flip pancakes once pancakes puff and bubbles have formed, but before bubbles break.

Turn and brown on the other side, pressing down gently to make sure batter cooks evenly around the fruit.

Serve immediately with powdered sugar, butter, warm syrup, peach butter, or topping of your choice.

Inspired by Kerbey Lane Café, Austin

Family road trips have always been our thing. (Or maybe, rather, my mom’s thing. But we all go along with it.) For as long as I can remember, we’ve taken one every summer. When we moved to Texas 16 years ago, we took a massive road trip through the southwest. We went to the Grand Canyon, Saguaro National Park, Carlsbad Caverns and the Petrified Forest. On the way home we spent the night in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the city completely captured our hearts. Ever since then, some contingent of our family has gone every summer.

For the past several years, it’s been just my parents and one of the kids – the rest of us haven’t been able to go (summer school, work, etc.). But this year, the stars aligned and we set out as a family on the 12-hour drive from Austin. I’m not going to lie – the drive is LONG and BORING. West Texas doesn’t offer much eye candy, and the scenery across the New Mexico border isn’t all that different. But when you get closer to Santa Fe, things start to look more promising. There are mountains in the distance and little adobe houses dotting the landscape.

And, you can always feel the mood in the car shift when people realize that we’re within an hour of New Mexican cooking. On our first night, we drove straight to Harry’s Roadhouse, and 3 of the 5 of us ordered the Tostada. As I’m sure many of you do, my mom had carefully researched where to eat and what to order, and Harry’s Tostada did not disappoint. Completely worth it. The veggies were fresh, the tortilla crisp, the flavors savory. It was my favorite meal of the trip.

When we got home, I couldn’t kick the craving. I wanted more. Apparently, so did my mom. When tomatoes showed up in our farm basket, tostadas were first on the menu. And since then, we’ve had these almost every week. There’s a perfect mix of veggies, and the end result is a meal that tastes light and fresh from beginning to end. They’re a little piece of Santa Fe summer…just what we need in this ridiculous heat!

Gather Up:
2 cups fresh corn kernels from 3 ears sweet corn
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 cloves minced garlic
2 medium diced zucchini or summer squash
1 cup organic black beans, rinsed and drained
pinch dried oregano
flour tortillas, preferably homemade or bakery fresh
olive oil
1 pound peeled and chopped garden tomatoes
1/3 cup fresh chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Grated soft white cheese (optional)
1 ripe sliced avocado

Slice corn off cob and saute in hot oil over medium high heat until cooked, 2-3 minutes. Season corn and remove.

Adding additional oil, saute the red onion until soft and beginning to brown, 3-5 minutes. Add garlic and stir until the fragrance is released, about 30 seconds.

Add zucchini and saute until just beginning to soften, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Return corn to the pan, and add the beans and oregano. Stir and heat gently. Check for seasoning. Remove from heat.

Combine tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and salt and pepper in a bowl. Set aside.

Lightly brush both sides of a tortilla with olive oil and slide it into a hot nonstick pan over medium heat. Gently press it with a spatula, and flip it over when the first side begins to turn golden and crispy. When the second side is done, remove to a rack and repeat with remaining tortillas.

To assemble tostada place several spoonfuls of the veggie and bean mixture on a tortilla. Top with a light sprinkle of white cheese if desired, add a generous spoonful of the tomato salsa and top with a few slices of avocado!

Adapted from a recipe by FarmHouseTable; Inspired by Harry’s Roadhouse, Santa Fe

We’re baaaaaack! (And yes, we realize it has been almost exactly three months since our last post.) There has been quite a lot of activity at our house; let me attempt to catch you up and hopefully explain the complete lack of blogging…

1. Darrell and I have exactly 108 days left until our wedding! I have quite a few DIY projects, and that, coupled with an extreme case of OCD and an addiction to Pinterest, has made me pretty unavailable.
2. Robin graduated from college in mid-May; thus, May was a whirlwind of graduation parties, moving and sketchy Craigslist appointments. Since then, she’s been settling into her new job and making the inevitable transition from College Girl to Working Girl.
3. My mom decided to list our house. She reached this decision sometime in late April, and we listed the house in June. As you might imagine, the majority of May was spent checking things off a massive “honey do” list (one we ALL got to participate in, I might add).

You may have noticed that gorgeous green grass in the first picture. Well…the most impressive home improvement project we took on was a new lawn. After four long years of dust, debris and muddy paws – the result of a backyard full of dirt – it’s like a lush, little park back there.

We’re quite proud of it, but it was a long and tiring family project, a true labor of love undertaken by all those “lucky” enough to be home for the weekend.

We tilled, we raked, we rolled, we cut (with a kitchen knife)…we collapsed…

And, because it takes true love to toil outside in the Texas heat, my mom made this Peach Struesel Kuchen to thank us and celebrate the end of a looooong day. We sat on our no-longer dusty stone patio and ate dessert in a mist of cool sprinkler water and the smell of new grass…

Gather Up:
2 ½ cups bread flour
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1 large egg at room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, softened
¾ cup milk at 125 degrees
4 ripe peaches

For Topping:
½ cup flour
¼ cup almond meal
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons butter, softened

Combine the bread flour, sugar and salt in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Add yeast and mix well.

Using a dough hook, add butter, milk and egg. Mix on low speed for about 5 minutes. Scrape bowl and hook. Remove hook and cover bowl with a plate for 15 minutes.

Attach dough hook and mix for another 10 minutes to form a smooth pliable dough. Remove dough and shape into a ball. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plate and allow to rise for about 1 ½ hours or until almost double in size.

Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan. Peel and slice peaches. Mix all topping ingredients until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to fit the pan and ease it into position. Arrange peaches on top of dough. Sprinkle topping over peaches. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise slightly for about 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and release from pan. Serve warm or cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe from Roti n Rice

On this day, one year ago, we put up our very first blog post and subsequently entered into the world of food blogging. How crazy is it that it’s already been a year? Ridiculously so. In fact, it went by so fast that we almost didn’t even realize it. Last Thursday I had already climbed into bed and was going through my right-before-sleep routine: check work email, check personal email, check Facebook, check Foursquare check-ins, check blog comments…when…

[What follows is an actual internal conversation I had with myself. This is just a small glimpse into what goes on inside my mind. You're welcome.] OMG. IT’S APRIL. DID WE MISS OUR BLOGAVERSARY? When did we start the blog? Please tell me it was May. It wasn’t. It was definitely before Mother’s Day. Why isn’t the page loading? Scroll…scroll…click. Pizza post was the first one…okay…PHEW. April 25. Need to put this on a sticky note on the calendar, or I’ll forget. “Blogaversary is Monday!”

If you’ve learned anything about us over the course of the last year, you’ll understand why missing this day would have been catastrophic. We are a people that LOVE to celebrate. Any event, any time, any place, anywhere. Tell us the occasion – we’ll bring the dessert and champagne.

Truth be told, we celebrated last night. After all, Easter is a cause for celebration all by itself, and let’s face it…there’s no way this Strawberry Pie was going to last through the night. We wish we could have a huge party, though, and celebrate with all of you! This year has been so. much. fun. It has been awesome to meet all of you. Seriously. I cannot tell you how much your comments, emails and food-blogger friendships mean to us. Every single one is like a little sprinkle of confetti on our day.

So, it stinks that we couldn’t celebrate together, but you can think of this recipe like a “some assembly required” goodie bag. (And I don’t mean that in the IKEA way…this is actually a small job…no cursing required.) This Strawberry Pie comes together super fast, and it’s absolutely delicious. A very merry un-Blogaversary to you!

Gather Up:
1 9-inch pie crust, pre-baked
3 quarts sliced strawberries
1 cup powdered sugar

For the vanilla-flavored whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. + a couple pinches of powdered sugar (additional pinches unnecessary, but I love a sweet whipped cream!)
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Fill a baked pie crust with sliced berries piled as high as possible. (Really, the more ridiculous, the better.)

Top berries with 1 cup of powdered sugar.

Cover with vanilla-flavored whipped cream.

Refrigerate for several hours.

Enjoy! (Champagne is optional but highly encouraged.)

Like most everyone else, I can find very little not to like about the taste of Nutella spread! Until now, the most exciting way I have eaten it is on Belgian waffles, (with maple syrup on the side), a treat I have always found most satisfying and decadent!

A few weeks back Working Girl and I attended a food bloggers event here in Austin (our first such event), and much to our delight they gifted us with goodie bags! Always a classy move and so much fun!

One of the food treats was a Belgian chocolate hazelnut spread, this one made with Fair Trade cocoa, another quite classy move… (College Girl has worked tirelessly to educate me on the injustices of the worldwide chocolate industry, among others…) Because we make so many desserts at our house, I was a little thrilled to be able to use this particular product!

I settled on a pound cake, and it did not disappoint! There is a whole jar of chocolate hazelnut gooey-ness in there and the batter has an especially good pound cake flavor!  Bottom line: It didn’t last long!

P.S. Of late I have really missed reading all of your blogs, sharing yummy recipes and otherwise cooking and chatting my way through each and every day! My recent trip to Florida ended up a little different than I thought – the changes my folks are going through are difficult ones. (What’s that saying, “GETTING old isn’t hard; BEING old is hard!) Although my blogging might be a little sporadic right now, please know that I appreciate each and every person who visits our blog! You all are truly a bright spot in my day!

Gather Up:
1 ½ cups flour
4 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cups sugar
One 12.3-ounce jar CocoaHaze (or one 13-ounce jar Nutella)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.

In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar at medium high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.

With the mixer at medium low, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated.

With the mixer at low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating until just incorporated. Beat an additional 30 seconds.

Spread one third of batter in prepared pan. Cover with one half of chocolate hazelnut spread. Add another one third of the batter and a final layer of chocolate hazelnut spread. Top with the remaining one third of the batter and smooth.

Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cake in the pan for 15 minutes, and then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Adapted from: FoodAndWine.com

I foresee a lot of afternoon tea in my future! That is to say, with all the wedding activity, I find myself dreaming of cookie-infused ways to make the most of our potential girl time. But mostly I plan menus in my head…

This is endlessly enjoyable and entertaining, and usually involves sunny afternoons, plates of homemade treats, lots of laughing and a photographer taking super flattering photos of the – ahem – older members of the group! (That last part IS a dream!)

And because jam is ever-present at tea time, and because buttery, crumbly cookies are absolutely necessary, thumbprint cookies naturally come to mind. They make a lovely spring goodie, especially when served with different flavors of jam. (And if you are crazy like us, jam that might even match your decor.) And because the mother of the bride must be flexible in all things (especially when she is mom to a bride who is doing ALL the planning herself) we added chocolate into the mix. Although not quite traditional for tea time, I agree that nothing says “scrumptious” like a big plop of chocolate!

So I’ll keep dreaming, and occasionally executing, and when I find the photographer who brings it all together, y’all will be the first to know!

Gather Up:
2/3 cup butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 egg yolks (save egg whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
2 slightly beaten egg whites (from yolks above)
1 cup toasted, finely chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
Assorted jams, frosting and spreads

Beat butter with electric mixer on medium high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and beat until combined, scraping bowl several times.

Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until combined.

Beat in flour until combined.

Cover and chill dough for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet.

Roll dough into one-inch balls. Dip balls in egg whites and then roll in nuts.

Place one inch apart on cookie sheet and gently press your thumb into the center of each ball.

Bake 10 – 12 minutes or until edges are just turning light brown. Remove from oven and gently press the center if needed to re-form the little indentation.

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Just before serving, fill each cookie with a small dollop of jam or frosting.

Recipe from BHG New Cookbook