Rosemary and Red Pepper Hummus

Hummus is a middle eastern spread. It dates back to ancient Egypt, Syria, and Greece - 7000 years ago! The word "hummus" is the Arabic translation of "chickpea". "Garbanzo" is the Spanish translation of the word "chickpea", which is what we commonly call the bean now days. This is my recipe for hummus...

Rosemary and Red Pepper Hummus

2 cups cooked garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
2 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed butter)
juice of 1 large lemon (to taste)
1 small to large roasted red pepper, depending on preference
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoons fresh rosemary
1/4 cup water (more or less, depending on texture)
1/4 cup Extra Virgin olive oil
salt/pepper

In a food processor, add beans, tahini and 1/2 the lemon juice. Pulse until mixture is finely chopped. Add the red pepper, crushed garlic cloves, rosemary, and 1/2 the water. With processor running, add in the olive oil and puree until smooth. If mixture appears very thick and isn't processing smoothly, a little more water. Once pureed, taste for flavor. The garlic will seem strong, but will mellow after resting. Add more lemon juice to taste. I like to let it sit in the refrigerator overnight to let the flavors blend, though it isn't necessary. To serve, spread into serving dish, drizzle with 1 additional tablespoon of olive oil, and top with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary. Serve with veggies, pita bread/chips, or even fresh fruit (such as pears). Hummus is also great served as a spread on sandwiches and wraps.

You can use canned garbanzo beans for the recipe above, just make sure you rinse them well. I used dried beans by simply soaking them overnight in water, then draining (to make sure they are free from dirt), adding to a large saucepan, topping with fresh water, and simmering until tender.  I try to cook up an extra bit to use for other meals. Roasted Garbanzo beans are a great snack!

Rosemary and Red Pepper Hummus

The picture above is a recent double batch that I made for a bridal shower. I was short on red peppers, so I was only able to add 1/2 the amount I normally would have. It was still delicious, though! And the recipe is fairly flexible - up the garlic or try adding sundried tomatoes or other flavorings. Hummus is a healthy alterative to other dips and spreads. It is full of fiber and healthy oils. Because beans are fairly inexpensive, this is a low-cost alternative to pre-made dips.

I hope you enjoy!

Coconut Syrup

For those of you that have been to Hawaii, you have probably had coconut syrup to top your waffles and pancakes. For those of you that haven't, you've missed out! While I have never been to Hawaii, I do know people that have and they brought back a bottle of this fabulous nectar. I love this syrup, but found that the ingredients contained soybean oil, much to my dismay... So I set about creating my own recipe to mimic it. I can say it is pretty tasty!
Here is my recipe...

Coconut Syrup

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons Creamed Coconut (or more to taste)
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Sitr, while bringing just to a boil to dissolve sugar. Cool, then serve over waffles, pancakes, ice cream, or dessert of your choice! Makes about 1.5 cups
Please note that I used CREAMED COCONUT, not Cream OF coconut.
Also, if you use extra virgin coconut oil, you can just whisk it in after you remove the syrup from the heat, since it has a higher risk of burning.
After making, store in the refrigerator. If syrup is too thick, simply rewarm!

Coconut Syrup

I hope you enjoy! Those of you that have been to Hawaii and had the actual syrup, I would LOVE to hear your feedback! Well, I'd love to hear feedback from everyone!

Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

I apologize for the lack of post lately! I have been immersed in the holidays, as well as tending to our litter of puppies born October 12.... all 15 of them!
I hope my photography skills will begin to improve as well! I received a DSLR camera from my husband as a Christmas present! I am looking forward to higher quality photos to put on my blog!

For dinner tonight, I decided to roast some sweet potatoes. I simply make a couple of small slits in the sweet potatoes, then place them in a 350 degree oven until they are tender. I usually put a piece of foil underneath them while they roast, since they will caramelize and "ooze" a bit of goodness onto the bottom of your oven.

To make the whipped butter, I decided to try something my sister had told me - whipping butter with coconut oil. But, as is my nature, I couldn't make plain butter! Here is the recipe...

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil (I didn't use extra virgin)
Pinch of salt (I used Himalayan pink salt, ground to a powder in a mortar and pestle)
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest (I used satsuma zest)
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Place butter in a bowl, and beat for a second to smooth the texture out. Add the coconut oil, and whip together until fluffy looking.  Season to taste with salt. You can stop here and have just a plain whipped butter. Simply stir in the flavors (zest and nutmeg) and scoop into a serving dish. Chill until service time. For softer butter, simply remove from the fridge about an hour before service.

Coconut oil is a very healthy oil and by mixing it with the butter, it still retained the buttery flavor and creamy texture. The salt is optional, but I felt that it made it taste like true butter. As with most compound or flavored butters, you can change up the flavor combinations.  Different citrus zests, herbs, spices - endless possibilities!

Whipped Orange Nutmeg Butter

Turkey and Apple Cranberry Sauce

I love the holidays and the delicious food that comes with them! While my Thanksgiving was a little late, it was still wonderful! I took the time to brine my little 9lb turkey and what a difference it made!  Even though I misjudged time and overcooked the turkey, it was still moist and flavorful. I made the brine the day before I cooked the turkey and allowed it to marinate overnight, about 12 hours. Here is my recipe…

Turkey Brine 

¾ gallon water

1 cup apple cider

1 ¼ cup salt (canning and pickling salt is perfect)

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon peppercorns

1 tablespoon allspice berries

2 tablespoons pickling spice

10 fresh sage leaves

2 quarts ice

Heat the salt and sugar with ½ gallon of water. Add cider, vinegar, spices, remaining water and ice to food safe bucket or other large vessel. Once sugar and salt are dissolved, add to bucket with remaining ingredients. Add turkey and weigh down with a plate to keep turkey submerged. You may need a gallon freezer bag or other container to set on the plate to help weigh it down. Brine about 12 hours for a small bird, or up to 24 for a large bird. Remove bird from brine at least a couple of hours before cooking and rinse thoroughly. Refrigerate uncovered until cooking time – this will help dry out the skin so it can crisp up during roasting. You may add herbs or other spices to give the skin flavor… I used thyme, sage, pepper, and butter. Be sure to pat the skin dry before rubbing with spices.


The turkey is never complete without the cranberry sauce on the side! While canned cranberries have their place, I much prefer fresh made cranberry sauce! Here is my recipe for my Apple Cranberry Sauce.

Apple Cranberry Sauce

1 12oz bag fresh cranberries

1 ½ cups peeled and diced apple (about the same size of cranberries)

1 ¼ – 1 ½ cup sugar – to taste

1 cinnamon stick

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan, but start with only 1 cup of sugar. You can always add more later! Heat over medium low heat until apples are tender and cranberries have burst. Sauce will be fairly thick. Taste for sweetness, then add additional as necessary. I used about 1 1/3 cups sugar with mine batch. Stir to dissolve additional sugar, and then cool. Serve chilled or at room temperature. No thickening is necessary, as both the apples and the cranberries contain pectin that will naturally thicken the sauce!

Cranberries, apples, sugar, and aromatic spices

This cranberry sauce if so versatile! The apples absorb the colors from the cranberries and make this sauce so elegant. I love using leftovers in different ways and this cranberry sauce recipe is great in many things! Think cheesecakes, trifles, on sandwiches, pureed and used in cocktails… so many uses!

Finished Apple Cranberry Sauce

I hope you enjoy these recipes! And, thank you all for supporting me in this blogging endeavor!