#themodernhost

I made 6 super cute and simple holiday host gifts at ONCE! This homemade granola is easy to make in big batches and looks great in all those mason jars you bought last year for that farm to table party you threw...I can't be the only one with excess jars, right?

Homemade Granola with Dried Blueberries

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats, NOT quick-cooking

1/2 cup dry buckwheat (no need to rinse)

1/4 cup quinoa (again, no need to rinse)

1/2 cup raw slivered almonds

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup honey

1/8 cup real maple syrup (sorry, no Aunt Jemima, although that does have a special place in my heart and on my pancakes)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

3/4 cup dried blueberries 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine all ingredients except for the dried blueberries in a large mixing bowl. With a rubber spatula, STIR STIR STIR. Then stir and mix some more. Stir until you think you're crazy, then stir a little more. The more evenly coated everything is, the better the outcome. Spread mixture onto a large baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 35 minutes, stirring the mixture about every 10 minutes to ensure even cooking and no big clumps. Once cooled, mix in dried fruit. Enjoy your hearty and wholesome breakfast, or place into medium-sized mason jars with cute little butcher's twine ties and holiday tags. Disperse to good friends for Happy Holidays. 

Side note! My grandmother passed down a great trick for holiday gift tags - keep Christmas cards from year's past and use fun scissors to cut new tags. Add a small hole punch and you're good to go. The one pictured above is made this way. 

My sister lives a plane ride away down the east coast, so when she is visiting around holidays, we usually spend every moment we can together! Thanksgiving's goodbye is always hard because her birthday is the following week. I wanted to give her something fun to enjoy on the long trek back home that was sweet and delicious, and resembled nothing of pumpkin/pecan/anything pie. I settled on a recipe for soft sugar cookies, which I doctored up and dressed in sprinkles for the occasion.

I like sending guests home with goodies, whether it is a baked good or a tupperware full of leftovers to enjoy the next day. These sugar cookies are soft, buttery, simple, and fun! I also like this recipe because you do not have to cool the dough for an hour or two before baking, as you do with many other sugar cookie recipes. 

Soft & Sprinkled Sugar Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

nonpareils

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment. 

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until combined and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture in increments, mixing to combine and scraping the sides as necessary.

Using a tablespoon, scoop dough and form into balls. Be careful to not over-handle the dough at this point so it doesn't soften too much. After dough ball is formed, roll dough in a small bowl with the nonpareils, coating dough evenly. Place on cookie sheet an inch or so apart.

When dough ball is finished and sprinkled, take the back of a glass (I used a water glass that had no imprint on the bottom) and squish down the dough slightly and flatten the top.

I'm currently devouring this soup at my desk while I work away and wanted to share it ASAP so that you, too can enjoy. It is a simple recipe that is flavorful in all the right ways.

I had a butternut squash from the farmer's market on Saturday and a can of coconut milk that were kind of flirting...add a generous squeeze of Sriracha and boom! Instant romance.

Butternut Squash Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup minced yellow onion

1 tablespoon grated garlic

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 can coconut milk (I like Goya brand)

1/2 cup white wine

2 cups chicken stock

salt & pepper

red pepper flake

1 tablespoon Sriracha 

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed

sour cream for serving

Put a medium stock pot over medium heat. Coat the bottom of the pot with olive oil. Place yellow onion in the pan, cooking until translucent. Add grated garlic and grated ginger. Stir and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add salt and pepper, then deglaze the bottom of the pan with white wine. Add red pepper flake, coconut milk, chicken stock, Sriracha, and butternut squash cubes. Give it a good stir and put a lid on it, checking every now and then to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. Leave covered and simmering for about 25 minutes. When squash is tender, turn off heat and allow soup to rest for about 10-15 minutes. When cooled enough, use a stick blender to puree until smooth. Serve with a dollop of sour cream. 

Every fall, we go to a wonderful farm by our house for apple picking. It was a picturesque day, with bright blue sky and perfect temperatures. The apples against the blue backdrop was just gorgeous. Here's a picture of Chef Husband getting some of the goods:

With an enthusiastic toddler, Chef, and myself the fall fanatic, you can imagine the haul we brought home. Our kitchen counter for the last few days has looked like this:

Some apples went to the restaurant, some as host gifts, then the rest were mine. All mine.

Anyway.

We had some friends over for Saturday dinner this weekend. Chef spoiled us with braised lamb shank and risotto with leeks. I needed a dessert that would be serve-worthy after an amazing meal like that. I turned to Smitten Kitchen and her "simplest apple tart" recipe. I was pretty proud of the results!

The crust was all butter, which is more challenging but worth it, in my opinion. The technique of saving the cores and peel as a glaze (see recipe) is GENIUS. I followed the recipe exactly, except for the glaze step. After the sauce reduced, I strained out the cores and peels and reduced the sauce for about another 15 minutes in a small sauce pan.

The "apple armadillo" technique makes for a gorgeous tart. It takes a bit more patience, but is worth the effort.

I hope everyone is enjoying the season.

It is always bittersweet for me when the weather starts to turn. I love summer with all my heart - not that there's anything wrong with fall - but it is always tough for me to say goodbye (or, see you later) to the bright hot summer sun.

This week a nip in the air hit the Northeast, so my husband dug around in the freezer and pulled out some of our soup stockpile. We've always got 2-3 frozen soups on hand, ready to heat up for a delicious and easy dinner. Out came the "Chx Soup no Noodle," which transformed into our favorite Chicken Noodle Soup for dinner...and lunch today.

A simple soup with a few surprises, this recipe is hearty and comforting. It makes saying "see you later" to summer a little easier!

Chicken Noodle Soup

4 medium boneless skinless chicken breasts

5 medium-large carrots, peeled and chopped

4 celery stalks, chopped

1 vidalia onion, chopped

1 cup baby portabella mushrooms, chopped

fresh thyme

bay leaf

chicken stock

white wine

olive oil, or your cooking oil of choice

1 cup egg noodles

1/2 cup frozen, shelled edamame

salt and pepper

*Please note, this recipe is tried and true, passed from my mom. Please forgive some of the measuring methods, as we usually make this drinking white wine and laughing our bums off.

Using a heavy bottom stock pot, coat the bottom of the pan in olive oil. Dice chicken into bite sized pieces and cook over medium heat. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until chicken is caramelized on the outside and almost cooked through. Remove and set aside to be added later.

Add a bit more olive oil to the pan and throw in your mirapoix mix. After several minutes, add in mushrooms. Cook until onions are translucent and everything begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Add salt, pepper, bay leaf, and fresh thyme leaves. Give everything a good stir and scrape up the tasty bits from the bottom of the pan. 

Add in a good glug of white wine to deglaze the pan - maybe 1 cup of wine. Give a good stir again and scrape the bottom of the pan. Then, add in chicken stock. I have used water here, but prefer the stock flavor. I've also used a bullion cube instead, which works nicely. I usually add in about 2 large cartons of broth. 

Add chicken back into the pot and let it all come together for about 15-20 minutes, cooking uncovered on medium heat. If you are storing the soup for later, stop here! The soup freezes very well at this point, and it is quite easy to pick up where you left off and add in the edamame and egg noodles later. If you are continuing on, add in egg noodles and edamame. I usually wait to add the edamame until right before serving because I like them to have a little bite.

You know when you have a dish that you make that everyone loves so much - and for the next 10-15 years you are destined to only bring that for every party?! 

My mom and sister made this side dish probably 10 years ago, and its popularity is still going strong. It is adapted from Giada's Tri-Colore Orzo recipe...remember when the Food Network actually aired shows about cooking? That might be for another blog post...

Summer Orzo Salad

1 pound orzo pasta

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1/4 cup

1/8 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 small lemons)

2 cups fresh arugula 

1 cup fresh feta cheese (I like to buy the block and cut it in cubes)

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup slivered almonds

salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and put the pasta on a large baking sheet. Drizzle the pasta with 3 tablespoons olive oil, toss, spread out, and set aside to cool. I like to stick the sheet in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes because, well, I'm impatient.

Once the orzo is room temperature, transfer to a large bowl to mix remaining ingredients. I usually mix olive oil, S&P, lemon juice, almonds and cranberries first. Then I more gently fold in the feta and arugula, being careful not to beat it up too much. The result is a delicious side dish with vibrant flavors, and an addicting nature. Trust us - you'll never make this once!