First off, thank you so so much to everyone who reached out to me + commented on my previous post. It means a lot, and I can’t tell you how much your kind words, your personal stories, and your support means to me. I appreciate it more than you know <3 Secondly, we’re nearing the end of spring and about to welcome the beginning of summer, so I thought it was fitting to share this bright, zesty, and sunshine-y passionfruit pavlova recipe with you all to welcome in the long days + luscious flavors of the coming season. Passionfruit is one of my absolute *favorite* fruits, and it grows really well in California, where I lived for a time in my twenties. It’s also an absolutely breathtaking vine with positively WILD looking flowers, so if you have a garden and live in a climate warm enough to grow it (USDA zones 9-11), I highly recommend it!

The flavor of the passionfruit is somewhere between a mango and a lemon—slightly tart, but also with a semi-sweet tropical taste and a hint of floral complexity mixed in there. In short—it’s an absolute delight. And this particular flavor lends itself really well to being used in a curd, which combines sugar with butter and egg yolks to create a creamy and fruity spread. Because the passionfruit curd is pretty tangy, it pairs *very* nicely with the hyper-sweet pavlova. On its own or paired with typically sweet fruits, pavlova is usually too sugary for me. But when you add a little whipped cream on top, and then a tangy curd like passionfruit & lemon, the combination of flavors and textures is SO well-balanced and refreshing. Passionfruit pavlova = heaven. I can see why a hot country like Australia invented it!

Now, I’m not going to lie to you, there’s a LOT of nuance when it comes to making pavlova. The texture should be crunchy on the outside, but soft and marshmallow-y on the inside, and ideally it should not form cracks, or start “weeping”, which is when the cracks seep out a sugary syrup mixture. I’ve made a lot of pavlova over the years, some great, some ugly, but they all tasted good. So even if yours end up a bit cracked, don’t beat yourself up about it. But if you want to make a positively perfect-looking pavlova, here are my key tips:

Top Tips for a Perfect Passionfruit Pavlova

• Use superfine sugar. This is a highly refined sugar that’s somewhere between granulated and powdered sugar, and it dissolves faster in the meringue mixture and helps keep the structure of the meringue intact.
• When you’re beating the meringue in the stand mixer, don’t rush it. It’s better to beat starting a low speed speed, gradually increasing to medium-high speed, for a longer time than to beat at a high speed from the get-go for a shorter time. Beating at a lower speed for longer helps develop the teeeeeeny tiny air bubbles that create that signature marshmallow-y texture inside the pavlova, and help keep the structure strong.
• Do NOT remove the pavlova from the oven immediately after baking. The cracks and structural issues develop when the temperature of the pavlova changes quickly, so when the baking time is over, turn off the oven, leave the oven door CLOSED, and let it cool to room temperature over several hours inside the oven before removing it.

Those are the biggest takeaways I’ve found, and if you follow those (and the recipe, of course), you should be alright. And like I said, even if there’s some cracks, it will still taste great, so don’t sweat the small stuff. And if you want to make yours extra fancy-looking, you can whip up some candied lemons to put on top, and I have the recipe for those in this post. Enjoy, my friends!

Well hello again. It feels a bit conspicuous to be back after the longest absence since I started this blog back in 2009—but there’s been a lot going on over the past 6 months that made being present here difficult, even though I deeply missed the creative freedom to write + share recipes with you in my cozy little corner of the internet. I’m going to share a bit about what’s been going on, so if you are only interested in the recipe (and I take no offense to that), you can skip down here. Otherwise, pull up a seat and a cup of coffee because this will take a minute.

The last time I shared here was in December, which ended up being a really hard month for me. I shared a bit about this last summer, but in July I had a miscarriage, and we’ve been trying to get pregnant again ever since then. In December, when I found out I wasn’t pregnant (again), it hit me incredibly hard. It felt like I miscarried all over again. I don’t know if it was just me finally truly processing what had happened (I threw myself into work over the fall so I wouldn’t have to think about it as much), or all the short dark cold days getting to me, or the family and child-oriented holiday stuff everywhere, or seemingly everyone I knew getting pregnant left and right, but I was a mess. I couldn’t stop crying. It physically felt like I was carrying a heavy iron weight inside my chest all the time. It’s hard to describe, but I guess the simplest way to say it was that I just didn’t feel like myself. Like my personality + spirit was completely suffocated in a gulping wave of depression.

With encouragement from family + friends, I started seeing a therapist in January, which has helped a lot. I also made an appointment at an infertility clinic, and started going there in March for treatments, which has been really helpful. Forewarning, I’m going to be open about my infertility here, so if this is a trigger or you’re uncomfortable with that, this is the place to stop reading. You also might be wondering, “why are you even talking about this on your food blog?” And my answer to that is that there is no ‘good’ place to talk about infertility. Sure I could post about it on message boards dedicated to it, but the only people reading about it are folks dealing with the same issue in that moment. And I think it’s helpful for everyone to be a bit more informed about it, because it’s absolutely THE most isolating experience I have ever been through. And I wish I had heard more about it before it happened to me, so I didn’t feel so deeply alone + broken. I can count on multiple hands the number of friends that have gotten pregnant on accident or immediately after actively trying to conceive within the past 2 years, and when that’s all you’re surrounded by, you feel like a total failure. Luckily (for me, not her), I have one very close friend who dealt with infertility several years ago, and she has been a rock for me through this. Honestly, I don’t know if I could have made it through the past year without her. So I guess I’m sharing this here so folks everywhere can be a bit more sensitive to + understanding of those around them who are going through miscarriage and infertility. And why the heck not talk about it on a food blog (google tells me we’re mostly women here on this site, so I know that many of you have gone through the same thing).

After seeing the doctor, I learned I have much fewer eggs than the average woman my age, which is why it’s been so difficult to get pregnant over the past 2+ years. So we did a round of IUI in April, and we’ll do two more rounds over the next couple months, and then we’ll move on to IVF later this summer if the IUI’s don’t work. Another reason why I couldn’t keep up with posting is because with infertility treatments, there’s also a LOT of doctor appointments + moving parts to keep track of. So during my first IUI round, for example, I was seeing my acupuncturist 1x week, my fertility doctor 1x a week, calling to make said appointments since many of them depend on your cycle days, taking herbal supplements for fertility, taking prenatal vitamins, taking fertility medication on specific days of my cycle to get me to ovulate more, testing for ovulation at the same time on specific days of my cycle, making sure to exercise, getting good sleep, eating really healthy, no  (obviously), and doing guided fertility meditations everyday. So basically, every day during treatment is almost completely centered around the treatment, everything from what I’m planning to eat that day or the next day, or trying not to get stressed about work, ties into a deeper reasoning of why I have to be extra careful and  about literally everything. The mental load of undergoing fertility treatment is enormous, and it’s really hard to have the bandwidth to focus on much else aside from the day-to-day essentials.

In addition to all the infertility things going on, there was also a lot of stress related to the homestead. The plan was to have the house design locked in and submit the plan to the local governing board for approval around Thanksgiving, so that way with the roughly 4 to 6 month turnaround on plan approvals, we’d ideally be approved by May and be able to break ground laying the foundation in spring, and have the house be water-tight by fall when the rainy season starts. The house design process took longer than we anticipated, the initial design was beautiful but over budget, so it took about 4 weeks to get the new in-budget design locked in, and we sent the plan to the county at the very end of December. We immediately heard back that the house site needed to be moved to a lower-elevation part of the land, and that the building was too tall, which was a bit gut-wrenching at first.

There are really specific limitations for building in this particular area, like housing color, number of windows, etc, so we went into it knowing that some things would very likely have to change, but moving the site of the house was hard emotionally since I’d become so attached to the idea of having the house on a little hill where we’d be able to see almost all of the land from the home, which would be a great vantage point to keep an eye on potential little ones. But, it wasn’t meant to be, and that’s fine, honestly. So we had to do some major redesigning to take the garage out of the basement (which would lower the technical height of the home) and move the house to a lower-elevation area of the land. So after all the redesigns, we ended up submitting the plan to the county in late March, which means we’ll hear back in late summer, which will be too late to start building. So we have to wait until next spring to break ground (if the design is approved, which I really really *really* hope it is.)

And also during that time, we were going through the construction loan application process. We’d gotten all our documents in (and if you’ve ever applied for a loan, you know how many documents you need to get sorted), gotten our rate lock for 90 days, and then found out we wouldn’t be able to build until next year, so we’ll pretty much have to do the whole loan process again next year with our new updated financial documents from this year. This was a huge blow, because with the economy going crazy, it’s going to be much more expensive since the interest rates have gone up a lot and the cost of absolutely everything construction-related is surging because of shipping + gas prices. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to afford it, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how the numbers pan out from work this year and what the interest rates end up being.

And lastly, in January I started a podcast all about home + garden design with my friend Sam called Feels Like Home. We’ve had a blast doing it, and it’s been really nice to focus on garden + design-related topics and interview interesting people, and also just chat with each other about house stuff we’re nerdy about 😀 We just wrapped up season 1 last month, and we’ll be back with season 2 later this summer, so you can go ahead and play catch up in the meantime 🙂

So yes. In short, it’s been an absolutely *insane* past 6 months. But, I’m feeling a lot better now and am genuinely excited about the future + what’s in store. From the homestead to the fertility treatments, I’m feeling really optimistic about things. And really grateful for the opportunities and the options that exist today for folks like me. Focusing on the positive feels so, so much better than dwelling on what went wrong or what could possibly go wrong in the future. So I’m staying optimistic, guys.

And because when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, I wanted to share a little something sweet and sour for the late spring with you all. I made this lemonade with rosemary blossoms, but if you don’t have any handy you can use any kind of edible flower, like lilac, rose, lavender, or elderflower instead. Feel free to get creative and make a little floral lemonade with whatever edible flowers are available to you right now (just, you know, make sure they’re food safe. Many flowers from commercial florists are chemically treated, and there’s TONS of toxic flower varieties out there so only use ones that are edible. Basically, use common sense!)

Everyone has different tartness preferences, so if you want your rosemary blossom lemonade a little more on the sour side, feel free to add a touch more lemon juice. Or vice versa if you want yours super mild. The choice is yours, my friend. And with that, I’ll leave you to it. Thank you for reading through my torrent of words and for still being here. I appreciate you guys more than you know. And I hope to be back much sooner next time with more “normal” stories + recipes to share. Talk soon + enjoy the last bit of spring!

Rosemary Blossom Lemonade Recipe

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Rosemary Blossom Lemonade

Course Drinks

Prep Time 20 minutes

Resting Time 2 hours

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup water (for the blossom syrup)
• 1 cup fresh rosemary blossoms (or other edible flower)
• 1 cup lemon juice fresh squeezed
• 2 1/2 cups cold water (for diluting)

Instructions

Rosemary Blossom Syrup

• Bring the honey and 1 cup of the water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring every few minutes. Allow the syrup to boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
• Place the rosemary blossoms in a small heat-proof pot. Pour the syrup over the blossoms, then stir to make sure they're covered in syrup. Place the lid on the pot and let the mixture infuse for 2 to 3 hours. (I'd be cautious about letting them infuse for too much longer, as the sugar in the syrup combined with the heat can speed-start the decomposition process of the flowers, and the delicate aroma and flavor of the rosemary blossoms can turn into the smell and taste of an old vase of flowers, unfortunately.)
• Place a fine mesh sieve or mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour the syrup and blossom mixture into it, straining out the blossoms. Compost the blossoms in your yard or bin. Pour the syrup into a clean glass and allow to cool to room temperature.

Rosemary Blossom Lemonade

• In a pitcher, stir together the syrup, lemon juice, and water. Add ice to make it extra cold and refreshing, and serve.

Well I made it—I slid this recipe into home plate right before Christmas. So if you happen to be a last-minute kinda cook, then you still have time to make these fun little almond pinecone truffles before the holiday. And at the very least, it makes a very adorable New Year’s Eve treat, too. These truffles are based off another older Roasted Almond Chocolate Truffle recipe from years back on the blog, but I adjusted it a bit to make them a little more festive with sliced almonds as the garnish for their pinecone disguise.

It’s a very straightforward classic truffle base, just chocolate and heavy cream and ground roasted almonds mixed in, along with a dash of vanilla + honey, and a sprinkle of sea salt. The truffles themselves are quick to whip up, but it’s putting the little sliced almonds on each one that gets pretty time consuming, so if you have extra hands in the kitchen, they would be well-utilized on the assembly of these guys. Otherwise, feel free to throw on your favorite podcast or album, and let the hour-long assembly process of these pinecone truffles fly by.

We’re headed to Montana via car the day after Christmas to visit family, so wish us luck on the wintery road! It’s supposed to dump snow here for 3 days after Christmas, so I’m a bit nervous about the drive, but we got new snow tires on our AWD car so I’m hoping it won’t be too wild out there. (We did get some auto socks just in case, though, since our car can’t have chains. And no, that’s not an affiliate link or anything, they’re just a legitimately good option for folks who can’t have chains but need a little something extra on wintery roads)) Wishing you all the most wonderful Christmas + a very happy new year, and I’ll see you in 2022 with more seasonal wintery recipes (get ready for some savory ones!!) Sending you all lots of love + winter tidings 🙂 xoxo Eva

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Chocolate and Roasted Almond Pinecone Truffles

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword truffle

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 18 truffles

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole raw almonds
• 1 1/2 cups sliced raw almonds
• 10 ounces dark chocolate chips about 60% cacao
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa powder

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Evenly spread out the whole raw almonds on one lipped baking sheet, and the sliced raw almonds on another. Roast until very lightly deepened in color and fragrant, about 6-8 minutes for the sliced almonds and 10-12 minutes for the whole almonds.
• Grind the roasted WHOLE almonds in a blender or food processor until they reach a stage halfway between almond flour and almond butter. Set them aside.
• In the top of a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and cream until smooth, stirring constantly. Then remove from heat and stir in the ground roasted almond mixture until combined. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 90 minutes.
• Use a spoon to scoop out a roughly 2x1-inch cylinder of the truffle mixture. Form it into a egg shape that's slightly skinner than an actual egg (aka the shape of a pinecone). Lightly roll it in the cocoa powder to make the exterior less sticky. Insert the roasted sliced almonds into the truffle at a low angle to mimic the scales of a pinecone. Repeat until you've used all the truffles + sliced almonds. Makes about a 18 pinecone truffles.

If you’re the kind of person that hears “gingerbread” and begins sprinting in the opposite direction—this is the recipe for you. I know gingerbread is a holiday classic, but I’ve found it hard to like most iterations of gingerbread. I feel like the molasses flavor can be a bit too heavy-handed sometimes, and then it kind of overwhelms any of the nuanced spice flavors within the recipe, and at that point it’s just molasses cake rather than an actual gingerbread. So, with this version, I’ve added in buttermilk for a richer buttery flavor, loads of fresh zesty ginger (as it should be), a dash of molasses, and a delicious assortment of festive + warming spices.

The result is an incredibly moist gingerbread cake that has a bit of the traditional gingerbread flavor (thanks molasses!) but also allows the vibrant and refreshing flavors of the spices and fresh ginger and lemon zest to shine. It’s also very quick to throw together, and if you bake it in this tree-shaped pan, it looks much fancier than a simple cake. And since we’re talking about cake pans, this recipe makes about 5 cups of batter, so you could bake it in one single 6-cup capacity bundt pan (it would just be a little shorter than intended), or you could bake it in two 8-inch round cake pans. The cooking time will vary depending on the cooking pan you use, basically the larger the pan, the longer the bake time, so keep an eye on it and take it out of the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

And if you’re looking for more festive baked goods to add to your holiday table, I’m definitely making this panettone again this year, and these lemon pistachio snowflake cookies are insanely good. Luckily, we’re having Christmas at my parents this year so I don’t have to worry about making dinner, and am instead focused on making some delicious side dishes + sweets. (I’ve had this savory croissant bread pudding bookmarked for a while now, and it’s definitely going to be on the dinner table at Christmas). Wishing you the best of luck with your winter baking + cooking, and I’ll be back one more time next week with a really simple last-minute dessert recipe for the holiday!

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Gingerbread with Buttermilk and Lemon Zest

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Keyword gingerbread

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

Servings 12 people

Calories 300kcal

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon dried ginger
• 3/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons finely grated fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons finely grated zest from 2 organic lemons
• 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. To make the gingerbread as pictured, use this tree-shaped baking pan https://www.nordicware.com/products/evergreen-cakelet-pan/. You can also use two 8-inch cake pans, greased and lined with parchment paper round on the bottom. Alternately, you can use a small 6-cup capacity bundt pan. Set your preferred pan(s) aside.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, dried ginger, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and brown sugar at medium-low speed until smooth and combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, waiting until each egg is incorporated before adding the next one. Add the molasses and mix until combined, then add the ginger, lemon zest, and vanilla and mix until incorporated. With the mixer running at low speed, alternate between adding the  buttermilk and flour mixture in three increments, mixing until *just* combined (do not overmix).
• If using the tree-shaped baking pan, spray it with cooking oil and dust with almond flour before filling the tree molds 3/4 full with batter (it will puff up when baking and rise to fill the mold). The recipe makes 12 of the tree cakes, so you will need to use the pan twice. If using the 6-cup capacity bundt pan, spray it with cooking oil and dust with almond flour before adding the batter to the pan. If using two 8-inch cake pans, evenly distribute the batter between the two greased and lined cake pans.
• Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, which is about 20 to 25 minutes for the tree-shaped baking pan. The cooking time will vary depending on the cooking pan you use—basically the larger the pan, the longer the bake time—so keep an eye on your gingerbread and take it out of the oven when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before gently unmolding the cake onto the wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar and serve. Will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Nutrition

Calories: 300kcal | Carbohydrates: 51g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 50mg | Sodium: 211mg | Potassium: 322mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 311IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 90mg | Iron: 2mg

Things have been hustling and bustling around here, both Jeremy and I have been working a lot the past couple months to build up our savings for the homestead construction loan, but thankfully things will be slowing down a bit in the next couple weeks just in time for the holidays, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it. It’s felt so good to have those slower moments to focus on knitting, cooking up a comforting dinner, and creating traditions together as a family. Last weekend we went and got our Christmas tree with my brother and my 3 year-old nephew and it was just the best—I remember how much I loved going to Christmas tree farms as a kid, and it was so fun to watch him experience that in all its hot cocoa-y wonder. And in the spirit of the festive season, I’m sharing this very tasty brown butter Chestnut Cake with a floral and comforting lemon honey syrup.

Because I know that roasting and peeling chestnuts is a bit tedious, I have an option in the recipe below for you to use canned chestnut spread (such as the Clement Faugier brand) if you’d prefer that to making your own chestnut spread. If you have a few hours to spare and want to throw on a fun podcast and get into the wintery groove, then feel free to make your own from scratch as indicated in the recipe further into the post. And if you do decide to make your own chestnut spread for the chestnut cake, I recommend roasting a few extra to whip together this simple + delicious roast chestnut treat. Because chestnuts are very starchy, they can make baked goods a bit dense, so to add some lightness and airiness, you whip the egg whites with the sugar until they’ve got soft peaks, and then fold that into the cake batter at the end. It helps keep the cake from becoming too dense, and gives more air pockets within the chestnut cake for the syrup to soak into later on.

This isn’t a simple recipe by any means, but if you want to make something special for the holidays and are okay with spending several hours in the kitchen, then I’d highly recommend it. Also, I used this mini bundt pan mold for these cakes. It makes about 9 mini bundts, or you can use a 6 to 8-cup capacity bundt pan if you just want to make one big normal bundt cake. (And these lovely gold plates are from Fodory, in case you were wondering). Wishing you all the most wonderful beginning to the holiday season, and I’ll be back again soon with another baked good next week!

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Brown Butter Chestnut Cake with Honey Lemon Syrup

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Keyword chestnut

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Servings 10 people

Ingredients

Roast Chestnut Spread (can use ready made canned chestnut spread instead)

• 24 roasted chestnuts peeled
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Lemon Honey Syrup

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup honey
• zest from 1 organic lemon peeled using a vegetable peeler leaving behind white pith and only using the yellow
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice

Brown Butter Chestnut Cake

• 8 ounces unsalted butter
• 2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 eggs yolks and whites separated
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups chestnut spread can buy it canned, or make it homemade below
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped pistachios optional garnish

Instructions

Roast Chestnut Spread

• For this portion of the recipe, you can use canned Chestnut Spread such as the Clement Faugier brand, or you can make it from scratch as follows.
• (Please note that the chestnuts should be roasted and peeled, you can follow the directions for that here: https://www.shelovesbiscotti.com/5-easy-steps-for-oven-roasted-chestnuts/ ) Puree all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth. Place in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator if not using immediately. Will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Lemon Honey Syrup

• Bring all ingredients except the lemon juice to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then stir in lemon juice, remove from heat, and set aside to cool to room temperature.

Brown Butter Chestnut Cake

• First, we'll brown the butter. Melt the butter in a small stainless steel saucepan over medium heat, stirring regularly until melted. Continue cooking the butter until it turns golden and smells toasty. Immediately remove it from heat, transfer to a heat proof bowl (glass or metal), and set it aside.
• Preheat oven to 350. Mix together the dry ingredients (except the sugar) in a bowl and set it aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites with the sugar at medium high speed until soft peaks form, set aside.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mixing at low speed, add the egg yolks to the chestnut spread, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the brown butter and vanilla extract and mix until combined. Then alternate between adding the milk and flour mixture in 4 increments, mixing at low speed *just* until combined. Fold in the whipped egg white mixture until incorporated.
• I used the NordicWare Heritage Bundtlette pan that has a 4 cup capacity for 6 mini-bundts, and this recipe made 9 mini bundts. So you could use a 6 to 8-cup capacity bundt pan for one single bundt cake, or you could use the Bundtlette pan and clean it between uses.
• Spoon the mixture into the mini bundt pan sprayed with cooking oil and sprinkled with almond flour, filling the bundts about 4/5ths full.
• Bake at 350 until a toothpick inserted into the mini bundt comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes (if you're making one single large bundt cake, the cooking time will be longer).
• Remove the pan from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before flipping onto a wire rack and unmolding the mini bundt cakes.
• Place unmolded cakes in large casserole dish lined with parchment paper. Drizzle with the syrup, allow them to soak in the syrup for 10 minutes, then remove and allow to cool + drain on a rick rack with a cookie sheet under it to catch the syrup drippings. Garnish with the chopped pistachios and serve.

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post, time has quite gotten away from me this autumn. I’ve been busy with work projects (speaking of which, Creative Business School is open for enrollment until the 30th), and while I love keeping up with the blog and sharing recipes with you here, I also needed to make sure I was taking the time to enjoy the season while it was around. Spending time with friends, family, foraging out in the woods, and all that good stuff. So thank you for showing me grace with this very belated post. At the very least, this chevre and butternut squash pie recipe is sliding into the finish line of squash season in the northern hemisphere, and it’s also in time for Thanksgiving here in the states.

I know, I know, sweet pumpkin pies are more traditional. But, if you want to mix things up with a savory squash pie instead of a sweet one, or are cooking for a vegetarian, might I suggest this delightfully cheesy and squash-filled flakey pastry. The filling is a flavorful mix of thyme, sage, garlic, caramelized onions, roasted butternut squash, and creamy tangy chevre. As for the pastry, it’s has a bit of sage in it, as well, and creates a lovely extra seasonal + cozy flavor for the crust. Now, if you’re looking at the top and wondering “do I have to do all that decorating??” the answer is a relieving “no.” You can make the top crust as simple or as decorative as you like! The recipe below does make enough crust for you to cut some fun decorations out of the edge trimmings, so feel free to get creative if you’d like! But no pressure if you want to keep things simple. The butternut squash pie will be delicious all the same.

With this pie, it’s very important that you cook the filling as directed beforehand, since this helps evaporate a lot of the moisture out of the squash and onions, which will keep you from having a soggy bottom crust. But equally important is to make sure that the filling is *completely cool* before starting to assemble the pie. If the filling is warm, it will start melting the butter in the crust once it touches it and will make the dough very difficult to work with, and change the texture of the dough once it bakes up. I personally like making the filling the night before and keeping it in the fridge overnight, so I don’t have to wait around for it to cool down, and instead can just dive into assembling everything in the morning. I hope it brings some delicious autumn flavors to your table, and wish you all a wonderful November!

And P.S.—If you’re looking for some Thanksgiving recipe recommendations, you can see a list of my favorites from the blog HERE! I’m definitely making my Pear and Sage Roast Turkey, as I do every year 🙂

This past august Jeremy and I went on a two week trip to Iceland. It was my third time visiting this beautiful landscape, but my first time driving the whole Ring Road. The Ring Road is Highway 1 in Iceland and goes all the way around the island, with *many* different beautiful natural wonders and a wide variety of landscapes along the way. I’m sharing our itinerary here on the blog, broken up into several blog posts, each focusing on a different region of the Ring Road route. And with this first post, I’m focusing on our time in Iceland’s capitol city, Reykjavik, and the southwestern part of the county.

I’d fallen in love with this country about 6 years ago when I stayed for a week during an Iceland air stopover on the way to Sweden. After that week was over, I had tears streaming down my face as the plane took off because I wanted to stay in Iceland so, so badly. It’s hard to describe the feeling of this place….so much of Iceland is uninhabited, and humans are a relatively new addition to the Icelandic landscape. We didn’t immigrate there until about the ninth century when we came over from Scandinavia. I think because of this, there’s a feeling built into the earth in Iceland that’s incredibly ancient and strong, and deeply peaceful. Seeing someplace so wild and so untouched by human hands—there’s really no other way to describe the energy of the place other than magical. It literally feels like you’ve wandered into a fairytale and you can expect giants and elves to wander out from the fog.

One of the most incredible aspects of Iceland is the huge variety in the landscape there. From lush green fields to steaming boiling orange-crusted earth resembling the surface of mars to miles of neon green moss-covered rocks to glacial mountains to black sand beaches, you will never get bored of the scenery. And even if you’re not a hiker, there are such a variety of trails here that you can easily find beautiful short trails or just visit the sites that are pull-offs right off Highway 1. You don’t need to be a rugged outdoorsman to enjoy the beauty of this place.

As for preparing for your trip, I definitely recommend packing some snacks (in rural areas the restaurants can be spread out), and waterproof gear (especially comfy waterproof shoes) in case of rain. Make sure to research the weather before you go, too, and pack accordingly. We went in August and the weather was sunny and 70’s on some days and rainy and 40’s on others, so packing light layers and a couple sweaters served us well. Because I’m a planner, Jeremy and I researched a lot of different hikes, restaurants, and interesting places to stay before our trip, and I plotted them on this google map I made. You can feel free to reference it for your trip, if you go. I also have written about our experiences with COVID precautions + safety at the end of this post, as well, if you’re interested in traveling to Iceland.

Also, none of this is sponsored or trade. Every place we stayed, every restaurant, was what we chose + paid for. There’s nothing wrong with trade etc, but I just wanted to be transparent about it. This trip was meant to be our babymoon but after the miscarriage it turned into a really good recovery vacation, and we splurged a bit on it. If the hotels we stayed at our outside of your budget, I definitely recommend checking out Airbnb, too. There’s always so many great places to stay all over Iceland on that platform.

Now, before I dive into what to see + do, I wanted to share some advice for interacting with nature while you’re there. The natural landscape is the main reason why people come to Iceland in the first place, so before you go it’s important to understand how to be respectful of the fragile ecosystems there. And with that, let’s dive in!

IMPORTANT – Rules for Hiking + Sightseeing in Nature

Leave No Trace

This means don’t leave anything behind or damage anything while you’re there. A common misconception among hikers is that it’s okay to leave biodegradeable things like food out in the wild. This applies to some hikers that I saw throw banana peels into Braurfoss. This is NOT okay for several reasons. 1) Every ecosystem functions with what naturally exists within it. When you start adding new plant materials to it, like a banana peel, apple core, old sandwich, etc, you’re potentially introducing new bacteria, parasites, and fungal diseases that the current environment hasn’t developed any natural immunities for. There is a real potential for these new introductions to devastate the beautiful environment you’re there to see. 2) A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself “What is everyone did that?” So with braurfoss, what if everyone who visited that waterfall left a piece of trash there? That beautiful waterfall would be full of rotting smelly garbage. 3) When you leave food garbage at natural landscapes, you’re also introducing a new food source to the animals that live there, which can throw off the whole delicate balance of their ecosystem. It also encourages the wildlife to get closer and closer to human beings, which can lead to poaching, animals being hit by cars, or larger predatory animals attacking people.

Respect Boundaries

If there is a trail, stay on it. If there is a railing to keep you in a certain area, stay in there. The reason those boundaries are there are to protect these delicate environments from human destruction. In Iceland, for example, the moss takes hundreds of years to grow. And after being stepped on only 3 times, it dies. When we were at Svartifoss, 80% of the tourists had climbed over the metal railing that was there and were wandering around right up next to the waterfall, walking on all the plants that grew around the pond it empties into. I think they thought the boundary was there to protect them from the waterfall, and that since the waterfall was fairly small they would be safe. But the truth is, the barrier is also there to protect the waterfall from us. So please, stay on the trail and be mindful of barriers.

How Long We Were There

Jeremy and I spent about 5 and a half days in this area, but you could easily spend several weeks here because there are SO many beautiful trails and hikes in this region. Between Reykjavik, the golden circle (the nickname for the area around Thingvellir Nation Park, the Geysir geothermal area, and Gullfoss), and alllll the beautiful waterfalls along the southwestern coast, there’s a LOT to see and do in the region. This was my third time exploring the southwestern part of Iceland, and I still want to come back and see more. But if you’re looking for the highlights and want to spend about 2 weeks doing the Ring Road route, I’d recommend setting aside about 5 days for it.

COVID Precautions

The COVID requirements to enter Iceland are changing every couple months, so definitely make sure to confirm what the requirements are before you go. Iceland has a great website that provides answers to all the current entry-related restrictions + requirements here. When we went, it was required that you had a valid vaccination certificate, and that you had a negative covid test within 3 days of boarding, and you needed to present both at boarding in addition to your passport. They also checked it again when you landed and went through customs in Iceland. It made us feel a lot safer knowing that everyone who was allowed into the country had recently tested negative for covid and was vaccinated. We had to get another covid test in the capitol before our flight to leave Iceland, but it’s very easy to schedule it here.

As for once you’re actually IN Iceland, they were extremely on top of COVID precautions. Every restaurant (even the rural ones) we visited had a sign in sheet at the front desk for you to leave your name and phone number, and they would notify you via Iceland’s Rakning C-19 app if you had been exposed to Covid. Everyone wore masks indoors.

My Essential Stops in Reykjavik and South Western Iceland

Eat

Mokka Kaffi (casual coffee + breakfast)
Emilie and the Cool Kids (casual coffee + bagels)
Kaffihús Vesturbæjar (casual coffee + food)
Grandi Matholl (casual hip food hall)
Fish Company (higher end)
Kopar (higher end)
Fish Market (higher end)
Mat Bar (cocktails)
Silfra Restaurant at ION Adventure Hotel (casual)
Fjöruborðið (casual, langoustine soup is a MUST)
Fish and Chips (no website, food cart in parking lot of Secret Lagoon, hands-down the best fried fish of my life)

See + Do

Kolaportið (flea market)
The National Gallery of Iceland
Hallgrimskirkja (church)
Danau Tjornin (small lake in Reykjavik w/lots of birds)
Secret Lagoon (hot springs, lots of space)
Laugarvatn Fontana (hot springs, slightly crowded)
Blue Lagoon (hot springs, near Reykjavik, very popular + touristy)
Thingvellir National Park (lake in the middle, lots of hikes)
Bruarfoss Hike (waterfall)
Geysir (geyser)
Gullfoss (waterfall)
Hjalparfoss (waterfall)
Horseback Riding
Seljalandsfoss (waterfall)
Skogafoss (waterfall)
Skogar Museum (Icelandic cultural museum + turf house museum)
Gljufrabui (waterfall crevasse)

Stay

The Reykjavik Residence (beautiful converted apartments in the old town area of Reykjavik within walking distance of restaurants and bars)
Torfhus (turf house hotels with private little hot tubs behind each one. Absolutely loved staying here!)
ION Adventure Hotel (didn’t stay here but had lunch in their restaurant and the hotel looked really nice)
Skalalot Hotel (beautiful hotel with lots of fun activities like horseback riding)

Travel Tools

• Install the Rakning C-19 app, Iceland uses it to track COVID exposure and notifies you if you’ve been exposed
• Install the AllTrails app if you plan on hiking, it makes it really easy to find nearby trails and get a visual of what’s in store + the difficulty of the hike before you start. You can make a profile on their site and bookmark the hikes you want to go on, which makes it easy to find them quickly and navigate to them.
• Make sure your cell phone will let you use it in Iceland and call them beforehand to see if it needs to be “unlocked” and enabled on a global roaming plan for the time you plan to be there. You can also get an Icelandic SIM card instead at the airport and use it in your phone while you’re there. You definitely want to have a signal while you’re there so you can navigate to all the hikes and sights.
• This is the google map I made of all the places relevant to our trip.
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Reykjavik

Golden Circle + Bruarfoss + Hjalparfoss

Skogafoss + Sejlandafoss + Skoga Museum