There are two kinds of soups. One is pureed at the end and topped with crunchy garnish while the other borders on a stew. The soups on my list below are mostly stewy soups because when you’re making soup as a meal, you want it to be chunky and hearty.

Do you know the best thing about making soup? It’s relatively easy. You do a little prep, throw all the ingredients in a pot, and cook it until it’s done. It’s also reasonably simple. I have to show Julia Turshen’s soup formulas (below are from her site) for it to make sense.

Most soups follow the same formula. For hearty soups, it’s sauteed, add liquid, add ingredients, and simmer. For pureed soups, you blend it after simmering. (Here’s my plug to add an immersion blender to your kitchen arsenal. It’s much easier than transferring soup back and forth from a blender.)

Whether you want soup for the season or you’re looking for an easy recipe, there are so many soup recipes out there. The challenge I put together for myself was making a different soup recipe every week, which I did from October to February. 

Here are the 18 soup recipes I enjoyed!

1. Kale, White Bean, Chicken

A solid soup to start off with, this soup is made in one pot. I would argue one-pot cooking is the whole goal of making soup. This soup is one I’ve made before and one of the first we thought of when we started this weekly soup journey.

2. Spiced Lentil Soup

A friend recommended this soup and it is exploding with flavor! That makes sense because it has cinnamon, turmeric, cumin, cardamom, and cayenne pepper. This was my first time cooking with lentils!

3. Chicken Tortilla Soup

A few years ago, a friend made this soup for a dinner party and it was a hit. We’ve enjoyed this one annually.

4. Wild Rice Soup

It was my first time making this recipe and I really liked it. It’s creamy without milk and loaded with veggies and mushrooms.

5. Beef Stew

Soup or stew? To me, if the liquid can cover the ingredients, it counts as a soup, which makes the words soup and stew interchangeable in my opinion. They say it’s soup when the liquid is the primary ingredient but other than pureed soup, is liquid ever the primary ingredient? Don’t judge by my photos; I tend to get less juice and more bulky stuff when I ladle my soups. I feel you shaking your head at me.

6. Potato Leek Soup

This is one of my favorite soups. Back when we got a regular CSA, we got leeks and potatoes in the same box often. This recipe is vegan but we saute ground beef to make it a hearty dinner soup.

7. Italian Wedding Soup

Of all the soups I made, this one was a tiny bit more complicated, but it was worth it! This soup involved making my own meatballs, which was equally stressful and rewarding. This is one of my favorite soups because it is hearty and because orzo is one of my favorite ingredients.

8. Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash soup is an annual make! I like to make it a bit spicy and the most important part is the garnish – toasted pumpkin seeds and fried sage. My favorite variation of this recipe is in the Super Simple Half-Baked Harvest Cookbook. Remember when I cooked through the cookbook?

9. Caldo Verde

Most of our grocery shopping is done without a set list, which drives me a little crazy. I typically like to make bookmarked recipes. But you never know what you’ll find (or won’t find) at the grocery store, which makes flexibility and spontaneity a regular part of our shopping. So, when we spied beef shank on the shelf, this recipe was found, made, and enjoyed.

10. Tom Kha Gai

I made it nine weeks before falling back on my regular soup! This is my go-to soup recipe and I make it several times a year. It’s an easy and tasty way to cook chicken (because I’m always looking for those recipes) and the flavors are delicious. I’ve made it so many times I make the recipe up as I go or find a random recipe online to reference. My quick tip is using cayenne pepper in place of Thai chiles because getting those usually requires a dedicated trip to the Asian grocery store.

11. Cauliflower Soup

We brought the joy of soup to the holidays with this one. This soup was made to be a side dish to an extravagant holiday meal. This soup is hard to make look appetizing but it was good.

12. Zuppa Toscana

This recipe is based on the popular dish from Olive Garden, and though I never had it there, I can tell why it’s a hit. Honestly, put potatoes and kale in any soup and I’m there. We used ground beef instead of sausage in this soup, and this has made it to my go-to soup list.

13. Colombian Chicken Stew

Our friend recommended this soup after hearing about our weekly soup adventures. This is a very easy, meat and potatoes kind of soup.

14. Oxtail Stew

This recipe came out of the blue when I threw out the word oxtail, but we ended up making this one multiple times. It’s a rich soup and was quickly devoured. It’s a time-consuming recipe but worth it!

15. Kao Soi

Ah, weekly soup goes to another dinner party! The dinner party theme was Thai food, and this is one of my favorite Thai noodle soup dishes. It’s an intensive soup, which most Thai recipes can be, but the Thai Fresh Cookbook makes it easy. Kao Soi originated in Northern Thailand and is similar to yellow curry but with more depth. You eat it with flat egg noodles. If you see it on a menu, order it!

16. Coconut Curry Beef and Sweet Potato

This sounds like an interesting combination, right? It’s similar to beef stew but has the curry ingredient and uses sweet potato. This soup came about when we realized we had most of the ingredients already.

17. Chicken Pozole Verde

It took me this many weeks to think about Mexican soup. I’m not sure what sparked this recipe, but I was excited to cook with tomatillos and hominy for the first time. This recipe was so delicious! I used chicken thighs though because I don’t believe in chicken breasts.

18. West Lake Soup

I got the Woks of Life cookbook a few months ago in hopes of learning how to cook more Chinese dishes! I have memories of enjoying this soup at fancy events and big family meals. I’ve got to practice my egg drop technique though because my soup ended up with a few big egg globs.

The goal of making a different soup every week was one I looked forward to and only mildly stressed about. I liked that it was for a season instead of a year and it came at the perfect time. This winter was strange and the anticipation and enjoyment of a warm soup was a bit of sunshine. It’s likely that I (and maybe you) usually make a lot of soup in the winter anyways, so this challenge also made it feel like an accomplishment. The best part was I discovered many new favorite soup recipes that I’m sure will make their way into the rotation again!

What’s your favorite soup recipe?

Want to spend more time in my kitchen? Take a look at these posts:

• A Month of Dinners: What a Blogger Eats
• Best Baking Recipes I’ve Tried Lately
• Cooking Through the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook
• Simple Guide to Brewing Kombucha
• My Favorite Easy Whole30 Challenge Recipes

The post 18 Soup Recipes for Cold Weather appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Kombucha 101

Let’s start at the beginning. What is kombucha? Kombucha is a fermented tea. Using a SCOBY (more on this later), the sugary tea will create gasses and acid (bubbles). The end product is bubbly and mildly vinegary.

Kombucha is good for your gut and has a lot of probiotics. That means the bacteria in the drink can combine with your body’s bacteria to become stronger. Kombucha is also a good alternative to soda.

How Did We Start Brewing Kombucha?

Around the beginning of the pandemic (March 2020), we were getting groceries curbside (placing an order online and picking up). We were going through multiple bottles of kombucha a week, which was delicious but also a bit wasteful. In April, I connected with someone in Austin who was giving away SCOBYs. We quickly gathered supplies and started brewing!

We read a handful of articles and watched some videos, but we mostly took the cooking route (feel with your heart) versus the baking route (measure everything). Aside from the 14 cups of water, one cup of sugar, and seven tea bags, everything else is flexible. Yes, this means our best batches aren’t replicated but they get close/better and we try different flavors.

Brewing kombucha is a fairly easy and low-maintenance project, and we’ve brewed 265 bottles since we began! We’ve had one or two questionable batches, flavor-wise, but overall, we’ve drunk a lot of homemade kombuchas and enjoyed the process.

If you’re curious, I calculated that every batch of six bottles costs about $4, which is 66 cents a bottle. (This is calculating the cost of tea, sugar, and fruit.) We used to buy kombucha for about $2.80 a bottle. This is about a $12.80 savings every month while wasting fewer bottles.

How to Make Kombucha

First, you need a SCOBY. This stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. It looks like a white, dense, and slimy pancake. The easiest way to start is by getting a SCOBY with a bit of kombucha juice from someone (send me a message if you’re in Austin!) or you can buy it off the internet. A new SCOBY grows at the top of a kombucha brew, so SCOBYs are always being produced.

For the first fermentation, you’ll also need a big jar, small cloth, rubber band, bottling jars, sugar, and tea. Some notes on these things:

• Here is an easy kit to get that includes jars, cloth, and rubber bands. You can also reuse a big pickle jar and use any type of cloth, about the size of a face washcloth.
• Black and green tea are best for brewing. Don’t use herbal or flavored teas.

The first fermentation (7-10 days) will give you kombucha. The second fermentation (3-7 days) will infuse flavor into your kombucha.

First Fermentation (7-10 days) – Make Kombucha

• Bring 14 cups of water to a boil. 
• Turn off the heat and dissolve 1 cup of sugar and add six or seven tea bags (or 10 grams of tea). Set a timer for 15 minutes.
• Remove the tea and let the tea cool. (I usually make the tea in the morning and it is cool by evening.)
• Add the tea to the big jar with the SCOBY and juices. Give it a stir. Place the cloth on top and secure it with a rubber band. Place the jar in a place at room temperature and without direct sunlight. (Ours is on the kitchen counter.)
• Check the kombucha in 7-10 days. You can usually smell it if it’s ready or you can give it a stir and take a sip.
• If you don’t want to infuse flavor, give your jar a swirl, bottle up your kombucha, and put it in the fridge. It’s ready to drink!

Second Fermentation (3-7 days) – Infuse Flavor

• Set out your jars (I usually have enough kombucha for six jars) and add your fruit. It can be juice or solid fruit. Use about a third cup of fruit. (I eyeball the fruit and it’s about a fourth of the bottle.)
• Screw the lid on tight and place in a room temperature, dark place for at least three days. You want the lid to be very tight.
• After three days, transfer a bottle to the fridge and when it’s cold, give it a try. This will let you know if all the bottles are ready for the fridge or if you want to let them ferment (for more bubbles) a little longer.

Quick Tips for Kombucha Brewing

• Brewing is a science experiment and differs from your unique SCOBY, how much fruit, etc. Keeping a kombucha journal will help you keep track. It can be as detailed or basic as you want it. Mine (see photo below) has the basic information to keep track of the time.
• Putting kombucha in the fridge will stop the fermentation process.
• Pop bottles were recommended but we found reusing kombucha bottles that you buy at the grocery is better. You’ll reduce waste and it’s easier to add fruit to these bottles with wider openings. Kombucha is more likely to explode out of pop bottles since you’re releasing pressure quickly at one time.
• To take the label off of kombucha bottles, add boiling water to the bottle to loosen the label adhesive. When you think you won’t burn your fingers (10-15 minutes), peel the label off. Scrub a mixture of baking soda and oil to remove the remaining stickiness on the outside.
• You can use fresh or frozen fruit in your kombucha. We found it tastes better with frozen fruit.
• Be sure to strain the fruit out before you drink it.
• My favorite kombucha flavor is pineapple ginger. Blueberry ginger and mango are also good flavors.

Kombucha continues to be one of my favorite beverages and I’m sure we’ll continue to brew many more bottles!

Here are some other posts about the fun I have in the kitchen:

• Best Baking Recipes I’ve Tried Lately
• Cooking Through the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook
• A Month of Dinners: What a Blogger Eats
• Farm-to-Table Challenge: 5 Things I Learned in a Year of Local Eating

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Why Cook Through a Cookbook?

This was my third year cooking through a cookbook and like my previous two times, I was aiming for similar goals.

• Saving money by cooking at home more
• Trying new recipes and ingredients
• Getting more comfortable with cooking
• Making use of a cookbook

How did I do in round three? Keep reading to see!

Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook

Half Baked Harvest is a popular food blog by Tieghan Gerard, and Half Baked Harvest Super Simple is her second cookbook. This cookbook does have a lot of super simple recipes needing fewer ingredients and less time. The cookbook has about 137 recipes, give or take. Some recipes had accompaniment recipes like salsa or whipped butter that went along with the main attraction. If you’re not proficient in the kitchen and want to try some new recipes, I think this cookbook is a great place to start.

While this cookbook and cooking from a cookbook have their frustrations (more on that later), there are some winning recipes I tried and love having in my back pocket. Here are some recipes we made multiple times.

• Caesar Broccoli Salad – We love Caesar salad but it can be time-consuming. This dressing in this recipe uses tahini.
• Chicken Pot Pie – You can’t go wrong here! It’s a classic recipe that is always a crowd-pleaser.
• Chicken and Orzo – This recipe also has artichokes, olives, and feta, and it is so delicious! You’ll likely see me make this for a future dinner party.
• Butter Pecan Bars – These bars were so mouth-watering!

I ended up making 97 of the 137 recipes, about 70% of the cookbook! (I did 56% and 58% on the previous cookbook challenges.) There are more recipes from the cookbook I want to try and there were plenty of recipes I enjoyed, so I’m sure I’ll come back to it.

What I Learned From Cooking Through a Cookbook

Here are some of my notes from a year of cooking through this cookbook.

• The cookbook does a good job of recreating recipes with familiar ingredients. It might not be totally authentic, but the goal is to make something similar with the essential ingredients.
• Recipes will take longer than it says. A lot of this has to do with how slowly I chop and prepare. Recipes usually included chopped vegetables in the ingredients, which is why sometimes a recipe would take twice as long. Not a big deal; I just had to add in extra time to make sure dinner was ready on time!
• Are cookbooks for everyday cooking? Cookbooks include a lot of fancier recipes that can sometimes be complicated and expensive. How do the things you cook every day differ in budget and complexity?
• Why doesn’t this dish look like the photo? I said this a bunch while cooking these recipes. But that’s expected because cookbooks have professional photography with tricks that make the dishes look perfect!
• This cookbook has lots of recipes with cheese and gluten, which we typically don’t do a lot of.

What’s Next in the Kitchen?

Would I do it again? Yes! But maybe in a few years. It’s a huge task to cook through a cookbook. This year, I’ll be cooking from the cookbooks I have, trying more Chinese dishes, and hopefully cooking and baking for friends. I’m sure it will be another tasty year!

Do you have any cooking or baking goals this year?

The post Cooking Through the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

So, here are some of the things I’ve baked and loved.

Sourdough Everything

Yep, we jumped on that sourdough wagon. We got our sourdough starter from Easy Tiger and had a few months of sourdough baking. We mostly followed the Easy Tiger bread recipes. Our sourdough adventures ended because we realized we didn’t eat that much bread, but it was fun while it lasted! Many of our friends were also baking sourdough, so it was fun to share photos of our loaves and talk about baking tips.

Will made several loaves of sourdough and I’ll say, hot bread straight out of the oven is heavenly!

I was in charge of baking with the sourdough discard. Fry bread was one of the easiest and tastiest recipes. I also made rosemary crackers, herb rolls, biscuits, and blueberry muffins.

King Arthur Flour has a wealth of recipes on their website. I also considered making pretzels and cinnamon rolls. (This is another sourdough cinnamon roll recipe some of my friends loved.)

The Doubletree Signature Cookie

If you’ve ever stayed at a DoubleTree Hotel, you know about the free cookies they give to guests. Lucky for me, I work at a hotel near a DoubleTree, so they graciously send us cookies every once in a while. Well, they released the secret recipe a few months ago and I’ve made a few batches of this delicious cookie since.

These cookies are made with rolled oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts, but I think the secret ingredients are the pinch of cinnamon and the freshly squeezed lemon juice. I highly recommend making the full recipe (26 cookies) and having extra in the freezer whenever you crave some dessert.

Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats

If you’ve ever been to a party I’ve hosted, you’ve probably had these rice crispy treats. I found this recipe when I was cooking through the first Smitten Kitchen cookbook and it’s been my go-to dessert recipe since. It’s quick, easy, and always a crowd-pleaser. You can find the recipe on the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Confituras Biscuit

A local shop called Confituras is known for its jam and biscuits and they have a buttermilk biscuit kit so you can bake the biscuits at home. These biscuits were so good!

Recipes from Half Baked Harvest

I’ve been making my way through the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook this year and baked a few hits the last couple of months. I’ve found the recipes (or variations of it) on the Half Baked Harvest blog, so you can try them out.

I’m becoming sure that browning the butter makes baked goods tastier. In the cookbook is a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe with browned butter. This recipe on the blog is a variation.

I made the Cinnamon Roll Bread Rolls from the cookbook and the chai frosting is the best part! The recipe is also on the blog. As the name suggests, this recipe is more bready than cinnamon rolls, so be warned if you’re looking for a different type of recipe.

The Butter Pecan Bars from the cookbook were so good! Here’s a variation of the recipe on the blog.

I hope you have been baking some delicious things at your home too! It’s about to be prime baking season, so I hope some of these recipes will make it to your oven!

Have you found any favorite recipes? Share in a comment below!

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This project came from my curiosity to see how often we (Will and I) repeat meals, how often we eat out, and the types of things we eat. I already post monthly (on my Flavors of the Month posts) about the dishes and restaurants that were special but all the other things I eat should get some love. And maybe some of you are strangely curious too.

So, I took (or tried to remember to take) a photo of my dinner every night in January. Now you’ll know what a lifestyle and food blogger REALLY eats!

What I Ate in a Month

Here’s the play by play and I’ll give some notes after the list!

• 1, Wed: Homemade Khao Soi
• 2, Thurs: Leftover Homemade Khao Soi
• 3, Fri: Frozen DiGiorgnio’s Pizza – The second day back to work in the new year and we were not ready. Quick trip to the grocery store resulted in this.
• 4, Sat: Homemade Salad with Whatever Was in the Fridge – Spinach with grilled chicken, brie, and steamed beets
• 5, Sun: HEB Meal Simple Salmon

• 6, Mon: Homemade Beef Bourguinon
• 7, Tues: Work Holiday Party Buffet – It included guacamole, a mac and cheese bar, a cheese plate with some delicious truffled gouda, and bread pudding.
• 8, Wed: Dinner at Happy Chicks – I attended a class from 6-9 pm, so I grabbed this quick dinner after work.
• 9, Thurs: Moroccan Chickpea and Carrot Tangine
• 10, Fri: Raclette Night at Antonelli’s – All the info is in this post

• 11, Sat: Dinner at China Family Restaurant
• 12, Sun: Homemade Korean Beef with Mushrooms and Rice
• 13, Mon: Homemade Coconut Curry Meatball with Rice
• 14, Tues: Homemade Arugula Salad with Fennel Grilled Beef, Steamed Beets, and Brie
• 15, Wed: Homemade Grilled Chicken and Kale Salad

• 16, Thurs: Homemade Black Beans and Rice with Leftover Grilled Chicken and Kale Salad
• 17, Fri: Takeout Dinner from The Soup Peddler (Grilled Cheese and Soup) – We were going to go out to eat but Will was sick.
• 18, Sat: Dinner at Vaquero Taquero
• 19, Sun: Homemade Lamb Steak with Steamed Spinach
• 20, Mon: Leftover Lamb Steak with Steamed Spinach and Roasted Carrots, Cauliflower, and Sweet Potato

• 21, Tues: Homemade Poblano Chili
• 22, Wed: Leftover Chili
• 23, Thurs: Homemade Chicken with Orzo and Artichokes
• 24, Fri: Dinner at District Kitchen
• 25, Sat: Homemade Chickpea and Broccoli Yellow Curry

• 26, Sun: Leftover Curry with Steamed Bok Choy and Sauteed Mushrooms
• 27, Mon: Homemade Caesar Broccoli with Beef Steaks
• 28, Tues: Media Tasting at Last Straw – vegan appetizers and a cocktail
• 29, Wed: Homemade Cod with Orzo and Asparagus
• 30, Thurs: Media Tasting at East Austin Hotel
• 31, Fri: Dinner at Odd Duck

Details/Notes About What I Ate and Our Routine

First, I was bad at taking photos of any dinner that was not one from the cookbook or eating out and those were usually the times Will made dinner. Haha.

Cooking at Home and Leftovers

Other than starting my cook through a cookbook challenge, we didn’t try to eat a particular way, i.e. more meals at home or more vegetables. This is how we usually eat! Though I will say, it has been YEARS since I got a frozen pizza from the grocery store, so it’s funny that happened. 

We meal plan and grocery shop for the week on Sundays. This year, Will and I have been trying to split up nights we cook so that I share more of the cooking responsibilities. Cooking through a cookbook and using a cookbook with easy recipes is really helping with that. Plus, we can try different recipes. Months prior to this would not have had this much variety in recipes. We would usually have a rotation of spaghetti, steak, steamed vegetables, and quick salads.

We try not to eat leftovers more than once. If we double a recipe, it’s usually enough for one more meal, so that we’re not eating the same thing more than two nights in a row.  

Eating Out

We usually cook dinner Sunday through Thursday nights and eat out Friday and/or Saturday nights. (There were five times I ate out on a weeknight and Will made dinner at home. I typically eat out an average of three weeknights in a month for media tastings and/or friend outings.) After a long day at work, I just want to eat, relax, and get ready for the next work day, so being a homebody during the week (and spending as much time with Will and Kaira as possible) is ideal. 

We do sometimes eat out for lunch on the weekends, so we don’t only eat out once or twice a week. (For weekday lunches, I eat in my work cafeteria and Will usually brings leftovers for lunch.) See this month’s Flavors of the Month post for more information about the meals we ate out.

Here’s the quick breakdown of my month of dinners:

• Dinners Out: 10/31 meals
• Homemade Dinners: 19/31 meals
• Semi-Homemade Dinners (i.e. frozen or HEB Meal Simple): 2/31 meals
• Leftovers for Dinner: 4/31 meals
• Cookbook Recipes: 10/31 meals

What Do You Think?

Does that satisfy your curiosity?! Our meals seem really exciting because of the cookbook, and seeing our month of dinners like this makes me feel like such an adult. HA! You can tell a lot from someone’s routine, values, and point in life by what they eat for dinner. Most of my meals in college and right after college were chicken nuggets, steamed broccoli, and mac-and-cheese. In my mid-20s, I went out to eat a lot with friends and dates.

Want to eat more at home? Here are three quick tips.

• Choose easier and faster recipes. Recipes with fewer than 10 ingredients, one-pot or slow-cooker recipes, and recipes that take less than an hour make cooking at home much easier.
• Cook from a cookbook or a blog to meal plan from one source. Every week, I’m picking out three recipes from the cookbook I want to make. I try to find similarities in ingredients, so I don’t have excess.
• Meal plan, then grocery shop once. We do it all on Sunday, so that we’re set for the week. This gives us a solid plan and prevents last-minute grocery trips after work or an unexpected meal out.

How do you eat? (Food bloggers – you should try this project and send me a link to your post!) Do you repeat the same recipes every week? What are your go-to dishes? Do you want to cook at home more, and how do you do it?

The post A Month of Dinners: What a Blogger Eats appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Remember when I cooked through the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook in 2013 and the Smitten Kitchen Every Day Cookbook in 2018? Those were big challenges but also so fun! It helped me try some new recipes and ingredients. I’m bringing back this challenge in 2020!

I got the Half Baked Harvest Super Simple Cookbook for my birthday (thanks, Janna!), and I’m really excited to dig in and cook all 138 (or as many as possible) recipes this year! In the past challenges, I made 56% and 58% of the recipes, but I think I can do better this year, especially since these recipes are super simple. In fact, I’ve already made two of the recipes and they were easy peasy. I’ll need to cook about 12 recipes a month to get through the cookbook this year.

Written by food blogger Tieghan Gerard, this cookbook has recipes for our Instant Pot, one-pot recipes, and recipes with less than 10 ingredients. Tieghan started her food blog Half Baked Harvest in 2012 and her beautiful photos, especially the ones with cake, drew me in. She’s making cooking even easier with this second cookbook and I’m looking forward to cooking through it. This cookbook has some Asian fusion recipes, which I know I’ll love, and plenty of dishes to bring to parties and to the office to share. I’m also hoping to host small dinner parties to spread the love of this cookbook.

Want to join in and cook through a cookbook? Which one will you do?
Or what cooking goals do you have for the new year?

You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

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Remember my challenge to cook through a cookbook this year? At the beginning of the year, I made it my mission to cook as many recipes from Smitten Kitchen Every Day as possible. There have been days of great recipes and a fair share of fails. (Spoiler alert: burnt popcorn will stink up your house.)

I choose the Smitten Kitchen Every Day cookbook because I liked my experience the first time I cooked through a cookbook a few years ago. (I ended up completing 59 out of 105 recipes that time.) Smitten Kitchen is a food/recipe blog by Deb Perelman. Her first cookbook came out in 2012 and the second came out in 2017.

Keep reading to hear all about my experience of cooking through Smitten Kitchen Every Day!

Cooking Through a Cookbook: How Did I Do?

First, you might notice this post only mentions one cookbook. Halfway through the year, I realized that I was a bit ambitious to try to cook through Smitten Kitchen Every Day AND the Night + Market cookbook. There were some great recipes in Night + Market, but overall, the recipes took a bit more planning. Cutting Night + Market from the challenge made this goal more realistic.

When December started, I was less than halfway through the Smitten Kitchen Every Day! I hustled hard to make up for it and in the end, I completed 67 of the 114 recipes, about 58% of the cookbook. Here’s the recipe breakdown by category:

• Breakfast: 6/15
• Salads: 7/12
• Soups and Stew: 5/8
• Sandwiches, Tarts, and Flatbreads: 3/9
• Vegetable Mains: 12/18
• Meat Mains: 9/13
• Sweets: 5/6
• Tarts and Pies: 4/6
• Cake: 11/13
• Puddings, Frozen Things, etc: 2/7
• Apps, Snacks, and Party Foods: 3/7

I completed 22 out of the 32 dessert recipes, which is typically my favorite category to make. I also made many of the soups and vegetable and meat main dishes.

Challenges and Wins of Cooking Through a Cookbook

Ah yes, many of the things I experienced the first time I cooked through a cookbook were re-learned through this experience. In addition to forgetting things on the stove and burning pots and accidentally leaving out ingredients, these were some of my woes I experienced in cooking through a cookbook.

Buying “Random” Ingredients – I’m not constantly cooking since my fiancé does a lot of it (thank goodness and I’m so thankful), and I’m not the best at using up ingredients. I think more seasoned home cooks have learned how to incorporate ingredients into new meals or meal plan efficiently so that certain ingredients are in multiple meals in the week. So, there were weeks we ended up with unused celery stalks or cheese, which went against my desire for less food waste.

Adjusting Portion Size – Some dishes I cooked made too much and by the time my housemates decided they didn’t want to eat more leftovers, we were left with food waste. Also, other times, a recipe made too little and it could be tedious for me to make multiple dishes in one night.

Saving Money – In buying ingredients we didn’t typically use and cooking too much of a meal, I’m not sure if we saved money from our normal grocery expense. We typically cook meals with few ingredients and the same meals every month, so different dishes might have changed our budget. I didn’t keep track of the amount we were spending, but with the food waste issues I mentioned, we might have had spent more than we would have spent.

Using Unfamiliar Ingredients – One opportunity I noted at the beginning of the challenge was cooking with new ingredients. I did plenty of scavenger hunts at my grocery store trying to find specific ingredients, and a handful of times, my grocery store didn’t have what I needed. I tried my best to find substitutes or simply left it out if it wasn’t crucial.

Becoming a “Real” Cook – One of the reasons why I took on this cookbook challenge was to make me more comfortable in the kitchen. I aspire to be a home cook that can throw together flawless, delicious meals by heart/feel. One (inconsistent) year of this cookbook challenge didn’t make this happen, but I know it’s an ongoing challenge to exercise my cooking muscles until then.

These were my woes, but it could look completely different for you. It depends on your personality, your ability to improvise, and the amount of time and energy you put into your challenge.

This challenge introduced me to cooking new ingredients like farro and halloumi and I made new-to-me dishes like pelmeni (so hard!), icebox cake, and homemade tomato soup. I got compliments from my fiancé and friends when dishes turned out well and even fantastic, and we laughed when things went a little chaotic.

I might not be completely comfortable with cooking yet, but this challenge stretched me, as I hoped it would, and I’m proud of the times I tried something new and fed my family. I also learned that I need to read through ingredient lists and recipes twice before going to the grocery store and starting the recipe and to always set a timer, especially if multiple dishes are being made.

Favorite Recipes from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

In what I call “classic Deb Perelman style,” Smitten Kitchen Every Day is full of Perelman’s down-to-earth stories, sassy comments, and some no-frills recipes. She makes cooking new dishes approachable and easy. I like when she’s honest about dishes that will impress but also dishes you can quickly whip up. As she notes in her introduction, these are recipes for all occasions, with enough spice to make any day feel special.

Maybe one day I’ll choose cooking over baking. For now, the exact measurements and how most dessert recipes turn out right are what I enjoy. I made a few dessert recipes for parties and they were hits. I especially liked the cheesecake semifreddo that everyone told me I should have doubled so that everyone could have double portions! The marble bundt cake and the pretzel linzers with salted caramel were also favorites.

There’s one dish we made at least five times this year, and that was the chicken and rice. This “street-cart” style dish was easy and delicious every time. The chicken was marinated in a blend of sauces and we put them on the grill. I’m sure we’ll keep coming back to this recipe!

I like that many of the recipes in this cookbook are fairly easy to make. We found some recipes we’ll continue to make and I’ve got 47 recipes left to try eventually!

Should You Cook Through a Cookbook?

Yes! It is a BIG challenge and maybe one day I’ll actually cook through an entire cookbook. For me, I liked having the goal, though it felt stressful at times. In the end, it was very rewarding.

I don’t have a large cookbook collection, but many of my cookbooks usually sit untouched. The publishing industry is spitting out more cookbooks than we can handle and the ease of finding a recipe online doesn’t help. My minimalist mindset asks why have these pretty cookbooks on a bookshelf if they never get opened?

I would definitely cook through a cookbook in a year again, but this year I’m going to take a break and aim to leisurely cook more recipes from the cookbooks I have. A year-long timeline for cooking through a cookbook might feel too strict and overwhelming for some (or many), so why not aim to cook one recipe weekly or two recipes a month from one of your cookbooks?

I think overall, cooking through and with cookbooks can help you meal plan more efficiently and can be a lot of fun!

Thank you for joining in my cookbook challenge! It was a fun and tasty year.

How often do you cook from a cookbook? Do you have a favorite recipe you tried last year?

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A few years ago, I took on a year-long challenge of cooking as many recipes from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook as possible. I ended up cooking 59 out of 105 recipes and recapped that experience in this post. At that point in my life, I didn’t know much about cooking and cooking through the cookbook helped me learn about new ingredients, practice new techniques, and overall, become more confident in the kitchen. With my success with the first cookbook, I had been eyeing the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook – Smitten Kitchen Every Day – that recently released, and my secret Santa was so kind to include it in my gift at the end of the year.

A few months ago, Boyfriend announced he impulsively bought a Thai cookbook because he heard an interview about it on NPR. (My public relations background is yelling SEE! DIRECT ROI ON PR!) “Oh great,” I, the Debbie Downer, thought, “something that is only going to take up space.” But when it came in the mail, we excitedly looked through it, recognizing dishes we had enjoyed during our Thailand trip.

So, we have some new cookbooks. Now what?

Pineapple Shrimp Fried Rice from Night + Market Cookbook

#CookbookChallenge This Year!

How many cookbooks do you have and how often do you use them? These days, I rely on blogs and food websites to give me recipes and ideas. Search for a recipe and you’ll likely find a handful, if not more, solid versions of the recipe. Cookbooks are beautiful to look at but for me, they collect dust more often than being used. I don’t like being wasteful and with these new cookbooks, I decided we go ALL IN, and that’s how my goal of cooking through Smitten Kitchen Every Day and Night + Market came about.

We’re going to try our best and make all 232 recipes by the end of this year.

If you’re doing the math in your head, that’s roughly 19 recipes a month and four recipes a week, a pretty tall task. There’s a slim chance we will truly make all the recipes but the fun is in the journey, right? We usually cook at home on weekdays, and there will be potlucks and co-workers who will devour sweet treats.

Nevertheless, we’ll have fun with these cookbooks. Smitten Kitchen Every Day has a strong variety of recipes, including recipes for every meal time and sections for cookies, tarts and pies, cakes, and puddings. Night + Market is all Thai recipes, though some feature other Asian flavors.

It’s an ambitious goal, I know, but in this journey, I know I’ll learn/re-learn a lot.

• I’ll experiment with new ingredients.
• I’ll make dishes of different cultures.
• I’ll try out new cooking techniques and processes.
• I’ll save money by cooking more at home instead of going out to eat.
• I’ll find favorite recipes I’ll come back to for years.
• I’ll share the experience with friends by hosting dinner parties or making things for gatherings.
• I’ll become more comfortable with cooking.
• I’ll have a boost of adventure and creativity!

It’s a commitment to cook through a cookbook, but when it comes to food, it feels more like a fun hobby than work. It also helps that Boyfriend is on board (or at least lovingly going along with my plans) for this adventure. Many times, we are cooking the recipes together or for timing reasons on weekdays, I prep them for him to execute. Cooking more at home AND bonding time – sounds like a win-win to me!

Blueberry Muffins from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

How I Keep Track of the Progress

My previous challenge included a Word Document list of all the recipes, and I crossed them out digitally, changing the number of recipes made manually.

This time around, I’m all about the SPREADSHEET. I have every recipe listed with a place to add the date I made it, the difficulty level, and any notes about the process or result. Most importantly, I’ve created it to automatically add up how many recipes I’ve made so far. #NerdAlert, I know, but it makes my organizational brain so happy.

Here’s a screenshot of the Smitten Kitchen Every Day spreadsheet. I added some arrows and notes for you.

Oh, I already know how nerdy this is. When I excitedly showed Boyfriend my creation his response was a slow “ok…whatever makes you happy.”

Want to Join in the Fun?

Our current count is 35 out of 232 recipes made! Moving along!

If you’re interested in joining the cookbook challenge, DO IT! Make it fun for you, whatever that looks like. Let me know what cookbook you’re cooking through, and I would love to keep up with your progress.

Double Coconut Meltaway Cookies from Smitten Kitchen Every Day

Have you ever tried cooking through a cookbook? Do you have any favorite cookbooks or where do you find new recipes?

P.S. A cookbook potluck is one party idea I still love. Have you ever tried it?

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

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The bean-to-bar chocolate movement is booming! We now have over 200 chocolate makers in the U.S. compared to only five companies 15 years ago. Chocolate has a long history in the world (thanks, Mesoamericans, Mayans, and Aztecs) and production was propelled forward when chocolate factories opened in the 1890s. I like to think we are working on going back to the roots, creating unique craft chocolate that honors the land, the farmer, the flavors, and the craft.

I’ve been learning all about craft chocolate – from reading a book and articles, attending a chocolate event, and tasting chocolate – and in true foodie nerd form, I’m fascinated by everything I’ve learned and experienced. There are chocolate makers and chocolate lovers out to change the world through chocolate, and I wanted to share some of my favorite and eye-opening facts and figures. So, are you ready? Let’s talk chocolate! 

What is bean-to-bar chocolate?

Bean-to-bar chocolate is carefully made in from start to finish. A chocolate maker will source, roast, grind, and smoothe the high-quality whole cocoa beans to make a chocolate bar. Chocolate makers are a part of the whole process – from where the beans are grown to what the chocolate wrappers look like. They’ve likely visited the cocoa farms themselves and know the farmers or at least source beans from specific farmers. Quality and flavor of the chocolate, as well as farming ethics, are what make bean-to-bar chocolate different from industrial chocolate.

Cacao Beans

But why craft chocolate?

As with other craft products, the thought is more care and better ingredients go into making a craft product. Beer and coffee are two other industries that come to mind. It’s mass production (industrial) vs. smaller batch production, like Budweiser and Folgers vs. your local craft brewery and coffee roaster. In the chocolate industry, craft companies are competing for consumer loyalties against corporations like Nestle, Mars, and Hershey’s. Craft companies are impacting more than their bottom line from the very beginning of their process. They know who their cocoa farmers are and aim to pay them fairly and a living wage. They don’t exploit farmers and they focus on quality and ethics.

The facts make it undeniable. About 70% of the world’s industrial chocolate comes from Africa, mostly from two countries, Ghana and Ivory Coast. Nestle made $100 billion in sales in 2015 while Ghana and Ivory Coast have a GDP of around $73 billion. Something doesn’t add up here. Adding the knowledge of Africa’s human rights issues and widespread poverty, buying cheap chocolate doesn’t seem worth it.

Enjoying craft chocolate means enjoying some of the best quality chocolate while supporting the hard-working cacao farmers that are providing for their families. You’re also supporting the chocolate maker that believes in the farmers and the art of making incredible-tasting chocolate. 

So, there’s a cool book about craft chocolate?

Yes! Megan Giller, a chocolate aficionado and blogger of Chocolate Noise, has been studying bean-to-bar chocolate for years and her colorful and insightful book about everything she has learned is available. I couldn’t put ‘Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution‘ down and have learned so much about where chocolate comes from, how to taste chocolate, what drinks and foods to pair with chocolate, the history of many bean-to-bar companies in the U.S., and more! The book is packed with information and is sure to get you excited about chocolate.

Fun illustrations in the book

Snippets from the Book

Here are a few facts and things to know about chocolate from the book. The book is the perfect place to start learning about craft chocolate.

• ‘Chocolate maker’ refers to the people taking cacao beans and making them into chocolate bars. ‘Chocolatier’ refers the people taking chocolate and making them into confections like bon bons and truffles.
• Cacao refers to the pod and beans while cocoa is what it is called after it is fermented and dried. Chocolate is the finished product, like a bar, we eat.
• Single-origin chocolate means the beans used to make the bar is from one country. These bars usually say the country on the wrapper. Countries are known for specific flavors (fruity or nutty are a few), so that’s a way to find the chocolate you like.
• Going further, single-estate chocolate means the beans come from one specific farm.
• Cacao only grows 20 degrees north and south of the equator.
• In the U.S., cacao is only grown in Hawaii.
• White chocolate IS chocolate. It contains at least 20% cocoa butter, something present in every pod.
• Direct trade means chocolate makers buy directly from the farmer.

Great profiles on chocolate makers in the book

Craft Chocolate Recipes!

Yes, the book also includes decadent recipes from chefs and chocolate makers. This means you can take your craft chocolate and make things like chocolate mousse, truffles, cakes, and more!

What are some craft chocolate companies?

There are over 200 craft chocolate companies in the U.S. and here are a few of them. Many more companies are featured in the book! Also here’s a list of 50 chocolate makers in the U.S.!

• Askinosie Chocolate (Springfield, MO)
• Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate (Eureka, CA)
• French Broad Chocolates (Asheville, NC)
• Raaka (Brooklyn, NY)
• Ritual Chocolate (Park City, UT)
• SRSLY (Austin, TX)

Where Can I Buy Craft Chocolate?

In Austin, Texas, you can find craft chocolate at:

• Antonelli’s Cheese Shop
• Central Market
• Wheatsville Co-Op
• Whole Foods

Outside of Austin:

• Check out Whole Foods or Central Market in your city
• Check any artisan food shops
• Buy it straight from the chocolate company on their website
• Buy bars from different companies through ChocoCurb, Cocoa Runners, and The Chocolate Garage

Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Events

Megan is in town promoting her book with a few fun events. I got to attend her chocolate tasting event at Chocolaterie Tessa to taste some bean-to-bar chocolates and talk chocolate. They even had some cacao pods and beans for us to see. (Chocolaterie Tessa is an awesome chocolate shop in Austin. I love their single-origin bon bons!) Check out all the events here.

Roasted pod on the right, raw pod on the left

Some things I learned from the tasting (some of these things are included in the book too):

• It’s best for your palate to taste chocolate from darkest (higher percentage) to lightest because milk/cream stays in your mouth longer.
• Taste chocolate at room temperature for the full flavor.
• Raw cacao beans taste nothing like chocolate. Roasting the beans is where chocolate gets its flavors!
• The first craft chocolate was sold in 2005.
• The flavors of craft chocolate bars are not exactly the same because the beans vary from crop to crop. That’s what makes it fun!
• Craft chocolate is getting better and better because the machinery is getting better.
• The average cacao farmer is 50 years old and 25% of their children are planning to enter the industry. The cacao industry is not profitable because they are not paid as well for the crop. This makes it more important to support farmers to sustain and grow the industry. (More reason for my ‘why craft chocolate’ section above.)
• Recommended article to read: The Economics of Chocolate

Conclusion

Whew, that was A LOT of information! I could probably nerd out with you more but I’ll let you read the book to get the full scoop. Craft chocolate is an exciting part of the foodie world and I hope you get to experience it for yourself!

GIVEAWAY: If you want to WIN a copy of the book, check out my Instagram contest here or leave a comment below. I’ll pick a winner from all entries in a week!

Quick Links

• Megan Giller’s blog/website
• Buy the book on Amazon

Do you like chocolate? Any specific brands? What craft products do you like?

Disclosure: I was given an advanced copy of the book. I was not required to publish anything about the book and all opinions are my own. I read the book and if you can’t tell, I loved it and am happy to share all about it!

P.S. Want to learn the importance of honey? Check out this post!

Keep up with me elsewhere! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Bloglovin’. You can also subscribe to the exclusive email list.

The post Bean-to-Bar Chocolate: How Craft Chocolate is Changing the World appeared first on Fearless Captivations.

Did you know there are more than 300 unique types of honey (named for the bee’s floral source) available in the U.S.?

Did you know one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for about 80% of this pollination?

Did you know you can use honey as a natural beauty ingredient, natural sweetener, natural cough suppressor and natural energy boost?

There are many, many interesting facts about bees and benefits of honey and I got to learn all about them at a fantastic community event by the National Honey Board last week.

Held at an event venue called Vuka, the space was decorated with beautiful photos of bees and honey. There was reading material and recipes available at every table. (You can find most of this information on their website Honey.com.) Of course, the signature drinks and all the bites had honey in it. I loved these bites made by Pink Avocado.

Grilled Honey Glazed Shrimp
Flatbread with Melted Manchego, Rosemary and Honey
Cold Chinese Noodles with Spicy Honey Peanut Sauce
Velvety Honey Chocolate Pudding
Also pictured: Sriracha and Honey Stuffed Eggs

My friend, fellow Austin-based blogger, and natural beauty and skin care expert Mary Helen Leonard demoed how to make a honey grapefruit salt scrub. It was super quick and easy to make. It only needs four ingredients: honey, grapefruit juice, olive oil, and salt. This scrub helps retain moisture, which gives your face a natural glow and keeps away wrinkles.

Beekeeper Brent Barkman was very informative about the myths about beekeeping (they’re not a fan of African bees but they aren’t really destroying bee colonies) and explained the process the bees go through to create honey. He even had live bees (secured in a box with glass panels) we could look at.

Nurse Barb Dehn was excellent in explaining what medical research with honey is currently going on and she explained the natural cough suppressor recipe she created. Also, honey sticks are perfect for small portions to-go (quick drizzle on yogurt or boost before working out) or to give to kids as an alternative to candy.

Lastly, cookbook author and food writer Marie Simmons gave us a honey tasting while explaining great pairings. It was a beautiful spread of cheese and chocolate and it was interesting to really taste the differences in the honeys. We tried Alfalfa, Orange Blossom, Tupelo and Buckwheat honey. Next time you’re at the grocery store, read the label to find out what kind of honey it is!

We received Marie’s Taste of Honey cookbook in our goodie bags and I’ve already begun digging into it. It lists the many kinds of honey and provides many recipes for different meals. Yep, there are already some desserts I’m eyeing!

I knew bees were important and honey was good for me before this event, but learning more about honey has inspired me to try substituting sugar with honey when possible, especially baking. Perhaps I’ll take what I learned and my goodies, especially the cookbook, to throw a honey-themed party!

If you want to learn more about honey, there’s a wealth of information on the National Honey Board website, including recipes and tips.

How do you like to consume honey? Do you have any great recipes to share?

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