Cook Republic's Burnt Butter Caramel Slices

Yesterday I switched my RSS reader from Feedly to InoReader and boy, am I ever happy I did that. Not only do I prefer the layout and efficiency of InoReader over Feedly, but the switch encouraged me to clean up my bookmarks. I deleted all of the old links I had saved except for Cook Republic's Burnt Butter Caramel Slices. I'm pretty sure I bookmarked it at least two years ago and well, you know how it goes, you bookmark so many things most of them get lost in the shuffle. Re-visiting the Cook Republic link - www.cookrepublic.com/recipe-archive/burnt-butter-caramel-slice - I saw right away why I had saved it in the first place. The bars looked fantastic and easy, so I made them last night.

Well holy friggin' shit, let me tell you - there is a VERY GOOD REASON this recipe has been pinned over EIGHT THOUSAND times. Once the bars were cool, I cut off two small pieces, one for me and one for Sean. After I took my first bite I said, 'Oh my fuck' and had to sit down. They're THAT GOOD. The bottom layer is crispy brown sugar shortbread (I omitted the coconut) and the top layer is buttery, dulce de leche heaven.

I ate two for breakfast this morning with my coffee and Baileys.

Hmmm - this could be why most of my jeans are feeling rather snug lately.

But I digress.

I recommend doing yourself a GIGANTIC, EPIC, DELICIOUS favour and make these bars STAT. Also, if have time, pop over to Cook Republic and tell Sneh how ridiculously incredible her recipe is!

Coconut Macaroon Pie Crust with Pink Grapefruit Aperol Filling

I have a spiral bound notebook that I use for jotting down to-do lists, recipe ideas and notes of inspiration. Last summer, I wrote the names of the four seasons at the top of four separate blank pages. When I brainstorm blog post ideas, I write down the ideas on the season-page I think is the best fit. Having these seasonal lists means I can plan my blog posts ahead and, means I won't forget any potentially good ideas.

It's my very basic version of an editorial calendar.

One of the ideas written on my 'spring' page is 'Macaroon Crust with Lemon'. I'm sure Coconut Macaroon Pie Crust has been done before, but the idea hit me like a lightning bolt - why can't I press sticky coconut macaroon cookie dough into a pie tin, bake it until golden and then fill it with something delicious?

Turns out you can. I tried it this Easter weekend and it worked like a charm.

I used this recipe for the coconut macaroon crust. I didn't bother blending my ingredients in the food processor because I wanted my crust to look a little ragged - I wanted it to look like shredded coconut. Also, the recipe calls for adding vanilla extract to the dry ingredients. I thought the vanilla and coconut might clump together so I came up with a solution:

As for the pie filling - I used this recipe. I used the juice of 1 large pink grapefruit, the zest of the same grapefruit, plus the juice of 1 lemon. I also added 1/4 Cup of Aperol and used milk instead of water to give the filling a creamier look. When I stirred the Aperol into the filling and it turned a heavenly peach colour I knew I was on the right track. Sweet, bitter, crunchy and coconutty, the pie turned out to be something I'd make again and again. The beauty of the crust is you can fill it with anything you want - citrus curd, stewed fruit or chocolate cream are some ideas that sound pretty fantastic to me.

The thing is, if I hadn't stopped to write 'Coconut Macaroon Pie Crust' down in my notebook, I probably would have forgotten all about. Having seasonal lists to refer to is a good system that works for me but it also makes me wonder - How do other bloggers decide what to make/feature on their blogs and what tricks do they use to stay organized? If you have any tips or comments I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Easter :)

Lighting Practice : Pink Drink

At this point, I have a ton of experience with food photography, but little-to-no experince shooting drinks, so yesterday, for fun, I set this up to try and start learning how to photograph a cocktail.

I know I have a lot to learn, but the pink and aqua make me really happy so I thought I'd share :)