Leena Eats, Gourmet Communication ... Food, Travel, Gastronomy

LeenaEats
LeenaEats

Leena Bakes: Banana Bourbon Chocolate Muffins!

Leena Bakes: Banana Bourbon Chocolate Muffins!

Best muffin of 2012 thus far! Sweet banana with a kick of bourbon and a hint of milk chocolate.

Not too long ago, a pal and fellow food blogger Emily Hanhan of Nomnivorous hosted the first of many supper clubs called Whisky and Salt in the NYC area. In her awesome and drool-inducing post about it, she revealed that she made whisky and chocolate chip muffins as take home gifts from the supper club. I have been looking for an excuse to pop these bad boys out, and a small party with some fellow parents and babies on NYE gave the perfect excuse. But let’s be honest, vacuuming the living room is the perfect excuse for these muffins, they are that damn good.

The recipe and heaps of food porn after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Bakes: GF World Peace Cookies!

Leena Bakes: GF World Peace Cookies!

My take on gf world peace cookies! Chocolate dough, dark chocolate chunks, and no gluten--a certified celiac mouth boner!

Last year when I had gestational diabetes, I had a real taste of what life is like for people with health-related eating issues–it sucks. Sure, there are “alternative” foods for all your unhealthy favorites (fyi–everything but Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches are CRAPPY), but generally speaking, most of the world, from restaurants to food blogs, don’t really consider these people.

I had an incredibly difficult time finding restaurants that even knew if their food was diabetic-safe or not, and forget about baking. And that was only for a few months—how the hell do people with celiac disease or dairy allergies function on a day to day basis without going crazy?

They or other people in their lives research their butts off until they find food that is safe AND crave-worthy. If you read my last post, you know that my sister in law is a celiac (allergic to gluten). She also happens to be a kick-ass person that deserves a delicious food any time of year, so I’ve decided to start including the occasional gluten-free recipe on my blog. This week–gluten-free world peace cookies (crumbly chocolate salty dough with chunks of dark chocolate). My recipe and food porn after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Bakes: Cranberry Gingerbread Sorbet Sandwiches!

Leena Bakes: Cranberry Gingerbread Sorbet Sandwiches!

My cranberry gingerbread sorbet sandwiches! A kick-ass treat for any winter occasion.

Rumor has it Turkey day is just around the corner, so I thought this would be the perfect time to roll out my new favorite winter dessert recipe: cranberry gingerbread sorbet sandwiches. Technically, I made these for my pre-Turkey day chili cookoff, which you’ll read about soon. But since cranberries only seem to appear in the market from November-December, this is a really great way to enjoy the short but delicious cranberry season.

The recipe and more food porn after the jump!

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Bakes and Eats: Iron Cupcake SF October 2011- Candy

It’s been a few months (and a baby) since I last participated in Iron Cupcake SF (January 2011, as a matter of fact). But with most of the baby weight and ALL of the gestational diabetes gone, I was ready to take on Iron Cupcake by storm. The monthly challenge: candy. Something I have made into an entire food group for the better part of my life! So I got to work creating my dream candy-inspired cupcake. Heaps of food porn and a killer cupcake recipe after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Bakes: Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Pistachio and Cream Cheese Frosting for other people. As in NOT her.

Leena Bakes: Mini Carrot Cupcakes with Pistachio and Cream Cheese Frosting for other people. As in NOT her.
You rock, Carrots. From hard and crunchy to soft, spicy cake, you are so damn versatile. Not like lima beans.

Yeah, I like to torture myself. I’m technically not allowed to bake, especially with sugar, due to my latest diagnosis of gestational diabetes. It was a definite bitch slap to me, as baking has comforted me through three degrees, one cross-country and one cross-world move, and 2/3s of this pregnancy.

But when my husband’s birthday rolled around, I knew I couldn’t not bake him a cake. A birthday without cake is sacrilegious in this household! So I rocked out his favorite recipe in mini cupcake form, carrot cake with pistachios and cream cheese frosting.

If and only if you’d like to see the best damn carrot cake recipe I have ever come across, if you think you can handle the awesomeness, then please. By all means–click on.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Bakes: Ginger Cupcakes with Cranberry Cream Cheese frosting

Leena Bakes: Ginger Cupcakes with Cranberry Cream Cheese frosting

My ginger cupcake with cranberry cream cheese frosting- winter in a cute little paper cup!

For the first three months of my pregnancy, I almost went crazy with pregnancy nausea, and cooking was the LAST thing on my mind. Once it finally did cross my mind, baked goods were about all that seemed appetizing. Enter my ginger cupcake with cranberry cream cheese frosting.

The recipe and food porn after the click.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Cooks the Holidays: Apple, Pear and Cranberry Five Spice Crisp

Leena Cooks the Holidays: Apple, Pear and Cranberry Five Spice Crisp

This recipe is a repost, but I wanted to share it with you for the holidays. Enjoy my week-0-holidays recipes!

The recipe after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Cooks for the Holidays: Butternut Squash Oatmeal Scotchies!

All this week on Leena Eats—a week of my favorite holiday recipes! Another one of my favorite cookie recipes, created by yours truly!

Happy Holidays!

********************

Leena Cooks for the Holidays: Butternut Squash Oatmeal Scotchies!

My butternut squash oatmeal butterscotch cookies. An all-around kick-ass cookie.

Oatmeal scotchies have to be my favorite cookies ever. The flavor of the plain oatmeal with the butterscotch chips turns out a buttery, rich cookie that is slightly soft and crisp around the edges. I wanted to come up with a cookie recipe that used a seasonal vegetable last year for my holiday cookie podcast with Claire, and this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think! OH, and this dough freezes well so you can eat it later!

The recipe and more food porn after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leena Cooks for the Holidays: C.I.’s Chocolate Chip Cookie, reinvented

All this week on Leena Eats—a week of my favorite holiday recipes! Enjoy this oldie but goodie– it’s one of my favorite cookie recipes.

Happy Holidays!

******************************

Leena Cooks for the Holidays: C.I.s Chocolate Chip Cookie, reinvented

Cook’s Illustrated chocolate chip cookies reinvented. I ate them. A lot.

When I woke up this past weekend, these cookies are what I wanted to see. What I actually saw was this:

Leena Cooks for the Holidays: C.I.s Chocolate Chip Cookie, reinvented

Dear Chicago, Why, dear God, WHY?! I hate you. Love, Leena

Why did I see a sky full of snow on March 29th, 9 days after spring was supposed to start? Because Chicago hates me, that’s why.Leena Cooks for the Holidays: C.I.s Chocolate Chip Cookie, reinventedSo when the happy, sunny yellow-covered Cook’s Illustrated (May/June 2009) arrived in the mail, I took it as a sign. If you cook or bake it, spring will come…or at least you will be distracted long enough to not notice that spring starts in June now. Score.

Read the rest of this entry »

Amuse bouche: Australian Desserts-Pumpkin Scones

Pumpkin scones are a variation of scones that were created in Australia. The Australian scone is similar to an American biscuit, and it is said pumpkin scones were created in Queensland due to a surplus of pumpkins.

Source: Looking for Flavour by Barbara Santich p. 113

****************

Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain

~LTG!

Amuse bouche: Australian Desserts- Anzac Cookies

Anzac cookies are made of oatmeal and coconut, and first came about around the first world war as a popular cookie to send to soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Australians lost a large number of soldiers during WWI, specifically during the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey. Every year, the country celebrates the national holiday of Anzac day for all the fallen soldiers of the country both past and present, and eating anzac cookies is a popular treat during this time.

Source: Looking for Flavour by Barbara Santich p. 113

******************

Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain.

~LTG!

Amuse bouche: Desserts from Australia-Lamingtons

The lamington is one of the few all-Australian desserts, and consists of vanilla sponge cake, occasionally filled with jam, and rolled in chocolate and coconut. It was said to have been named after Lord Lamington, governor of Queensland from 1895-1901, and has been a popular tea-time and lunch-time treat, as well as a staple at fundraisers throughout Australia.

Source: Looking for Flavour by Barbara Santich pp.112-113

***********

Amuse Bouche: Noun. Etymology: French: literally, entertains the mouth. A small, complimentary appetizer served at the beginning of a meal to awaken the taste buds. Leena Eats definition: a quick shot of gastronomic knowledge for the brain.

~LTG!

About | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact | 2010 LeenaEats.com

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.