Category: Blogging

  • Guest Post: Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Today’s post is from the bloggers over at CookingShorts, as husband and wife team “designed to bring short recipes and good food to your table.” We love that mission!

    Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies – who can resist this classic “milk and cookie” treat? A friend recently asked us for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. We must admit we were ashamed not to have a recipe to give, nor any advice on how to make them. So, we spent the last couple of weekends in the kitchen perfecting our own Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. We did some research and found that there are literally a hundred different ways you can make this classic cookie. We never thought such a simple cookie could be so hard to perfect! At last, we did it! Don’t buy into those chocolate chip cookie recipes you find on the back of sugar boxes. Those recipes just fall flat, so try ours instead!

    Ingredients:Chocolate Chip Cookies
    ◾2 cups all purpose flour
    ◾1/2 tsp baking soda
    ◾1/2 tsp salt
    ◾1 1/2 sticks butter, soften at room temp
    ◾1 cup brown sugar
    ◾1/2 cup sugar
    ◾1 large egg
    ◾1 egg yolk
    ◾2 tsp vanilla extract
    ◾1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips

    Directions:
    Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium prep bowl; set aside. With a hand mixer, blend the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended and creamy. Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla until combined and fluffy. Add the dry ingredients 1/3 at a time on low speed just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

    Using a medium sized cookie scoop, form dough into balls, rolling them with your palms. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake until the cookies are light golden brown – 15 to 18 minutes. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet. Transfer the cooled cookies to a cooling rack. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk.

  • Corn and Blueberry Salad

    Today’s guest post comes from Krissy @ Make it Naked, where she shares her love for good food. And that’s it. Just food. Nothing fake. Real, whole, organic, gluten free food. We love that!

    Corn and Blueberry Salad

    Blueberry and Corn Salad

    Blueberries with corn? No thanks. But after one bite I found myself going back for more. And before I knew it, it was gone! This salad is really different and even more flavorful with your farmers’ market’s crunchiest produce. Corn, blueberries, cucumbers and red onion are tossed in a simple lime dressing with fresh cilantro. It’s my new favorite summer salad.

    Ingredients:

    • 6 ears fresh sweet corn, husked
    • 1-1.5 cups blueberries
    • 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
    • 1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
    • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
    • 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
    • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice and zest of 1/2 the lime
    • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
    • Pinch of kosher salt Freshly ground pepper to taste

    Directions:

    • In a large pot bring salted water to a boil. Add the husked corn cobs. Cook, covered for about 15 minutes. Remove the cobs and let cool. Cut the corn off the cob (see note 2 below).
    • In a large bowl combine the corn, berries, cucumber, onion, cilantro and jalapeno.
    • In a small bowl mix together the lime juice, olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper. Pour over the salad.
    • Cover and store refrigerated until ready to serve.
  • Blogger Meet Up- Sunday, June 16th

    Hey all!

    I’m excited to announce another blogger meet up here in Richmond! Details below:

    Who: All Virginia Bloggers! (Food, Fashion, Lifestyle, Fitness- doesn’t matter, come join us!)

    What: A chance to grab dinner and meet tons of new bloggers in the area!

    Where: Chuy’s Mexican Restaurant in Glen Allen (Richmond), VA

    When: Sunday, June 16th @ 6pm

    RSVP: Please leave us a comment so Samantha knows to add you to the headcount!

    Hope to see you all there!

    Liz

  • DIY Olive Oil Vases

    Today’s post is from the bloggers over at CookingShorts, as husband and wife team “designed to bring short recipes and good food to your table.” We love that mission!

    DIY Olive Oil Vases

    Have you ever noticed how manufactures are making bottles of olive oil super sleek and eye popping? They’re really coming up with cleaver ways of making their product stand out besides the actual label. Looking at these bottles and then looking at the price that I pay for quality olive oil got me thinking – these bottles (labels removed) would make really simple but neat vases. After I finished my last bottle of olive oil, I saved it and made cute vase out of it. It was super easy to get more bang out of my buck and get a second use out of the bottle. Here’s how you can make a really pretty vase to add a pop of something different to your kitchen.Olive Oil Vase

    Materials:

    • 1 olive oil bottle
    • 1/2 cup glass beads (vase filler)
    • food coloring
    • long steamed flowers

    Directions:

    Soak olive oil bottle for a couple of hours in soapy water to remove label. Use a wire cutter to remove metal ring around the mouth of the bottle. Add glass beads and fill with water. Choose whatever color that goes well with your kitchen and add in a drop or two of food coloring. Stir with a straw to incorporate the coloring in with the water. Finish by adding your flowers and viola! You’ll have a gorgeous vase that will stand out and make you feel proud to display.

    I made my vase seasonal by snipping some long steams of my forsythia at the beginning of spring. I changed it up about a month later and replaced the steams with slightly bloomed red buds. There are a million and one uses for this simply project. Hosting a bridal shower? Use flowers that match the brides color theme to make a centerpiece that will really pop. Add drama to your Christmas buffet with holly or pine. These vases would also stand out as centerpieces for a wedding.

  • Northern Virginia Meet Up @ Northside Social

    Northern Virginia Meet Up @ Northside Social

    In case you haven’t noticed, the Virginia Bloggers list is getting long!

    Seriously, go take a look!

    Since we have so many Northern Virginia bloggers, we thought it was about time to have a meet up in their area, so we rounded a few people up and grabbed coffee at Northside Social. Not only was the coffee good, but I love any cafe that is active on Twitter 😉

    norside social coffee

    The cafe was cute, and it was fun meeting some new faces! 

    norside social one

    Photo courtesy of Northside Social

    Ethel, Rana, Coco, Ileana, and Ashley and I enjoyed some coffee while chatting about blogging, Virginia, and future meet up ideas. (Bartending class anyone?) Stay tuned for more on that!

    Hopefully we can do some more Nova meet ups in 2013. As always, if you have an idea for a meet up in your area, please shoot us at e-mail: virginiabloggers@gmail.com

    Virginia LOVE,

    Liz @ I Heart Vegetables