Kitchen Living With Coryanne

Spring & Summer Kitchen Tool Kit

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:29:03 +0000

I love giving my kitchen a summer make over. Well beyond changing my linens and dishes to much lighter tones and weights, I find the act of cleaning out my drawers and re-arranging my tools a hint of what fabulous summer kitchen adventures await and reflect on the new recipes that the coming months have in store. Like your wardrobe, the changing seasons are a great time to bring your summer essentials front and center, after all, your potato ricer and gravy boat may not see as much action as your herb sheers and tomato knife in the coming months, so why not let your drawers reflect that?

Prior to filming my latest iFood.TV Cooking with Coryanne series for Sunset Produce, I gave my kitchen a summer make over and had the pleasure of diving head first into the delights of summer kitchen tools. Here are 6 products I will have at arms reach this season:

Progressive 3 in 1 Tomato Tool. My go to tool for my Sunset Produce series, easy to store, simple too use and I just love the top tool that allows you to reduce food waste.
Progressive Tongs. Have I mentioned my tong addiction yet? I love tongs, and if I were stranded on a kitchen island, I would pack these — they are easy to clean, store and the dash of color makes them easy on the eyes. They make tossing pasta a breeze, watch me toss pasta like a pro here.
Progressive Pepper Corer Duo. Everyone loves gadgets and I love these because my children can help me prepare dinner without the stress of watching over them while struggle to use the dull butter knife I typically offer them when they help me in the kitchen. I used these while making my Sunset Produce sweet marinated peppers, watch the full recipe and clip here.
Prepara Dressing Whiz. Shake not my darlings, this little gem is a whiz at making dressings and a breeze to clean because it comes apart allowing you to clean every inch of it. I used it while prepping my Sunset Produce tomato salad, watch me whiz in the kitchen here.
Perpara Herb Sheers. Like a gift from the heavens, herb shears are my go to all year round, but they get a heavy handling in the summer. Simple to use, they are the one staple that every kitchen should have. I used them to make my mouthwatering grilled pepper marinade here.
Hamilton Beach 3 in 1 Grill and Griddle. Despite BBQ season being in full swing, there are times when you need a quick grill without the added chore of cleaning your BBQ, and this 3 in 1 grill is my go to option for grilling without the fuss of laborious clean up. I used it to grill my Sunset Produce gourmet eggplants here, and have not stopped using it since.

My love affair with grilled sweet peppers

Coryanne Ettiene — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:03:53 +0000

The secret is out, I don’t have a sweet tooth. Maybe that is why baking has been the last hurdle in my kitchen journey? I would happily nosh on grilled vegetables from dawn until dusk, add to that a tangy vinaigrette and I could survive for eternity on nothing more. My love affair with grilled peppers started years ago while I was starving and near broke standing next to a street vendor in Syria….perhaps it was the hunger, quite possibly the vibrant color of the peppers piled high on a rustic platter…or maybe it was the timeless echo of love at first bite, what ever it was, I rarely go a week without stocking my fridge with grilled peppers and celebrating my wise choice to spend my last few coins on those grilled peppers. Admittedly, I frequently enjoy them right out of the fridge on the closest spoon I can find. When Sunset Produce asked me to create a recipe line up for Cooking with Coryanne for iFood.TV using their gourmet produce, I nearly bit their hand off at the prospect. From freshly stewed tomato sauce, to grilled eggplant and to the every captivating grilled peppers, I had the best time filming this series.

Join me in my love affair with grilled peppers with my fave summer dish of white bean and grilled pepper flat bread by watching the show above, or watch the full series bursting with fresh ideas for summer cooking by clicking here.

Al Fresco Summer Slider Recipe

Coryanne Ettiene — Sun, 12 May 2013 19:53:50 +0000

As the weather heats up, our dishes get lighter to match the spirit of those festive summer days. And while many of us fire up the BBQ to embrace the spirit of outdoor entertaining, it is easy to forget that with a little creativity, you can skip the BBQ and enjoy the taste of summer straight from the oven. This time of year, my favorite summer lunch is an Al Fresco slider, capturing the taste of an Italian summer holiday, but wrapped up as an American summer favorite.

I feel almost guilty sharing this recipe, it is a summer pleasure that takes 20 minutes from craving to tasting……due in great part by having the Alexia Foods Artisan Ciabatta Roll and Organic Yukon Select french fries in my freezer always on hand for when the I fancy something simple yet decadent. The combination of fluffy rosemary rolls, tangy pepper relish, creamy mozzarella cheese and spicy salami served with salty fries is enough to stop time, leave your longing for a second helping and wishing you had lunch like this everyday…so make plenty darlings, because they are irresistibly good.

Al Fresco Summer Slider Recipe

Ingredients

1 Bag of Alexia Foods Artisan Ciabatta Rolls
12 Slices of salami
1 Ball of fresh mozzarella cheese
2 Cups of tangy sweet pepper relish
1 Bag of Alexia Foods Organic Yukon Select Fries

Instructions

Bake the Alexia Foods Artisan Ciabatta Rolls and Yukon Fries according to the directions on the packets.
Once the rolls are baked, remove them from the oven and slice them down the middle. And then top the bottom half with slices of Mozzarella cheese and salami before broiling in the oven until the cheese melts.
Remove from the oven and top with sweet pepper relish, a second slice of salami and the top of the Ciabatta Roll.
Serve along side a handful of crispy Organic Yukon Select Fries.

Notes

Recipe by Coryanne Ettiene | Kitchen Living With Coryanne | 2013

Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin

http://kitchenlivingwithcoryanne.com/al-fresco-summer-slider-recipe/

As an Alexia Foods Tastemaker, my freezer is always bursting with natural ingredients ready to pull together fabulous lunch options for for last minute guests, or simple indulgent lunches for one. And thanks to Alexia Foods, I am giving away a summer survival pack to celebrate #HeresToFood with a Pin It To Win It Contest on Pinterest so you too can stock your freezer and embrace all the charms of casual summer entertaining. To enter, start by pinning the image below to a board of your choice, and then browse my {Eat} Alexia Tastemaker board on Pinterest for more great recipe ideas to starting pinning to win it*.

*Disclaimer: As an Alexia Tastemaker, this promotion is part of a long term compensated relationship between myself and Alexia Foods. All thoughts and recipes are my own. The Pin It To Win It winner will be selected at random by Coryanne Ettiene on 31 May, no purchase necessary, however you must have a Pinterest account to enter. For a full list of contest rules, please contact Coryanne Ettiene.

Food for a Mother’s Soul

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:50:55 +0000

There was a point in my life where motherhood was out of reach and where together with my husband we needed to re-imagine a life where parenthood was something our friends experienced while we played auntie and uncle. And then, like a lucky penny found on a crowded busy street, we saw the vibrancy of pink lines that made all of our dreams come true. First came darling Margeaux, our miracle, our joy, our lucky penny. Followed quickly by Sawyer, who came into this world like a hope whispered in secret that breaths life into wishes and makes them come true. And then like a bolt of lightning, little Xander arrived after 3 years wearing nothing but the grin of a Cheshire Cat. While they offered me the gift of motherhood and all the joys that come with it, they also gave me the gift of experiencing a kitchen centric life.

My relationship with my kitchen is wholly intertwined with motherhood. Like a bookmark in a fabulous novel, my children opened a new chapter in my life, where cook book pages turned along side the kitchen centric chapter that was unfolding before my eyes. My children gave me the gift of life in a way that I never imagined. They taught me to reflect on my own childhood memories, triggered emotions brought on by taste and smell, and created new ones with the echo of their laughter, tears and conversations that embed the fabric of each kitchen we’ve lived in.

Our first family kitchen was a tiny galley kitchen with butcher block counter tops that once sat pristine, and quickly became littered with marks from curious toddlers who could not resist watching their forks polka dot the landscape despite my less than convincing scoldings– my only regret is that I don’t have a photo of that countertop, but then the thought never crossed my mind. But when I close my eyes I can see the giggles, the concentration and the wonder at the impact those tiny forks had on that soft golden brown wood. I have memories as precious as this from each kitchen we’ve lived in, all seasoned with moments that were shadowed by bigger celebrations, and for all intents and purposes should have meant nothing, but on reflection mean everything.

On this Mother’s Day, like all those that have passed before it, I will be in my kitchen with my family. Feeding our hearts, our souls and giving new life to memories that make our kitchen the heart of our home. Wishing you and your family a splendid Mothering Sunday spent with the ones you love.

Sipping on a Moscato Gimlet

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 19:53:07 +0000

For some, it is all about keeping up with the Jones’s, for me it is about keeping up with tradition…. I love everything about tradition and annual celebrations, even more so when they come with the promise of simplicity. That is why I am have joined the team at Gallo Family Vineyards to celebrate the 2nd annual Moscato Day celebration with a few friends and a lucky dose of Washington sunshine. When I helped Gallo Family Vineyards celebrate Moscato Day last year, my wine rested in ice bins and swished in tall stem glasses. This year, the Moscato graced my favorite cocktail glasses and hosted my new ‘goto’ wine cocktail, the Moscato Gimlet.

The Moscato Gimlet (recipe courtesy of Gallo Family Vineyards)

3 Ounces of Gallo Family Vineyards Moscato
1 Ounce of Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 Ounce of Agave Nectar

Combine all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Shake and then strain into a glass before garnishing with a lime. Yeilds one cocktail.

For more fabulous ideas on enjoying Moscato, join the Gallo Family on Facebook and learn more about each Moscato variety, entertaining tips and how you can join us in celebrating National Moscato Day on May 9th. With 3 varieties of Moscato to chose from, the recipes are endless…..

For the third year in a row, Moscato remains the fastest growing wine varietal in the U.S. To celebrate, Gallo Family Vineyards will be hosting a virtual toast in honor of National Moscato Day . Raise your glass and join the #MoscatoDay Twitter party from 9-10pm EST on May 9th 2013, and follow @GalloFamily and @CoryanneEttiene on Twitter to join the conversation and learn more different ways to enjoy Moscato Wine.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Gallo Family Vineyards for including me in the promotion of your latest family tradition. As my client, Gallo Family Vineyards have compensated me for sharing my thoughts on the celebration and joining the Twitter Party. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Two Fresh Spring Cocktail Recipes

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:52:40 +0000

I love my job. It is true that if you do what you love, you will love what you do, and this past week I sang this song over and over again while hosting the California Giant Fresh Berries Spring Entertaining Bootcamp at GE Monogram for the Urban Girls Squad in New York City. I spent the evening hosting a fabulous group of 20/30 something NYC ladies eager to roll up their sleeves and learn how to make pies, mix cocktails and entertain in style this spring. From fresh strawberry Daiquiris to Berry Vodka Lemonade, and a whole host of fresh berry pie recipes from my iFood.TV Cooking with Coryanne series, we sipped, noshed and laughed all night long. And despite how it may look…I was not belting out a tune, but offering sure fire tips on how to entertaining with a big impact in a small urban space.

Thirty for a few fresh spring ideas? Sip on these darlings….According to the ladies, they really know how to kick start a party.

Roasted Mixed Berry Lemonade: Roast the berries the night before, allow them to chill and then mix them in to a tall pitcher with all the ingredients listed below. As with all things lemonade, taste it and add more simple syrup or lemon to please your tastes. Makes 8 cocktails.

• 8 ounces of Vodka

• 3 Cups of roasted California Giant berries

• 8 lemons

• 32-48 ounces of water

• 8 ounces of simple syrup

• Ice

Fresh Strawberry Daiquiri: Blend all ingredients in a blender and serve garnished with a fresh strawberry. The result should be a thick, dark pink blend zippy with citrus but sweet with strawberries and mellowed by the rum. Makes 8 cocktails.

• 8 ounces of Light Rum

• 2 ounces of fresh lime juice

• 1 ounce of simple syrup

• 24 standard sized fresh California Giant strawberries

• Granulated sugar for the rim

• Ice for blending.

Cooking with Coryanne and Fresh Berries

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 20:11:06 +0000

Embrace spring fresh berries with my latest Cooking with Coryanne iFood.TV series focused on getting the most out of a new season of cooking and baking….that is right darlings, baking. I finally took the plunge and baked on air to bring you a few of my latest baking adventures in the kitchen. Leading up to the filming I spent days in the kitchen mastering the perfect short crust pastry and all the delights of homemade cobblers, tarts and pies using California Giant fresh berries as my muse for perfect spring recipes.

My absolute favorite recipe is the rustic mixed berry almond tart, watch me make it on the video below or pop over to the Cooking with Coryanne channel on iFood.TV to see the full Fresh Berries season by clicking here.

Kitchen Spring Cleaning Projects

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 20:47:43 +0000

Ship shape and Bristol fashion my darlings! Spring is in the air, and before you race outside to soak up all that glorious spring weather, bring a little of that spring freshness indoors with a few of my favorite 5 minute weekend projects that I have been sharing on Instagram.

…..And then reward yourself with a spring refresher……

Rise and Shine to clean dishes

Coryanne Ettiene — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 20:12:20 +0000

Washing up, ugh….. who likes doing the dishes? Certainly not I. I can make a mess like like a raging bull in a china shop but when it comes to cleaning up the path of my cooking destruction, I lean towards bribery, sweet talk and any other means to get out of actually doing them myself, especially after a day of filming when my kitchen looks like a kitchen nightmare (they say a picture says a thousand words, this should give you the visual my words lack, click here). And while I am being honest, that mess brought about this Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Pie, and it was worth every spoonful…. and thankfully found me a few willing helpers to get the dishes done.

More often than not, there are so many dishes that several loads are required before my kitchen returns to normal, and frequently there is one load that is neglected and frantically shoved in the dishwasher without the obligatory pre-rinse. That neglected load always finds us awaking to a do-over with whispering of “should, woulda coulda” under our breath while we begrudgingly tackle re-cleaning the dishes, that quite frankly, should have been done properly the first time.

This sad tale of slaving over a sink, pre-washing, soaking, and rinsing is now a saga for the history books thanks to the new Quantum Finish with Power Gel. After filming my last series of Cooking with Coryanne, I took their Finish Rise and Shine Challenge and loaded dirty, un-rinsed dishes into my dishwasher and went to bed. When I awoke the next morning, I closed the chapter on finding dirty do-over dishes in my dishwasher, and started a Rise and Shine chapter.

Fancy taking the Finish #RiseAndShine Challenge? Get a free sample of Quantum Finish with Power Gell while supplies last by clicking here

Disclaimer: I have been compensated by Finish to share this challenge with you. All opinions are my own.

You’re invited to a #FreshBerries Twitter Party

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:13:22 +0000

My love of strawberries is never ending, it is like a romance that just gets better with age. As a child I would slather strawberries in sugar, never really appreciating their natural sweetness; I remember sunny days spent with friends, ripping of the stem, dipping them in sugar, and then devouring each sweet bite until our fingers were red and our giggles reached heights that only a sugar rush can bring. It was not until I sat alone on a crowded street in Hong Kong outside an ex-pat grocery store that I first experienced the complexity of a strawberry. I had exactly $10 left to my name and 72 hours before my flight departed back to the US, and after months of living in China eating exotic foods, I wanted nothing more than to be transported back to that childhood place where giggles and comfort food abound. I spent $5 on 3 strawberries, and took just over an hour to eat them. Each mouthful was like a memory of home, offering me the sweetest most fulfilling bite after bite. With each spring that brings the bounty of fresh berries I think of that giggly young girl who evolved into a 20 something young woman with more stamps in her passport than common sense, and set about building new strawberry tinted memories to keep them company.

To celebrate my love of fresh berries and the spring berry season, I am hosting a prize packed Twitter party with California Giant on Wednesday 10 April at 8pm EST under the #FreshBerries tag. Please join us for this spring celebration by bringing your fresh berry recipes and spring entertaining tips to the party. One lucky participant will be chosen at random to win a $100 Visa Gift Card and 3 others will win a California Giant #FreshBerries Prize pack. To RSVP click on the button below or simply follow this link.

Disclaimer: The #FreshBerries Twitter party, and this blog post promoting it, are part of my ongoing compensated collaboration with California Giant Berry Farms. All opinions and memories are my own…when you love #FreshBerries sometimes you need to spread the love, and that is why I love my job. Thank you California Giant for hosting this party.

7 New Ways to Design a Wooden Kitchen

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 22:20:20 +0000

I have survived nearly 4 kitchen renovations in the last decade, all of which involved stripping my kitchen of wood and embracing more modern elements like concrete, rubber, and heavy metals. I was never a fan of wood in a kitchen, often failing to see the natural beauty of this hard wearing material, and never quite finding the balance between my modern tendencies and this classic kitchen finish…until now. Long gone are the days where wooden kitchens equate to simple country kitchen design, the latest trend in wooden kitchens comes in a variety of elements that work to both accent and define a kitchen style. In my latest WSI Cultivate feature I highlight some of my top finds for designing a contemporary wooden kitchen that has me considering a new kitchen renovation project where wood plays a central role. Click here to read the full article or click here to browse my collection of design stories for WSI Cultivate.

Photo Courtesy of West Elm & WSI Cultivate

7 Ways to Design a Wooden Kitchen by Coryanne Ettiene | Other stories for WSI Cultivate by Coryanne Ettiene

10 Spring Kitchen Crafts

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:58:33 +0000

I am anything but crafty…or so I have been telling myself for years. But it would appear that despite my many rumblings of being an anti-crafter, I have a secret love of creating, especially when it involves adding a dose of spring to a winter than seems to linger like a bad hangover. So allow me to come clean…I am a crafter, I have been bitten by the crafting bug, and I have fallen in love with my hot glue gun. Do you still love me? I’d like to tell you that this admission comes of my own free will, but the truth is, after many mischievous looks from my husband, and his unyielding accusations that I am in fact “crafty”, I can no longer hide the truth of my new secret love.

Like every great coming out party, I have come out “guns blazing” to bring you my latest Celebrations.com feature celebrating National Craft Month (ok, I am a bit late to the party, but there are a few short days left to join in this March occasion). Here are a few of my latest crafting projects for Celebrations.com….trust me darling, if I can do these, so can you.

Get started with the top 10 products every crafter needs in their supply chest
Make homemade Mojito soap
Discover how easy it is to make a decorative herb planter
Whip up a simple spring gift box for your kitchen goodies
Skip traditional place cards and opt for glass stones instead
Revive your old coasters with a spring make over
Give new life to your old ceramic mugs with a shimmery make over
Tell them where the party is at with this easy DIY fabric letter
Welcome spring with a vintage paper floral wreath
Get your little crafters inspired with a Tulle wreath made my daughter
Make a last minute Easter Wreath

Clearly I am a crafter, because the list goes on…click here for a full line up of my crafty ideas, plus my other Celebrations party recipes and planning tips.

Sweet memories of baking with Margeaux

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 17:22:06 +0000

I often remind you that 10 years ago I could burn water, but what you may not know is that a year ago I kept ready made pastry in my fridge as a staple necessity because the thought of navigating pastry making was, quite simply, too scary. And while I am honest, the ready made boxes of cake batter decorated my pantry like a scarlet letter. Baking in general was the one hurdle that crippled me, shamed me and left me feeling inadequate in the kitchen. But something amazing happened, I found my courage to fail, my confidence to try, and along the way, I came out of this grinning like a Cheshire cat and smelling like flour. Today, those ready made boxes and dough bundles are a thing of the past, and no where is this more evident than in my recent adventure of baking a birthday cake from scratch with my daughter Margeaux.

Traditionally we opt for a baked Alaska, due in great part to her polar bear Sebastian that goes everywhere with her. But this year she wanted a surprise birthday cake, and for inspiration I turned to you. All of your ideas were mouth watering, but the one that graced our table came from Marty who also shares our tradition of Baked Alaska.

Margeaux awoke on her birthday to find a basket full of ingredients to make a Carrot Cake Baked Alaska, and together we spent the day whisking, twirling and laughing in the kitchen. This moment was made all the more sweet by her confidence in the recipe, her eagerness to lead the baking and by her pride in seeing it come together. She gives me endless reasons to be proud of her, but it was not until time stood still blanketed in flour that I saw my baby girl evolve into the woman she will become. Far removed from the normalcy of mother daughter trials over homework, chores and daily life, we were transported to a place where life slows to a halt and the only thing that matters is the weight of brown sugar and if I could remember all the words to the next Taylor Swift song. Baking with my daughter not only signaled the end of my fear of baking, it was a right of passage into a new chapter in our mother daughter story, where we left behind the infant girl I used to cradle in my arms to make room for a talented young woman who is as confident as she is beautiful. I will never taste a sweeter cake, and will forever more look at carrot cake as the dog eared page where time stood still during the novel of her life where the pages are turning faster than I care to admit.

Getting Fresh on Cooking with Coryanne

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:40:41 +0000

Last month I gave you a first look at my new iFood.TV show Cooking with Coryanne, and today I am especially excited to announce the series is now live and bursting with fresh ideas for spring entertaining. Prior to filming, I spent the week in a kitchen bursting with Meyer Lemons, Clementines and Celery, testing and tasting to bring you my all time favorite spring recipes using the freshest of ingredients thanks to the green thumb heros at Duda Farm Fresh Foods. When they asked me to create a celery smoothie, I nearly fell on the floor….if you know me, you know that green smoothies don’t really get my exited, but trust me, this smoothie is every bit as moorish as any other smoothie that has ever touched my lips. But the “icing on the cake” was by far the Meyer Lemon Victoria Sponge cake. Not only because I finally took the plunge and decided that I could master baking on TV, but also because swapping my all time favorite berry compote with a Meyer lemon compote created my new favorite cake.

Before you tune into the full series, whip up a light snack, trust me watching it is hungry work…proof of which is found in how many times I crunch, munch and sip throughout the series. These Asian Chicken Celery Bites are a great place to start, just click on the video below to get started. I had so much fun creating this series, I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I enjoyed filming it. Watch the full series by clicking here.

Getting lucky with St. Patrick

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 21:20:24 +0000

These last two weeks I have thought more about St. Patrick’s Day than any other time in my life…unless, of course you count the time when I was 13, and spent an agonizing month planning my outfit down to the shamrock neon green socks I wore. I suspect the fashions have changed somewhat since then, but if truth is being told, I spent just as much time these past few weeks on menu planning as I did on wardrobe planning. I started off the month in Chicago going gold for St. Patrick’s Day — all the while secretly pinching myself that I was doing a segment on St. Patrick’s Day in a city that practically owns this holiday– and capping it off in the Emerald City of Seattle, sharing tips on going green the natural way. Now that filming has wrapped up, I have plans to turn my kitchen in to a festive Irish playground, full of beef stews, bangers & mash and green shakes that stick to the hips and encourage you to dance the jig well into the midnight hours. Wishing you all a safe and festive weekend free of green beer.

If you are looking for last minute ideas on how to go green without food coloring this St. Patrick’s Day, or just want to hear me say “Damn Fine” on TV, click on the New Day NorthWest segment below.

And if you are looking for tips on how to go gold on a budget and whip up a lucky Sangria, click on my WGN Chicago segment below.

Rosemary Pesto Flatbread Recipe

Coryanne Ettiene — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 19:32:10 +0000

Being a working mother means that there are times (frankly, more times than I care to admit) that I have no idea what I will be serving for dinner until 5pm when the children start circling the kitchen with cry’s of “What’s for dinner?” At that first rumbling of hunger, I start taking stock of what we have, trying all the while to come up with something that looks like I have everything under control….and on those occasions, when grocery shopping is long overdue and the options are limited, I know that my freezer will save the day. Like every family we have the endless stock pile of leftovers, fries, fish and bags of frozen peas…but when time and a well balanced meal is an issue, I pull out a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, let the flat bread do all the hard work for me, and go from freezer to served in under 45 minutes.

Like any pizza or flatbread recipe, the ingredients and quantities are variable….but the bare bones are essential. I started with a basic short crust pastry recipe, a bag of Alexia Sauté Reds, and fresh rosemary from the garden. The blend of roasted red potatoes & baby Portabella mushrooms with whole green beans and onions make the rosemary come alive, especially if you squeeze a lemon atop the flatbread just before serving. If I had had sausage, I would have added it to the blend as my children are anything but vegetarians, but the flavors dazzled them, and no one mentioned the absence of meat….. the only squabble I got, was that I should have made more.

Print

Rosemary Pesto Flatbread Recipe

Ingredients
1 Bag of Alexia Sauté Reds
1 Cup of fresh rosemary, stalks removed
1/2 Cup of Olive Oil (less if you like it thick)
5 Whole Walnuts (more if you like crunch)
1/4 Cup of Hard Italian Cheese (more if you like it thick)
2 Cups of plain flour
1 Bar of unsalted butter
2-3 Tablespoons of ice water
Instructions
Begin by making your short crust pastry. Shift the flour and use your fingertips to mix the butter and flour together until it looks like breadcrumbs. Once crumbly, create a well in the center of the crumbs and add the ice water, blending the batter together until it comes together resembling dough. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes while you pre-heat the oven and prepare the rest of the meal.
In a food processor, add your rosemary, olive oil, walnuts and cheese, and then pulse until you have the desired consistency of your pesto.
Add your Alexia Reds to a frying pan and cook according to the directions on the packet.
While your Reds simmer, blind bake the pastry at 375F for 10 minutes, or until it feels "gritty".
Remove your pastry from the oven, top with the rosemary pesto and then layer on the vegetables before placing in back in the over at 425F for a further 10 minutes or until it is golden brown around the edges.

Notes
Recipe by Coryanne Ettiene | Kitchen Living with Coryanne | 2013
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin
2.0
http://kitchenlivingwithcoryanne.com/rosemary-pesto-flatbread-recipe/

Hungry for more mid week meal ideas? As an Alexia Tastemaker, I am excited to invite you to join me in celebrating mid week meals, and win Alexia Prizes at the #HeresToFood Twitter Party on Tuesday 12 March at 8pm EST. We will be sharing recipes, tips and ideas for making mid week meals a reason to celebrate….all the while giving away a huge selection of prizes:

Cooking Prize Pack: Alexia apron, Oven mitt, Spatula, Kitchen timer, and 1 coupon for a FREE Alexia product
Taste Pack: 3 coupons for any FREE Alexia product
Entertaining Prize Pack: Alexia apron, Oven mitt, Fry cone, 1 pack of 4 wine charms, and 1 coupon for a FREE Alexia product
Gourmet Prize Pack: Alexia tote bag, Spatula, Alexia apron, Oven mitt, and 1 coupon for a FREE Alexia product
Grand Prize – to be given away at the end Alexia apron, Alexia tote bag, Oven mitt, Fry cone, 1 pack of 4 wine charms, and 5 coupons for a FREE Alexia product

No need to RSVP, to join the fun or win the prizes…just follow @CoryanneEttiene and use #HeresToFood to join in our celebration on Tuesday at 8pm EST.

Lucky Sangria Recipe

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 19:00:25 +0000

I am often asked how to take the stress out of entertaining, and for years I asked myself the same question. I would spend days stocking my bar with an endless supply of options thinking that the secret to a fabulous party was in the variety, when all the while I was missing the true value — a happy and relaxed host. The penny did not drop until one evening I found myself too busy to mingle because I was tethered to the bar and kitchen. After a long night of clipped, and distracted conversations with our guests, I vowed to never mix bar tending with hosting again, and embraced simplicity. Serving a party pitcher, like a Sangria, allows your guests to help themselves when they need a refresh, and you to focus on making magic happen with the people present.

Coming soon to WGN Chicago, Lucky Sangria & Party Tips

If you are hosting a St. Patrick’s Day party this year, skip the green beer and opt for pitcher of Lucky Sangria– not just visually enticing with the golden hughes of the Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc, and wisps of fresh green cucumber, lime and mint — it is a party in glass, with a wee-bi “toe” Irish charm as well …. a few glasses of this and you will be dancing the jig darlings. I served this to the team at WGN Chicago last week when I shared tips on hosting a golden themed St. Patrick’s Day party (airing next week)…but thought I would share this with you now, as it is always good luck to make a batch before hand to get in the party spirit.

Ingredients & Directions: 2 Bottles of Barefoot Sauvignon Blanc, 1 bottle of sparking water (for an optional fizz), 2 English cucumbers thinly sliced, 1 bundle of fresh mint (the more the better darlings), and 2-3 fresh limes thinly sliced. Mix, and serve. If time allows, freeze the limes before hand to act as a natural chilling agent to the Sangria that won’t dilute the flavor.

Cooking with Coryanne by iFood.TV

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 20:10:10 +0000

It is hard to imagine that 10 years ago I could burn water and today I am sharing inspiration that allows modern living to fit with a more kitchen centric lifestyle. The polar differences between the woman I was before children, and the woman I am today is so striking that more than just my hair color has changed. My outlook on life, and were I find my happiness is now embedded in my kitchen, with the people who sit at my table and the memories we create that add spice and sweetness to our daily lives. Mind you I may be getting a little gushy, but truly, there is nothing more fulfilling than making a healthy meal for your family, serving your guests with a meal to remember, or sitting at the kitchen table reflecting on a life infused with the flavors of everything that makes life delicious.

This journey started out as a personal right of passage, with the hopes of transforming a culinary klutz into to a confident home cook, and somewhere in the last 2 years my path took me well beyond my expectations, to a place where I can share my journey, my inspirations and my recipes from my kitchen to yours. Through my kitchen adventures, I have learned to embrace my disastrous cooking past, celebrate my culinary victories and foster a confidence in the kitchen that has allowed me to build a business out of my passion for kitchen living. And no greater joy can come from announcing that this week, my path took me in a direction that was hoped for, strived for and is finally a reality…..I have teamed up with iFood.TV to create a new cooking show called “Cooking with Coryanne”. And darlings, I had the best time filming on location in my kitchen yesterday… so much so that I could not resist a little celebration dance…I might be hamming it up a bit, but sometimes you just need to dance in your kitchen, click on Cooking with Coryanne for a quick 6 second giggle.

Oscar Themed Cocktails & Mocktails

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 04:38:41 +0000

My husband is a film buff, he knows more about production and directorial styles than I know about the price of rice. I go to films for the popcorn and fountain coke, he goes for the cinematic experience; I forget a film the moment I leave the theatre, he can recite film quotes from movies he saw 20 years ago. I knew that one day, his love of film would come in handy, and last month when Celebrations asked me to create a line up of drinks fitting for an Oscar themed party, I knew that the moment had finally arrived. With the children tucked in, we tossed open the bar doors, and started talking film and the cocktails that captured the spirit of each one. For some reason we stuck on The Les Miserables Sipper, something about the bitter and Brandy was enough have us asking, “Same Again?”.

Photo by Coryanne Ettiene & courtesy of Celebrations.com

Working on this project with my husband was a delight, he knows his way around a cocktail shaker and his love of film is contagious… this year I will be watching the Oscars for the awards, and not just the red carpet. Find the full line up of the 5 cocktail and 3 mocktail recipes that we created on Celebrations, and then drink like you’re on the red carpet.

You’re Invited to the #NaturalDefender Twitter Party

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 07:17:40 +0000

Please join entertaining expert Liza Utter and I for a Twitter party focused on discovering the joys of cooking with California Walnuts. We will be sharing recipes and healthy living tips to keep you heart healthy, and giving away 4 #NaturalDefender prize packs courtesy of California Walnuts that include:

1 heart shaped cookie cutter
1 water pouch
1 chip clip
1 mini spatula
1 flexible cutting board
1 walnut tin
5 walnut snack packs (1oz each)
1 1lb burlap bag of walnuts
The grand prize includes all the prizes above plus a $100 Visa Gift Card

To participate in the #NaturalDefender Twitter party on Wednesday 20 February 8pm EST, RSVP below with your Twitter Handle, follow your hosts @CoryanneEttiene, @LizaUtter and @CaWalnuts on Twitter, and then add the party hashtag #NaturalDefender to your tweets. Make following along easy by using the #NaturalDefender Tweet Grid found here.

Prize Rules: (Standard rules darlings, but one must mention them) No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. The giveaway is open only to residents of the United States who have RSVPd for the #NaturalDefender Twitter Party by 8:30 pm EST on Wednesday February 20th 2013, and who actively participate in the party by using the #NaturalDefender hashtag and follow the re-tweeting and replying instructions delivered during the #NaturalDefender twitter party. Prizes will be limited to the prizes listed above, and will be given away during the 1 hour duration of the #NaturalDefender Twitter party on 20 February 2013. Winners will be notified via a tweet during the #NaturalDefender Party and must respond to @CoryanneEttiene via “Direct Message” within an hour of the party completing to claim their prize (If you are new to Twitter, don’t worry, tweet @CoryanneEttiene if you win, and I will hold your hand).

RSVP to the #NaturalDefender Twitter Party by leaving your Twitter Handle in the comment section below.

10 Little Cupid Approved Valentine’s Day Treats

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:30:17 +0000

There are moments in life when eating healthy goes out the window, and Valentine’s Day is one of those moments in our kitchen. I set aside all my rules for cooking with real food, and turn our family kitchen into a haven for sugar highs, giggles and sweet memories that allow us to eat with reckless abandonment, feast on confections that normally would never grace our counters and get carried away by the fun that can be had when let your children play Cupid in the kitchen. What I love most about this experience is that when you let your guard down and let processed foods into your lives, you can see and hear the testament to healthy eating, even when your stuffing marshmallow whip into your mouth; because in between all the giggles are whispers of “Oh, that is sweet” or “That would taste better with fresh fruit” uttered from the mouths of children who can taste the difference between real food and processed foods….and nothing feels better in this world that hearing children look for ways to add healthy choices to a menu that is anything but.

When Celebrations asked me to create a line up of Valentine’s Day treats for little cooks, I let my children help plan the menu and guide me in the kitchen. We embraced the menu with an eye for sugary, gooey, and pink party foods, held tight to our tradition of sweet delights and then let our sugar high fuel the giggles that ensured for hours following our Cupid inspired kitchen adventure. From ice cream cakes to sweet heart love nests to bleeding hearts (these are for when the children go to bed darlings), we created 10 Valentine’s Day recipes that anyone from the age of 4 can create with ease. Find the full line up of recipes on Celebrations.com and let your little Cupid whip up some Valentine’s Day magic in your kitchen this week.

A Picture Perfect Anniversary Celebration

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 19:32:41 +0000

I am a hopeless romantic, to say that I am in love with love is an understatement. I weep at sappy commercials, cry at weddings and feel my heart tug when I see old married couples holding hands like youthful teenagers….so it is only fitting that when Celebrations asked me to put together a picture perfect anniversary party, that I went for the romance, the history and the longevity of a romantic story that makes me go weak in the knees. Old tarnished photos offer a romance unto themselves, like a window into a great novel, they offer the charm of the unspoken and spark heartfelt conversations that modern photos just cannot capture. But coupling those old photographs withe new photos, keeps the story alive, and brings in new characters that create an extended version of the story to share with generations to come. When planning your next anniversary party, reach for the heirlooms, the collections and the history of the wedding to give it a modern twist that will spark a romantic twinge with your guests and keep the romance of a cherished love story fresh in your minds.

From my sweet sparkling pear and vanilla cocktail, to the simple stylish crafting projects I created to adorn your table, my latest party for Celebrations guides you to hosting a picture perfect anniversary celebration, and gives you 10 essential tips for delivering a fabulous anniversary toast.

Sweet potato fries with a dipping good twist

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:43:02 +0000

Like all good expat families, our kitchen is divided. In one corner we have team Ketchup, in the other team Mayo, and oddly enough we have a few stuck firmly in the middle, choosing to divvy up their dipping bowl with equal portions of both. While I still wave the flag for team Ketchup, I am a closet fan of peanut butter and fries, a hangers-on from my single days in London that caught on after too many Friday nights spend sitting at my favorite gastro-pub with my best girlfriends. The gradual shame of being at a table with the lone bowl of Ketchup does amazing things to your palate….(cue the Lemmings). The creamy aromatic spice of the peanut butter, blended with the salty crunchy fry was love at first bite. My only regret is that following that first bite, my Friday night routine for a year consisted of peanut butter, fries and red wine; a combination that single handedly resulted in my first pair of Spanx, but I digress……..

When Alexia Foods asked me to create a recipe using their sweet potato fries, I was immediately drawn to pair them with a North African dip — a natural progression since we eat a Moroccan inspired stew nearly every week in the winter, and more often than not, I toss in a few sweet potatoes to give it color and texture. But a funny thing happened on the way to the oven…I tripped over my peanut butter jar and the next thing I knew, I was giving the sweet potato fries the peanut better taste test. Naturally, I loved it with both dips, so here we are, a platter full of sweet potato fries and 2 dipping bowls with very different flavors.

Asian Nut Dip

Ingredients

2 Cups of creamy natural peanut butter
3 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce
Zest of 1 Naval Orange
1 Birdseye Chile finely diced (Also called Thai or Peri Peri Chile)
1 Tablespoon of chopped Cilantro
1 Tablespoon of Sesame Seeds

Instructions

Mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl until it is a smooth and fully blended. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds and fresh coriander before serving.

Notes

Recipe by Coryanne Ettiene | 2013 | Kitchen Living with Coryanne

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Moroccan Herb Dip

Ingredients

1 Can of chickpeas strained and rinsed
1/4 Cup of fresh coriander
1/2 Teaspoon of ground Cumin
1 Teaspoon of ground Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of ground Turmeric
1/2 Teaspoon of ground Coriander
The juice of 1 large lemon
1/2 Cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons of Tahini

Instructions

Add the chickpeas, olive oil and Tahini to a blender and blitz until chopped. Add the juice of the lemon, spices and Tahini, and then blitz until smooth. Remove from the blender and place into a serving bowl, garnish with whole chickpeas, paprika and olive oil before serving.

Notes

Recipe by Coryanne Ettiene | 2013 | Kitchen Living with Coryanne

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Find out about other Alexia products, and join their rather generous rewards program by clicking here. And get fabulous recipes from fellow Tastemakers by visiting my #HeresToFood Pinterest Board with over 40 delicious pins. While you are there…. Alexia Foods is sponsoring my latest “Pin It To Win It” contest, so if you missed out on the Facebook giveaway in January, here is your second chance to win an Alexia Foods Prize pack.

Disclaimer: As an Alexia Tastemaker, I am being compensated for the partnership and recipes that I create for Alexia Foods. The content, recipe and sentiments shared above are all my opinions.

Cooking With Craftsman Tools

Coryanne Ettiene — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:42:02 +0000

I am anything but a tool person, not for lack of interest but from lack of confidence. For years, our handyman was on speed dial, one of the few remaining hangers-on from our city life that, to be honest, gave me pause when we embraced our new rural adventure. With a house ripe for renovation, a few out buildings in need or repair and a great number of DIY pins quickly accumulating in my {Living} Masion Ettiene board, if I was ever going to learn to wield a power tool….the kitchen was a great place to start. But not as you might think…. if I was going to learn, I wanted instant gratification out of it, not in the form of a new kitchen cabinet, but in the form of something edible. And thus began the adventure of the Cooking with Craftsman Series.

I spent weeks learning to use a variety of power tools, and then discovering ways to cook with them. Some were simple kitchen adaptions, others not so, and evidence of this lies in the potato shrapnel that I am still scraping off my ceiling. I didn’t want to create recipes for tools that were comedic, I wanted real recipes made using power tools that really did make cooking interesting. But I was not prepared for how much fun I would have once I started filming the series with Rob North…. a true man’s man who is twice my size, and has an equally firm interest in mischief. We had a brilliant time filming, I only wish I had taken more pictures to share wit you, but the handful that I do have in my behind the scenes Instagram pics certainly show us hard at play.

The series covers a 3 course meal consisting of a Carrot and Butternut Soup, Pan Fried Steak and Bacon Wrapped Roasted Potatoes, and a Victoria Sponge Cake all made using Craftsman Tools. You can watch the full series on YouTube here. Or watch the Victoria Sponge Cake below, a favorite because, truth be told, it was the first time I baked with any real confidence…and darling, that felt amazing!

Farm House Skillet Recipe

Coryanne Ettiene — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:22:05 +0000

Brinner…it is a winner. At least in my house, but I am always looking for ways to move the sweet of the menu and get my kitchen table crowd excited about savory dishes made with my grandmother’s cast iron skillet. When we landed in the US she handed down her collection of cast iron skillets, and with great shame they have nested in my cupboard for nearly 2 years, gathering dust, rust and any number of ailments of neglect along the way, only to be rediscovered when we re-organized the kitchen this month. My heart broke just a little at the neglect as I reflected how much she nurtured them and how excited she was to pass them down “to someone who would love them”. But truth be told, they sat unused for so long because I could not muster the time to care for them, and keep them as pristine as she kept them for so many years. But after a few Google searches and a long conversation with my neighbor who survives off of cast iron meals, I rolled up my sleeves, polished them within in an inch of their life and created a recipe worthy of all the meals that make the fabric of these pans a true family heirloom.

As an Alexia Tastemaker I have been slowly going through all of their fabulous frozen food products, creating mid week family recipes for them, and hot on our “oh so yummy” list is their Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries. Seasoned just right, they add the all too popular ‘fries’ component to this Farm House Brinner ensuring that the skillet is polished and clean even before it leaves the table.

Farm House Skillet Brinner

For busy mid week meals, try making the bacon and the fries the night before to save on the prep time.

Ingredients

1 Bag of Alexia Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries
4 Large Organic Cage Free Eggs
6 Strips of oven broiled thick cut bacon
1/4 Cup of Sun Dried Tomatoes
1/4 Cup of Whole Milk
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 Cup of strong cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Bake the Alexia Rosemary and Garlic Oven Fries according to the directions on the packet and then allow them to rest.
2. While the fries are baking, broil your bacon to a light crispiness, and then set aside while you prepare your skillet.
3. In a large mixing bowl, mix the eggs, salt, pepper and milk to create a creamy egg batter.
3. Place the Oven Fries around the skillet, adding extra fries to the base of the pan to create a bottom crust.
4. Layer in the bacon and tomatoes.
5. Pour the egg batter over the layer of fries, bacon and tomatoes, and then top with shredded strong cheddar cheese before baking in the oven at 375F for 45 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch.

Notes

Recipe by Coryanne Ettiene | Kitchen Living with Coryanne | 2013

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Disclaimer: As an Alexia Tastemaker, I am being compensated for the partnership and recipes that I create for Alexia Foods. The content, recipe and sentiments shared above area all my opinions.

Family Game Night Tips & Tricks

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:21:00 +0000

January is the perfect month to bring the kitchen table to life with a fun filled family game night. After the expense and festivities of the holidays, sitting around the table with a little healthy family competition is an inexpensive and relaxing way to spend time living in your kitchen with the ones you love. Mind you, my gaming personality should come with a caution — I have been known to sharpen my elbows before a game of Monopoly and memorize the entire “Z” section of the dictionary before a game of Scrabble all in an attempt to…well…win. But I try to make up for this unpleasent side of my personality by offering simple and indulgent game night goodies.

Top of our list for any and all winter family gatherings is my Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate. So simple it feels awkward giving you a recipe…. simply dip your extra large marshmallow in chocolate, cover in sugar sprinkles and then allow it to set until you are ready to place them in a mug, and top with steaming hot milk (we love adding a few drops of Vanilla Extract to the milk to give it an added indulgence).

I recently shared my tips for hosting a family game night with New Day Northwest in Seattle, if you missed them last week, click on the video below to watch me share my recipe for homemade instant hot chocolate and a pick of our top family games.

5 Things to do in your kitchen this winter

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:27:47 +0000

Photo Courtesy of West Elm & Cultivate.com

The winter kitchen is more than hearty stews and roasts, and while the aroma of a slow cooker simmering on the counter top practically beckons you into the kitchen on a cold frosty day, design is just as integral to creating a fabulous winter kitchen. As I walk across my cold slate kitchen floor, I am reminded daily that I should have installed underfloor heating in my kitchen long before the first snow flake fell, but it is not to late for me to put on a pair of thick wool socks and tackle the other projects that will make my winter kitchen more inviting over the coming months. Lighting is high on my priority, as the days quicken and the sky is heavy with overcast cold winter light, I am confident that we can turn the gloom of my winter kitchen into a haven for light….that way we can celebrate the food we cook not only with our stomaches, but also with our eyes.

Read more about the 5 things you should do in your kitchen this winter in my recent Cultivate article for Williams – Sonoma by clicking here.

Cooking with Alexia Foods

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:11:42 +0000

With the holidays over and normal life resuming, I find my kitchen suddenly quiet and calm after weeks of preparing holiday treats for over excited children and all the fabulous people who helped make our first holiday in Washington a memorable one. Getting back into the normal routine of balancing work and parenting means that I tend to stumble and fall in the kitchen, making grand plans for elaborate meals, only to find that 4pm arrives and pasta is suddenly on the menu ….again. But this year, I am better prepared for that hurdle back into daily life thanks in great part to my freezer, and my new collaboration with Alexia Foods.

To help celebrate my new role as a Tastemaker for Alexia Foods, I am giving away a New Year Survival Pack full of essentials to kick start your 2013 with healthy eating and stress free mid week meals. I am really excited about this giveaway as I have been using the same kit with gusto over the last few weeks, click on the image below to enter to win on Facebook. And if one give-away is not enough….. Over the next few months I will be sharing my recipes for creating fabulous mid week meals using some of my favorite Alexia Foods products, and along the way I will be giving a few goodies away so you can enjoy the recipes right along side me.

Connect with Alexia Foods on Facebook to join their thriving community of food lovers across North America who are earning points towards prizes like coupons, gift cards, free kitchen swag, exclusive recipes and more. And discover great reciepes from other #HeresToFood Tastemakers on the Tastemaker Roundtable like the Chicken and Brown Rice Skillet Recipe on the slide show that Liz from the Lemon Bowl created*. Looking for great pins? Follow my {Eat} Alexia Tastemakers Board on Pinterest to stay up to date on all the latest Alexia Tastemaker recipes and coupons.

*Slide show image and recipe courtesy of Liz from the Lemon Bowl, find the recipe here.

Holiday Salt Dough

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 17 Dec 2012 13:00:26 +0000

Salt dough and holiday festivities go hand in hand in our family, it is a tradition that started with my mother and that I am whole heartedly passing down to my children…. it is the one time where I toss out my crafting insecurities and embrace what garish ornament I manage to create because I know that with each year, our salt dough collection grows and so too does the memory of our kitchen crafting adventures together.

Join us in creating a Salt Dough tradition. Watch my quick eHow tutorial on painting salt dough and then let the magic move you. Wishing you and your family a very festive and memorable holiday season filled with snow flakes, chocolate drops and giggles to keep you warm at night. Happy Holidays!

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup of Table Salt
1/2 Cup of warm water
1 Cup of All purpose Flour
Optional vanilla extract or mulling spices to scent the dough

Directions:

In a dry mixing bowl add the salt and the flour and mix until fully blended, then add the water and kneed until the surface is soft and smooth. If you are adding spices or extract, add it now. Roll into a large ball and portion out smaller balls to each person making ornaments. Cover with a slightly damp cloth to keep the unused balls from drying out while you are busy creating. Either opt for the simple option of rolling out the dough into thin slabs and cut with a cookie cutter to create your shapes, or get busy sculpting more elaborate decorations.

Once your ornaments are complete, place a toothpick at the top of each ornament to create the hole needed to string it later. Bake at 200F for 4-6 hours to completely evaporate the moisture from the dough (we were in a hurry so baked them for 2 hours and then let them air dry on a shelf overnight). Once dry, use acrylic paint to decorate, then spray with clear varnish to seal the ornament and give it a bit of holiday shine.

Essential Tools:

Parchment Paper, great for using as a worktop surface that can be transferred right on to a baking sheet;
Rolling pin;
Cookie Cutters, Play-dough equipment, potato ricer, butter knives, forks, and anything that you can think of to give your ornament a little razzle dazzle;
Toothpicks or wooden skewers to pierce a whole;
Various baking sheets;
Acrylic Paints, Paint Brushes and cupcake wrappers to use as paint pots;
Clear Varnish;
Ribbon, wire, or string to hang your ornament.

Orange Gluten Free Gingerbread Pasta with Cranberries

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 06:27:11 +0000

Special Contributor: Amie Valpone from The Healthy Apple

Just in time for gingerbread season; here is a simple, quick and easy recipe that can be whipped up in under 30 minutes. It’s perfect for the holidays and can be served for a quick weeknight dinner or a weekend dinner party. The best part? Leftovers taste twice as good! Enjoy this dish for lunch the next day atop a bed of mixed greens and you’ll be in the holiday spirit in no time. This pasta dish is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and vegan so you can feel good about serving it to those who have food allergies, click here for the recipe.

Photo and Recipe by Amie Valpone

Christmas “Pinspiration”

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:38:00 +0000

Social media has changed the way I communicate, and no where is that sentiment more true than when I look at the inspiration board in my office that stands neglected like a ditto machine waiting for someone to take it for a twirl. The tacks are the only thing that remain inspiring, and even those are from the era when push pins were vogue and my thumbs were dented from the mad frenzy of creating a new board. It reminds me of the time capsules we buried in elementary school: forgotten, dusty and perfectly preserved from lack of interest. But while my office inspiration board stands unchanged, my inspiration grows on Pinterest.

Join me in celebrating 30 days of Pinspiration and my love of the {Modern} Christmas Kitchen as part of the Pinterest 30 Days of Pinspiration. I am practically giddy from excitement to be included in the line up of amazing boards offering endless inspiration for the magical month of December, and hope that the boards featured will inspire you to embrace an festive and magical end to 2012.

5 Tips for hosting a Holiday Coffee “Cupping” Party

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 05:09:48 +0000

The holidays are synonymous with cocktail parties, and for the great majority of us, what we really need in December is bold dark coffee to get us through the frenzied days of this winter month. Hosting a coffee party allows both the guests, and the host to relax over a steamy hot cup, enjoying gregarious banter around a kitchen table….cocktail dresses are replaced with every day attire, and elbows rest on kitchen tables while crumbs bounce around littering the tabletop like holiday confetti. Hosting a Coffee Cupping Party allows everyone to learn the art of coffee tasting and is the perfect setting for blending familiar faces and new acquaintances. “Cupping” is the art of tasting coffee, and while the process is just as technical as wine tasting, it is in many ways more complicated, as coffee beans have up to 800 flavor characteristics that our senses can detect. Red wine, by comparison, only has 400.

5 Tips for hosting a Holiday Coffee Cupping Party

1. Learn the language of coffee:

Aroma: The smell of the coffee.
Fragrance: The smell of the coffee grinds (and the more oil the bean has, the more fragrance the grinds will have).
Body: How the coffee feels in your mouth. This is the feeling of weight and texture.
Rich: Is when the coffee is buttery and satisfying.
Mellow: For when the coffee has a fully-developed body; not harsh.
Acidity: Arabica beans are famous for having this character trait.

2. Shop Smart: Buy your fresh coffee no more than 2 weeks before you serve it, and reserve grinding until the moment you plan to brew it.

The Arabian: A medium to full body, rich flavor and dry aftertaste—some say a hint of chocolate.
The Brazilian: A medium to moderately dark roast with a hint of sweetness.
The Colombian: Generally full-bodied, fruity and acidic with a dark roast.
The Costa Rican: Dry and medium-bodied, with a dark roast.
The Ethiopian: Sweet, medium-bodied and fruity, with a dark roast.
The Hawaiian: Delicate, dry, slightly sweet, with a medium to moderately dark roast.
The Kenyan: Dry and acidic, with dark roast.
The Sumatran: Full-bodied and slightly fermented, with a dark roast.

3. Avoid the freezer: Forget what you have learned about freezing coffee…and never, ever freeze roasted coffee beans. Coffee beans are porous and will absorb odors present in your freezer, additionally the moister from the freezer will break down the bean leaving you with a dull bean with little resemblance to what it was before it arrived in your freezer.

4. Serve small cups: Offer single serving cups, or espresso cups for your guests to sip the coffee from. This allows for the full aroma and taste of the coffee to engulf your senses and get the full experience of cupping.

5. Serve chocolate: Once the cupping is complete, serve chocolate. It is a fabulous compliment to coffee drinking, especially if you are serving Arabian coffee.

Coryanne’s 30 second Coffee Sticks

There really should be a crime against recipes that take no time and taste so good. Simply take thin Italian bread sticks (Or make your own), dip them in a fresh jar of Chocolate Hazelnut spread (or make your own), then sprinkle fresh roasted coffee beans over the top. Yes, a food stylist could make these look amazing, and if you make everything from scratch no doubt they would taste even better….but I had 30 seconds and as good as they are, I see no reason to verge from my path.

Love the idea of a cupping party but panicking about your coffee maker? Breville has released new, time saving products such as the YouBrew, just in time for the holidays! Create your perfect cup or pot of coffee instantly and easily with the Breville YouBrew. Check out their website for more information on this product and other great gift ideas. And don’t forget to reply below for two chances to win your choice of amazing Breville products either for yourself or as a gift to a loved one: YouBrew, Tea Maker and Smart Oven products ($250 ARV). This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Breville. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules

Tradtional Home Design Feature

Coryanne Ettiene — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 18:00:25 +0000

There are some magazines that I never purge because they offer constant design inspiration regardless of when they were published. Traditional Home is one of those gems: the treasures nestled in between the pages, the eye candy that evokes an urgency to re-design my home, and the stories behind the stories that offer a view of a design inspired life, frequently leave a mark on my personal home style. To be included in those pages, to be the story behind the story and to leave a bread trail of inspiration to readers of this fabulous publication is a dream that, if I am honest, comes from the same page as sharing a midnight feast with Nigella Lawson or having Daniel Craig show me how to race a speed boat….but when you wish upon a star, some dreams do come true.

My friend and NYC designer, Tamara Stephenson, included me in her interactive design piece that showcases design hot spots from around the US. The interactive map allows you to click on a location and delve deep into the shops that inspire and delight designers from across the US…and when you click on the blue star hovering over Washington, you will find where I pick up my treasured kitchen gems.

Direct Link to my local Design Spot | National Design Spot Interactive Map | Full Traditional Home eZine

Image Courtesy of Traditional Home

Infused Vodka for tipsy holiday cheer

Coryanne Ettiene — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 04:43:07 +0000

Everyone at my table is chatting about cookie exchanges, mince pies and holiday cakes. While they banter on about the sugar lips that their neighbours will be licking this holidays season, I am still struggling with my baking skills, fretting that any baked treat that I might whip up from scratch will poison a loved one, forcing my head to hang in shame while I consider how I can get away with ready made pastry and cake box treats in lieu the million Victoria Sponge Cakes I should be baking from scratch. The coffee is hot, the conversation is animated, and I am suddenly parched for something stronger because sitting at a table of baking goddesses has me dreaming of booze and vanilla…. and just like that I know that my holiday gifts will be festive, homemade and as long as I don’t distill the Vodka myself, won’t poison anyone.

Spread a little tipsy Christmas Cheer this December with my recipe for homemade infused Vanilla Vodka.

Ingredients

1 Litre of Vodka (the sort you sip from a crystal tumbler rather than swig from the bottle)
1-2 Soft Gooey Vanilla Pods (the kind you can wrap around your finger and taste on your skin)
Patience (2-4 weeks is a long time to wait for a cup of holiday cheer)

Directions

Take your Vanilla pod and cut the length of the pod to expose the inside, taking care not to cut in half lengthwise. Open your Vodka bottle, drop in the pod, close the bottle and wait 3 weeks. The darker the color, the more holiday cheer that awaits. Once you have the desired aromatic infusion, remove the pod…there is a fine line between infused vodka and Vanilla Extract. If you are giving this as a holiday gift, let your recipient know about the line between a good drink and a good baking ingredient.

Cognac Butter and the magic of Christmas

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 05:32:46 +0000

Next to Herodotus, my grandmother is my favorite story teller. It is my greatest regret that I have not spent my life writing down her view of the world through the sights, sounds and smells of the kitchen, and my one saving grace that I am able to share little glimpses of her view of the world with you today. Her memories are captivating, and like a magnet, have pulled me into the kitchen centric lifestyle I lead today. My own romantic view of history tints her stories with rose color, and I have no doubt that I take artistic liberties when I re-tell her stories to my children.

While all her stores are magical, it is her Christmas memories that spark the most vivid illustrations in my mind. Set in a Pre-war Boston, I envision her wearing her red winter coat, riding a crammed city bus while sharing a seat with her mother as they raced through town towards the magnificent window displays lining the shopping district of Boston. They arrive full of festive cheer, eager to stroll hand in hand window shopping despite the economic hardships crippling their promise of a bountiful holiday. While they feast on the merriment of Boston, her father is hunting high and low looking for a cut price Christmas Tree to surprise the family with, only to return well into the midnight hours with a Pine Tree that in the morning would dampen her holiday spirits because all she really wanted was a Christmas tree like the ones that lined the windows the previous day. But her sulk was short lived, the tree was forgotten, and her faith in all things good and grand were restored thanks to the all too familiar aroma of the sweet creamy Cognac Butter that her mother was whipping in the kitchen.

Photo Courtesy of Kroger Family of Stores and MyMagazine Extras

Discover our family recipe for Cognac Butter featured in the latest edition of the Kroger MyMagazine Extras by clicking on the image below.

A Christmas Bird House

Coryanne Ettiene — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:51:11 +0000

One of my daughter’s first Christmas memories is of building a Christmas house using custard cream biscuits and peppermint icing. Every year we gather around a kitchen table bursting with sweets, cookies and frosting to relive the magic of that first Christmas house, and as much as I would love her to remember us whipping the frosting and unwrapping the sweets, Margeaux remembers that we used an empty beer box as the foundation because I burned the gingerbread…not quite the warm fuzzy moment you want remembered year after year, but then, nothing in life is picture perfect. In an effort to create a picture perfect memory, we are embracing a new tradition this year ….. the Christmas bird house. Make your own version and read more about my Christmas Bird House on Celebrations.com

Photo by Coryanne Ettiene | Courtesy of Celebrations.com

Cooking With Craftsman

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 05:18:47 +0000

By now you know me…I wear my heart on my sleeve, I work hard, play harder, and when the two meet in the kitchen I am in my element. Put me in the kitchen with a handsome man and some power tools and one might think I am on the verge of a kitchen renovation….but not this time darlings, I am simply making a three course meal with a tool belt of Craftsman Tools and the ever fabulous Rob North, a Master Craftsman.

Last week I found myself learning the fundamentals of power tools and how they can manipulate a carrot that only a farmer’s wife could match, to say that I am a convert to the catch phrase “Every tool is for cooking, you just need to know how to use it” is an understatement. I have spent the last 3 months playing with power tools in my kitchen, so much so that I now have a drawer full of them right next to my tea cups, because frankly darlings, why simply marinate a steak when you can hammer it? Why prick a potato when you can pin punch it? And why let Rob North and his Craftsman friends have all the fun with power tools?

Join me this Thursday on Twitter at 8pm EST for an hour long look at cooking creativity and discovering power tools. Tweet with master craftsman, win prizes, share recipes and laugh till your sides hurt because this is one kitchen experience that will see you looking at your cooking tools in a whole new light.

RSVP for the #CookingWithCraftsman Twitter party below……

Holiday Waffle Sticks

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 23:29:15 +0000

For some odd reason, going out for breakfast always equates to ordering waffles for every member of our family. There is a magical quality to waffles that conjures up images of a decadent all American breakfast feast. The fluffy goodness that bounces off your fork and into your mouth, the smiles that twinkle with sugar and gooey syrup and the laughter that follows each bite. While pancakes are the champion of our Saturday mornings at home, waffles are the king of our Sunday mornings spent huddled around a small table in a bustling breakfast joint…until now. After years of longing for a waffle maker to bring this breakfast royalty to our family breakfast table, I finally have my longed for waffle maker and can make all the magic happen right in my kitchen.

With the batter mixed, aprons tied and hungry mouths to feed, we fired up our new Hamilton Beach Waffle Makers and let the breakfast feast begin. We created big round fluffy waffle cakes with the Breakfast Master and divided up the waffle sticks from the waffle cakes made on the Waffle Maker. The intention was to sit down around the table, graciously plate our waffles, put our knives and forks to proper use and behave with civility over breakfast…. but those waffle sticks tossed us into a frenzy, with little regard for forks, napkins or manners. The waffles practically begged us to eat them right off the grill plate, the sugar went flying, our fingers went onto auto pilot, and before we knew it, the batter was gone and our breakfast was devoured from around the waffle makers.

This holiday season I am dishing up waffle sticks with style and so can you…. join me on Facebook for a chance to win a Hamilton Beach Waffle Maker.

Essential tools for holiday cooking

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 01:25:49 +0000

I never have enough tiny bowls, an addiction that I blame my mother for. Every time we stroll casually through Sur La Table, she stops and admires the miniature bowls and always leaves with one or two more to add to her growing collection. In turn I would raise my eyebrow and smirk at this habit never quite “getting” the tiny bowl obsession…until recently. I have been a tiny bowl hoarder for 345 days now, and together we must look like we are shopping for the Little’s, when in fact we are really shopping for ourselves. Who knew that a little bowl would have so much potential…dips, ice cream, butter, snacks, sides… and leave the humble side plate lonely and ignored in my dish pantry. I could, in fact, rid myself of all the other dishes; imagine the simplicity of having cleared out the entire dish pantry of anything but the essentials…. I know if I were stranded on a “Kitchen Island” the only dish I would take with me would be the tiny bowls I am hoarding like crazy these days (Thank you mother).

So what about my kitchen tools…. Which ones would make the cut and join me on “Kitchen Island”? It is amazing what you can pull off with an immersion blender and a Dutch Oven…. add a ricer or a skillet to the mix and you can cook like a chef all week long. But of course, one cannot live life well without a roasting dish or a mister…I mean, really, cocktails and roasts are what give us our humanity.

Watch the full video of my Kitchen Island Must Haves from my Seattle New Day segment here:

Thanksgiving Table Tactics

Coryanne Ettiene — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:37:54 +0000

Compared to many families made popular on reality TV, my family is dull, dry and lacks the gusto to make for captivated viewing… but I adore them nonetheless and find comfort in the fact that the biggest drama we have hosted on Thanksgiving is when the dog ran away with the turkey, or the one time a beloved English relative drank himself under the table…literally. Whilst some of us look forward to family gatherings, others of us have the type of family that makes for great reality TV, and with the holidays looming, it is inevitable that you will find yourself around a table filled with a variety of relatives dodging white elephants and trying to make it through your pumpkin pie without the urge to hurl it across the table. If you are looking for harmony at the table this year, embrace these 10 tips to build a few family memories without the docudrama.

Photo by Coryanne Ettiene | Courtesy of Celebrations.com

Embrace the family do-gooder: We all have that happy clappy relative that wants nothing more than to host the family holiday people only read about in …blogs. Give them a moment to bring in the holiday cheer, find the humor in their holiday attire and try to let their good spirits rub off on you…even if just for a moment.
Give the exaggerator a moment to shine: It is no doubt evident to everyone at the table that the story they are telling is well beyond humanly possible, but why spoil the fun? Let them have their center stage, and then try to direct the conversation elsewhere once they are done.
Offer your pity: If your family includes a martyr, offer up your sympathies to their sacrifices and give them the gift of martyrdom this holiday season. Often times all they want is to be heard, and acknowledged, and the best way to do that is by saying, “you deserve a break”….and if you are anything like me, keep the sarcasm to a minimum, this is serious stuff.
Derail the nosy: Especially frustrating to those who lead a private life, the busybody in every family is relentless and always listening. They are best approached in groups where the conversation can be derailed away from their fact-finding mission.
Avoid sibling rivalry: Hard as we try, it is inevitable that we regress to our teenage selves when we are around our siblings. Keep the rivalry, light and infrequent for the sake of everyone at the table. (Note to self: write this on your hand and take your own medicine darling).
Look for a peacemaker: Politics clash and siblings rival, having a peacemaker on hand to sooth the fire of conflict before it arises is the best way to keep the family moving away from drama and towards harmony.
Use Place-cards: Assigned seating is the best defense against conflict at the table—it not only allows you to arrange your guests by temperament, it ensures that you are seated next to those that will bring you the most enjoyment of your holiday gathering.
Mix family with friends: Adding friends to a family gathering almost always ensures that everyone will be on their best behavior, and it allows you to share the holidays with your closets friends.
Create happy memories: Boredom is the fuel to any family feud; keep your guest sober and busy by planning a number of activities both before and after the meal.
Keep an eye on the bar: Drunken family members offer little chance of a happy time. Where possible, keep your drinks to a minimum before the meal is served and save the cocktails for when you have a full stomach.

10 items to freeze before Thanksgiving

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 03:46:08 +0000

There is something understated and charming about Thanksgiving that simply does not compare to Christmas. As a child I cherished the frantic shopping and storing that became synonymous with Thanksgiving, and watched with amazement as my family crammed into my grandmother’s small kitchen calculating cooking times and choreographing the oven relay with near perfection. The pint size version of myself would navigate under arms, around waist lines and bounce through legs to catch a glimpse of the commotion, captivated by the swearing, the laughter and the memories being made while turkey smells wafted around the house. By the time I was 8 I was granted full kitchen access, and given the role of prepping our freezer and ultimately passing out the all important freezer items as they were needed. This November I am passing that tradition on to my daughter Margeaux who eagerly accepted the role of “freezer princess”, and who is now writing her list and filling our freezer with the essentials needed to pull of a stress free Thanksgiving.

10 Items to freeze before Thanksgiving

Herb drops: Freeze fresh herbs and olive oil in ice cube trays, and use them as needed to create aromatic stuffing, roasted vegetables, or accent your roasting tray.
Bacon fat: Freeze your bacon fat in ice cube trays or in measured amounts using freezer safe bags, and then add them to your gravy or roasting tray.
Red wine: If, on the odd occasion, you have left over wine, add it in measured amounts to a freezer safe bag and then use it to create fabulous sauces or post Thanksgiving stews.
Mash Potatoes: Save oven space by freezing your mash potatoes in a freezer safe container before your start cooking your Thanksgiving meal, and then reheat them in the oven prior to serving.
Gravy: Roast chicken bones, vegetable scraps, onions and garlic in a pan, then add chicken stock to the mix to create a faux Thanksgiving gravy base. Freeze it in a freezer safe bag, and then add it to your Thanksgiving roasting pan to for easy Thanksgiving gravy.
Baked goods: Spend the month baking fresh breads, muffins and rolls for freezing, and then thaw them on Thanksgiving eve to ensure you have plenty of baked goodies to nibble on throughout the day.
Celery: Celery is a stock stable and essential for adding flavor to your roasting tray and left over soups — but it takes up so much room and never lasts as long as you wish it would. Wash, dry and then seal in an air tight freezer safe bag. On Thanksgiving day, drop your frozen celery into your roasting pan or stews as needed.
Butter Cream Frosting: Keep the children happy with fresh butter cream cupcakes, by making a batch prior to Thanksgiving, freezing it an an air tight freezer safe container, and then thawing it on Thanksgiving eve (along with your fresh cupcakes). Once thawed, frost and serve with little to no effort.
Fresh Cranberry Relish: Regardless if you served stewed cranberries or a cranberry salad, you can make them prior to Thanksgiving, and then store them in freezer safe bags.
Vodka, Rum and Tequila: While these will not freeze, they will stay chilled allowing you to serve chilled cocktails all day long.

Candied Apples Make Good Neighbors

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 19:56:04 +0000

Call me a helpless romantic but I love the notion of having a home that encourages my neighbors to pop over for a cup of tea and natter for hours over the rising cost of garden center plants. I grew up watching my grandfather carefully cultivate friendships with everyone on our street, and was always driven to become friends with everyone who lived in our neighborhood. I learned from my grandfather that your neighbors are an extension of your family and your home, and when cultivated, they can become friends that will last a lifetime.

With today’s modern hectic lives, we seldom have time to natter for hours over a cup of tea, and find it more convenient to pop to the shops to secure that much needed cup of sugar than pop next door. While living briefly in Arizona, life got in the way of creating good neighborhood friendships– I knew little of our neighbors and often felt disconnected to streets weaving around our home as a result. The moment we landed in Washington, we were greeted with the warmest neighborhood welcome, rekindling that romantic notion of neighborly love, and reminding me how fabulous it is to hear the doorbell ring and find a fresh hot pie with our name on it. I could not wait to share the warm fuzzies we felt, and set about reciprocating our budding neighborly love by knocking on doors around our neighborhood with bundles fresh berry pies in the summer and then, this Fall, we sent our resident Super Girl out with a basket of candied apples to keep the momentum going throughout these cold Autumn days.

Sharing gifts from the kitchen does not have to be reserved for holidays and special occasions, sometimes the best kitchen gifts are those that are least expected and the simplest to make. Turn your kitchen into a candy apple factory with just a handful of ingredients and less time than you may think.

Ettiene Family Candied Apples

Ingredients

4 cups of white granulated sugar
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 cup light corn syrup
10 small red apples

Directions

Before starting on the sugar, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and then place each apple on the sheet with enough room to cool. Once in place, insert a twig or wooden stick into each apple. In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine your white sugar, water, and corn syrup. Bring your ingredients to a boil over high heat string constantly for around 20 minutes or until your mixture reaches between 300F and 310F. Once you have the correct temperature, work quickly to remove your pot from the heat, and then dip the apples in the sugar mixture one at a time until each apple is completely coated. Once coated, place on the parchment paper to allow to cool.

Getting the most out of harvest pumpkins

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 20:10:10 +0000

Few elements of my Autumn childhood memories stand out, I suspect that growing up in Arizona meant that Fall was a season left for story books and Saturday morning cartoon plots. Pumpkins were simply something you bought the day before Halloween at the grocery store, and only appeared in pie form on our Thanksgiving table. I never made the connection between the carved pumpkin and the pie pumpkin until I spent my first Thanksgiving in London, and tried in vain to make fresh pumpkin pie — a disaster that would fuel my avoidance of this bright orange Autumn jewel until this year when I visited my first pumpkin farm with the family. Somewhere between muddy wellies and hot spiced pumpkin juice, I learned to love these orange bobbles and felt confident to bring them into my kitchen again.

With such a vast variety of pumpkins to choose from –decorative pumpkins, carving pumpkins and eating pumpkins –the odds are stacked against you that your first few adventures into cooking with pumpkins may be nothing more than culinary learning experiences, but the truth is, once you know which ones to use, the road to pumpkin success is a long one.

With their bright orange skin and light nutty flesh, heavy round munchkin pumpkins are best for cooking. Unlike their decorative kin, cooking pumpkins are dense and heavy for their size, showcasing pleated sides with smaller seeds and fewer stringy innards to remove. They give your favorite dishes a decidedly Fall flavor offering a chestnut aroma while also adding texture to soups, stews, roast dishes and combination meals like risotto, stir fry or pasta. For baking, reach for a pie or sugar pumpkin, they, like their carving cousin, are round, but offer a pint size of dense sweet orange flesh, with fewer seeds and less stringy innards to remove. As with munchkin pumpkins, look for heavy, dense pumpkins that seem heavy for their size and have a dark rich orange skin.

The beauty of buying pumpkins for consumption, is that they can have a rather long shelf life. Avoid placing them near ripening fruit like apples or pears as they will encourage faster decomposition of your pumpkins. To keep your pumpkins fresher for longer, wipe them down with a damp cloth before drying them completely, and then store them in a cool, dark well ventilated place away from kitchen appliances.

Hungry for pumpkins? You will be after you feast your eyes on the Hungry Goddess “Hooked on Pumpkins” board, with over 111 pins focused on enjoying pumpkins, you could eat pumpkins morning, noon and night all Autumn long and never tire from the variety of tastes and recipe ideas created using this Fall staple.

How to make a bow topper

Coryanne Ettiene — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 21:19:45 +0000

Little can be said about my crafting ability — I have plenty of ideas but when it comes to putting them into place, my efforts resemble that of a 6 year old rather than the ability of a skilled professional. As a sorority girl I had plenty of crafting support, and could wield a glue gun and puffy paint like a crafting rock star….truth be told, I even had a collection of rubber stamps and ink pads that the crafty crowd would envy, but somewhere between secret handshakes and climbing the corporate ladder, my passion for crafts died and so too did my skill. Fast forward 20 years and I stand before you with a crafting closet that appeared literally overnight thanks in part to my new best friends at Plaid Crafts. Over the last two weeks I have been learning to paint, Papier-mâché and hot glue gun like a Craft Wars contestant, all in preparation for my latest eHow series on Christmas Tree Decorating Tips that I filmed earlier this week.

Coryanne live on-air demonstrating bow making for eHow

It turns out that learning to craft again is simple. Like cooking, the more you do it, the better you get…. and eventually, you end up with something presentable, like my bow tree topper. When they asked me to demonstrate a bow topper I immediately went online to watch experts make them, and then spent days fretting over how imperfect they were. After hours of trial and error I finally figured out that if you can tie a shoe string, you can tie a ribbon topper. Once I learned how to make one, I immediately got to work on making miniature versions for my holiday gifts, and now have a box full of tiny bow toppers just waiting to be tied to homemade bottles of infused sugar.

How to make a bow topper

Step 1: Measure the height of your tree, and create 4 lengths of ribbon to cover your tree from top to bottom – this will act as the length of the ribbon streamers that fall down your tree. Secure them with a pipe cleaner and set to the side while you make the bow topper.

Step 2: To create a bow topper for a tree you will need between a ½ yard to 1 yard per loop depending on how wide and tall your tree is; A good rule of thumb is the measure the top diameter of your tree and use that measurement as your working figure. To make a full ribbon, estimate for 10 loops on your bow topper and 4 lengths of streamer.

Step 3: Begin by giving yourself a short length of ribbon and then loop and pinch each section together until you have the desired size. Each loop will grow in length as your make your bow. Once you have your desired size, bind the center tightly with a pipe cleaner and then fasten your streamers to the center of the bow to complete it.

….need a visual? Don’t worry, the series will be up soon on eHow……..

10 Holiday Punch Recipes

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 04:21:40 +0000

I often wonder how I will reflect on my childhood holiday memories as time pulls me further from that 6 year old girl shaking her presents on Christmas eve, and my love of National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (with my near perfect recital of every line) intertwine to create a new set of memories blended with reality and film-making. The only common link between the two is that in both cases, the drive to create the perfect holiday memory generated the best, but rather unexpected holiday memories. Together they form the holiday aspirations I long for as I embark on building holiday memories for my children, and individually they remind me that perfection is not something to aim for, but rather simple, traditional celebrations that focus on the people you share them with.

As I approach this holiday season, I am embracing a tradition from my past and serving holiday punch…I gave this relic from my childhood a make over, using fresh ingredients from Whole Foods Market. This year I will be serving punch with pride at all my holiday festivities to give me more time to enjoy with the people who matter the most.

My eHow series on Party Punch Recipes is full of family favorites like our recipe for Fruit Punch, and plenty of cost saving tips and healthy reminders. Before reaching for the punch bowl, here are a few tips to ensure that your next party packs a punch.

Punch Bowl Party Tips

Avoid Soda Pop. Where possible, opt for sparkling water or Italian Soda rather than mainstream soda pop to reduce refined sugars.
Don’t be afraid to go generic. Stocking a family bar is costly, where possible, reach for the generic brands to keep your costs low. My entire series was made using 365 products, allowing me to focus on quality, rather than fretting over quantity.
Don’t dilute with water. Opt for frozen juice ice cubes or frozen fruit to keep your punch chilled without making it watery.
Adorn with dried fruit. Add a little extra sugar to your party punch by using dried fruit, it not only adds an extra garnish, the sugar from the fruit works to sweeten your punch while it re-hydrates.
Infuse with fresh herbs. Cilantro, Basil, Rosemary and Mint are fabulous herbs for mixing punches, and if you rub them before adding them to the punch, you release a bouquet of fresh essential oils that will liven up an outdated party punch recipe.

On location in my kitchen filming the Party Punch Series in September.

I could not wait to share my family recipe for fruit punch in the clip below. However, my favorite recipe is the orange and coriander punch that goes beautifully with a dash of Vodka for when you really want to celebrate; to watch that video, and see the full 10 recipes, watch the entire series by clicking here.

How to Make Homemade Fruit Punch — Coryanne Ettiene for eHow

Mushrooms: The story behind this fungi

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 10:17:15 +0000

I have long since been amazed at how our tastes are dictated by our surroundings and the people who influence us the most. While traveling in the People’s Republic of China, I sat at a family table and watched with endless fascination while children devoured chicken feet with unabashed enthusiasm equally as much as they popped mushrooms into their mouths like they were popping cherries. I remember that meal with such clarity, I had just returned from a 42 hour hard seat train journey nearly dead from lack of food and confident that I would eat anything sat before me….sadly the menu coupled with my delicate palate left me staring at a bowl with steamed rice. Despite my many attempts, chicken feet were simply not the culinary delight I could learn to love, and thanks to my aunt who assured me that eating mushrooms was a fate worse than death, I had never met a mushroom that would touch my lips. If only that 20 something woman could see me today while I stand over the kitchen sink licking my fingers as I pop mushroom after mushroom into my mouth enjoying every burst of Umami.

What I love most about food is not just the taste, but the history behind it. For example, it was not until I started working with the Mushroom Council that I discovered that Umami is the fifth basic taste after sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Derived from the Japanese word umai, meaning “delicious,” Umami (pronounced oo-MAH-mee) is described as a savory, brothy, rich or meaty taste sensation. And low and behold, the humble mushroom is a rich source of Umami. The list of fascinating mushroom facts is endless, for example, did you know:

The darker the mushroom the more Umami it contains.
Fresh mushrooms should never be frozen, but frozen sautéed mushrooms will keep for up to one month in the freezer.
Cultivated mushrooms are grown indoors, allowing us to enjoy them seasonally 12 months out of the year.
When storing mushrooms, keep them in a cool dark place.
Mushrooms store for longer when loose in a brown paper bag.
Researchers at City of Hope, a leading cancer institute, have linked mushrooms with cancer fighting agents that may help slow the growth of breast tumors. Making it a super food that everyone will be reaching for in the coming months.

And to think I have been avoiding this gem my whole life… but I digress, pop over and view the Mushroom Council’s National Mushroom Month Pinterest board that showcases 30 days of mushroom facts to learn everything there is to know about this delicate delight that I have quite simply fallen in love with thanks to this Mighty Marinated Mushrooms recipe created by One Perfect Bite featured on the City of Hope Facebook page.

The Mighty Mushroom recipe uses a handful of ingredients and takes hardly any time at all, making it not only a simple entertaining dish, but a healthy choice that your guests will adore.

Ingredients

1 pound fresh cremini or white button mushrooms
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar2 cloves fresh minced garlic
1/4 cup minced red onion
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano or marjoram
2 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
Kosher salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon each black peppercorns and coriander seeds
Optional garnish: 1 tablespoon drained, chopped pimento

Click here for the full recipe and cooking directions to create your own Mighty Mushrooms.

With the holiday season approaching, I am on the hunt for simple and healthy seasonal canapes, and this Mighty Marinated Mushrooms recipe ticks every box. Great warm or chilled, simply ditch your fork, and spear each mushroom to give your guests a nibble between sips at your next cocktail party. For more great mushroom recipes, visit the City of Hope on Facebook…with my sudden love of mushrooms, we might just bump into one another there.

Since 2002, the Mushroom Council (also known as The Mushroom Channel) has supported City of Hope’s breast cancer research, treatment and education programs through annual contributions $50,000 towards studies on breast cancer and mushrooms. Support this ongoing collaboration and research by buying the City of Hope pink till mushroom packs on sale the entire month of October in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

This post has been compensated as part of a collaborative blog effort to share information about the Mushroom Council and their support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. They supplied the factual information behind the story, whilst the food commentary is all my own.

Fall in love with Apples

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 21:16:04 +0000

Nothing beats biting into a crunchy juicy seasonal apple, just ask Snow White….but there is more to this round gem than just filling your fruit bowl. As we enjoy our first autumn in Washington, we cannot escape the fact that we might have bitten off more than we can chew when it comes to our apple orchard… it seems we can’t give them away even when we try. So as the weekends bring us deeper and deeper in the Fall, we find ourselves trying to figure out how to harvest, share, cook and concoct our own version of Hard Cider. Whether you are venturing into a local orchard, browsing the produce aisle at your local grocery store or supporting local farmers by meandering through apple boxes at the market, know your apples before you buy to make sure you have the perfect bundle for your next kitchen adventure.

Xander and Margeaux sharing the apple love at our first ever apple stand.

Choose a better apple: Smooth, firm and free from blemishes, a fresh apple should be bursting with colour (but don’t let the wax coating on many super market apples fool you) and aroma. If your apple sounds hollow when you tap it, it has seen better days and will only disappoint.

Know your Golden Delicious from your Gala:

Golden Delicious, Granny Smith and Rome Beauty apples are great for baking pies, cobblers and crumbles because they maintain their bite after cooking.
Ida Red, Cortland and McIntosh apples are great for apple sauce, they are sweet, and easily dissolve when cooked.
Fuji, Red Delicious and Empire apples make the perfect snacking apples.

Store your apples well: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks and wash when you are ready to use them. Apples stored at room temperature have a tendency to become mealy and fall prone to spreading decay quickly. Apples with bruises or punctures will spread decay amongst the whole batch, so turn your apples often to keep them healthy and fresh.

2 new ways to enjoy apples this season: This month I am putting a modern twist on the classic apple crumble by infusing my par-boiled apples with star anise and cinnamon before adding them to my crumble. It offers a little unexpected aroma to the crumble that takes it from taste to utterly fabulous. Once done, I reduce the apple stock, add white granulated sugar and turn an otherwise simple apple syrup into a autumn syrup that can be surved over ice cream, in cocktails and even drizzled over pancakes for an extra special Fall treat.

A picnic with Johnny Appleseed

Coryanne Ettiene — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 18:41:50 +0000

KLC Contributor Paula Briggs | Frog Prince Paperie & Festivities Magazine

September is a month for apples. The harvests are in, and we get to enjoy all things apple once again! There is no other person so tied to the apple as Johnny Appleseed—a very eccentric man, but great nonetheless.

Photo credit: Festivities Magazine

It’s total truth he wore nothing but a pot for a cap, a feed sack for clothes and ran barefoot through northern winters until his 80s. And those apples of his? He only grew them from seed; these kind of apples are not good for eating, only for making apple cider and apple jack (hooch!) Only grafted apple trees are edible. Not hard to believe he got a warm reception where ever he went.

Oddness aside, Johnny Appleseed was actually quite a wealthy man while he was alive and demonstrated kindness, love and generosity to his fellow man. For this reason, a little picnic in honor of Mr. Appleseed was due to talk about the virtues of caring for others. This shoot originally appeared in Festivities Magazine.

The fare was simple, hot ham, cheese and apple sandwiches, apple chips, apple cider and home made apple sauce on a burlap blanket in a nice grassy area. We chatted about Mr. Appleseed and things the kids could do to be like him and show kindness to others.

Photo Credit: Festivities Magazine

HOT APPLE, CHEESE AND HAM SANDWICHES

The favorite part of the picnic – besides the cupcakes! Serve them hot or cold, they’re delicious both ways.

Ingredients

2 slices whole wheat bread
1 slice muenster cheese
1 slice cheddar cheese
2 slices deli ham
5 thinly sliced apple pieces
Butter

Directions

Spread butter on one side of each of the pieces of bread. Lay the bread butter side down into a frying pan on medium low. Place one slice of cheese on each piece of bread. Put the apple slices on one and the ham slices on the other piece of bread. Cook until the cheese starts to slightly melt.

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Festivities Magazine is a collaboration between Nicole Willis and Paula Biggs of Frog Prince Paperie. The magazine came about as an effort to show planning parties that wow isn’t necessarily a hard thing to do, and how parties can scale from low effort to high effort décor and food and still look fabulous.

Where is Coryanne?

Coryanne Ettiene — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 20:39:26 +0000

It has been some time since I sat at my kitchen table and escaped the confines of my office to write a blog post…too long really, as I love connecting with you on a personal note just as much as I adore sharing kitchen living inspirations. When I mapped out my Autumn calendar at the start of September I was full of anticipation for a Fall season filled with new adventures, but failed to take into consideration the human element of how one person could bring so many projects to fruition in a short space of time.

The biggest and most exciting project that occupied most of my summer was stocking my new office with products for the KLC Shop that was due to launch today. I cannot wait to see the shop become a reality, and hope that when it does, you will swoon over the items I painstaking hand selected for you…but that will most likely come in January, as more exciting projects are in the works.

Coryanne treasure hunting for the KLC Shop

I really struggled to let this milestone pass, I am by self admission, an over achiever. Often taking on too many things at one time because I work better in chaos, and for some strange reason thrive under pressure. However at 1am on a Thursday night in early September I found myself caught in an endless cycle of playing catch up — after 2 years of building my brand and my business as a Kitchen Living expert, I suddenly found a fever pitch of enthusiasm from a number of sources that saw my work life balance spin out of control. I was no longer the relaxed mother waiting at the bus stop, I was suddenly the woman on her phone , offering hand gestures of hello and hurriedly racing home to meet deadlines. Truth be told, I was missing the biggest deadline of them all, being done with work at 3:45pm so I can play mummy to my 3 darling children.

By all accounts this admission sounds like the rantings of a crazy woman, but I must admit, I have the hardest time saying “No” and an even harder time walking away from my laptop if I know that I would/should/could publish a post on KLC. Building my dream and my business has been an all consuming passion of mine for 2 years. As I get closer to the dream, I chase it harder because it is easier to reach. However, 8 yeas ago I was given the gift of motherhood and have never taken it for granted until last month. I saw myself allowing the enthusiasm for my dream to alter my focus away from my children, and was so taken aback by this shift in direction that I forced myself to correct this path by embracing two truths.

The first is that the world continues regardless of how frequently I post on KLC, and the second is, these next few months are going to be the most exciting yet and I need the support of my family behind me more than ever. With growth comes sacrifice, and rather than sacrifice my role as a mother, I hope you will pardon my sometimes radio silence on KLC but continue to follow me on Facebook for quick spurts of kitchen banter and instagram to see what life is like behind the scenes.

Over the next few months, I will be working with eHow to produce more video content offering tips for entertaining, cooking and kitchen living, all the while continuing to work with Celebrations, The Daily Meal, The Skinny Scoop and Cultivate. I will also be working with schools on building healthy eating habits, and hosting live events with a few of my favorite brands. And to build a stronger KLC community, I have created the KLC Community board that I hope you will embrace by joining and contributing your pins on what inspires you.

5 “Must Dos” for your kitchen this Autumn

Coryanne Ettiene — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 03:34:53 +0000

As the days get shorter and our stock of fresh summer fruits starts to dwindle as we make room for a orchard fruits, let us not forget that inside, our kitchen is changing and waiting for us to return with a whole host of new living inspirations to create the perfect Autumn kitchen.

Photo Courtesy of Williams-Sonoma | Cultivate.com

As I write this I am staring out my office window and looking at an orchard bursting with apples, and everywhere I look Fall produce is whispering sweet nothings as I stroll through the market, but alas, there is more to an Autumn kitchen than what you have baking in the oven. There are parties to be hosted, cleaning projects to be delegated (one can dream right?), lighting to be adorned and lifestyle changes to be made. Read my top 5 “Must-Dos” for creating an Fall kitchen on the new blog Cultivate.com by Williams-Sonoma and dive into the Autumn season one kitchen experience at a time.