Hi friends!
How are we already halfway through the month of April?! Now that we are halfway through the month, I would be amiss to not remind you that we are in rhubarb season!
I love rhubarb season – you should see the size of the rhubarb stalks at the store this past week. They are HUGE.
So I am planning on making all my favorite rhubarb recipes from now until those pretty pink stalks are no longer available on the store shelves!
I highly recommend freezing rhubarb if you love it at much as I do. The season for rhubarb is just way too short! I recommend flash freezing it (chop it up first) on a sheet pan for a couple of hours. Then bag it up and freeze it for up to 3 months!
Want some rhubarb recipes? Try a strawberry rhubarb gin fizz for cocktail hour. Nutella rhubarb puff pastry croissants are an easy homemade pastry to pair with your morning coffee. Add strawberry rhubarb simple syrup to your bar cart for inspired cocktails all season long!
Let’s dive into the weekly content!
what’s new
Here’s what you might have missed on the blog this week!
Looking for a quick and tasty weeknight meal? These 30-minute crispy baked chicken tacos are a WINNER. Plus the avocado tomatillo sauce is perfect for dipping.
Want to make your own coffee drinks at home? Make your own vanilla simple syrup! It’s super simple and is even better than Starbucks.
Lemon shortbread cookies are drizzled with white chocolate and sprinkled with lemon zest for the ideal spring treat. They are bright and buttery!
inspire
bored is my biggest inspiration
Honestly, getting bored with the same recipes over and over is the inspiration I need to try a new recipe or a new ingredient. We usually fall back on a rotation of meals for weeknight dinners, and when that gets old, I get bored.
How long has it been since you tried a recipe from one of those cookbooks sitting on your bookshelf? Is there a cookbook that you bought that you’ve never cooked out of? I’m ashamed to say, the latter is true for me. I have a large collection of cookbooks and there are several that I still have yet to cook from…
That’s all the inspiration I need! How about you?
what to cook this week
bucatini cacio e pepe with broccoli
I still remember the first time I made cacio e pepe. It was much like the first time I made carbonara… a total disaster.
Instead of reading the notes in detail about the recipe, I just threw all the cheese in and expected a beautiful glossy sauce to form.
Of course, this is just not how it works. Therefore, it was a clumpy mess and I was immediately discouraged from making it again for years.
However, after seeing photos posted by friends traveling in Italy, I wanted to master it. Turns out it’s not really a hard recipe, it’s one that requires you to actually follow the instructions (crazy right?).
This bucatini cacio e pepe is a twist on the classic because I add in broccoli that’s been tossed with lemon juice and some red pepper flakes. The broccoli gives you an extra zing of acid with the peppery cheesy sauce, as well as a different layer of heat.
Personally I just love getting my vegetables mixed into my pasta versus on the side. However, if you want to skip the broccoli in this recipe, you totally can!
Until next time!
xoxo,
Meghan