Almond Butter

A couple weeks ago I was making a chicken dish and the recipe called for almond butter. I didn't want to go to the store and spend a fortune on almond butter, so I decided to make some since I had almonds in the pantry.

It was really easy, just takes a little patience.

Toast your almonds until lightly fragrant.

Put toasted almonds in food processor, blend until smooth

It takes a good 5 minutes. You'll think it will never

be smooth, but it does happen, I promise.

I uses slivered almonds because that's what I had, but you can

use whole almonds, it will probably take around 10 minutes.

Add a little sea salt to taste, then your done!

YUM!

I am excited about making all kinds of nut butters.....

the possibilities are endless. I'm thinking of a walnut/hazelnut with cinnamon and cardamom.

Pecan with cinnamon and brown sugar, pistachio and sea salt, pumpkin maple and chocolate!

I could go on and on. Anyone have any great combinations that they would want to try?

Double Chocolate Cake

Yesterday I made this unbelievable chocolate cake for my friend Tracy who is expecting a baby boy at the end of the month. We had a small shower for her last night at my small group meeting.

I've been practicing many recipes for cakes that I am making for a wedding in May. This one is definitely a keeper. I made white chocolate butter cream frosting for the layers and a swiss butter cream for the outside of the cake.

I am making 5 different flavor cakes for the wedding. We are making a "dessert" bar instead of a traditional 4-5 tiered wedding cake. I am excited about this project that I have ahead of me.

Up next will be the Lemon cake.

Pizza Party

Sunday night I made pizzas

for something yummy to

eat while watching the

Oscars.

Last week I watched an episode of

"Best thing I ever ate"

on Food network

and they were featuring

favorite pizzas.

I took a couple ideas from

some of the chefs that were

featured.

Instead of a traditional pizza dough

I made a Naan bread dough and grilled

it first.

One of them had thinly sliced

Yukon gold potatoes with a garlic

sauce. The other one had fresh

Parmesan cheese, thinly sliced

red onions and pistachios with

drizzle of olive oil. That one was to

was so unique and very tasty. The other one I made was

diced tomatoes with fresh mozzarella

and basil.