Just a Darling Life // From Jennifer's Kitchen Collaboration: Baked Brie and Hot Pepper Jelly

Hi guys!  I know it has been a looooong time since I gave you guys any new recipes but I have a good excuse! I had brain surgery!  Without getting too into it in this post, I have a very rare disease called Cushing's Disease that is caused by an itty bitty tumor on my pituitary.  It causes all sorts of crap to go wrong in your body so the last few months have been primarily focused on my health.

But with that said, I give you this AWESOME collaboration that I did a while back with From Jennifer's Kitchen.  I teased it on my Instagram but now I am giving you all the juicy details and drool worthy pictures!

Wingfest: A Tasting of our Favorite Wings, Hot Sauces, and BBQ Sauces

So recently the Mr has been obsessed with a YouTube show called First We Feast: Hot Ones.  Basically it is a talk show where a celebrity is getting interviewed and while they are answering questions, they are eating chicken wings that are in hot sauces that are continually getting hotter.  Well that has since lead to a massive variety of hot sauces and BBQ sauces that currently reside in our fridge.  And from that, WINGFEST was born.

How to put together a cheese platter that will wow your guests!

As a girl who doesn't eat cheese (I know, I know, I'm weird) putting together a cheese platter is not something I do on a regular basis.  But it is something that I think every hostess with the mostest should be able to do.  So I am here to give you some of the tips I use to put together a cheese platter that is sure to wow your guests!

The BEST Homemade Soft Prestzels

Ok, I am Emma and I am addicted to soft pretzels.  Like the ones from Auntie Annes at the mall are seriously a little piece of heaven, all warm and buttery.  These are seriously JUST AS GOOD!  Being able to make these at home is dangerous, because at home there is no cashier there to judge you when you eat two! haha

Lemon Garlic Baked Fries

I am always looking for a a new fun take on my favorite food (yes, french fries, well just about any form of potatoes).  These fries are baked in the oven instead of friend so the are slightly better for you (or at least that is what I tell myself!) and then tossed in a delicious lemon garlic combination.  It is like garlic fries, stepped up a notch with lemon and let me tell you, I think I want all fries to come in this form!

Garlic Parmesan Potato Stacks

I really don't think I can say it enough, garlic and potatoes (and any combination that involves them both) are by far my favorite foods.  These potato stacks are the perfect combination of comfort food and fancy.  They make the perfect add on to your brunch or even with dinner!  I topped mine with a dash of ranch dressing because ranch makes everything better in my book.  But B doused his in ketchup and absolutely loved them! 

Mini Caesar Salad Cup Appetizer - With Bacon, Avocado, and Crispy Onion Strings!

I don't think I have ever met a Caesar Salad I didn't like.  Well, except maybe ones that have the whole anchovies on them, I can't do that and I have to pick them off.  One of my favorite things is fun takes on the caesar salad, one of which is adding avocado, bacon bits, and crispy onion strings to it!  Because well add any one of those things to just about anything and it makes it soooo much better, so why not add all three!  These little 2-bite caesar salad cups are perfect for a cocktail party.  There are no utensils required!  It's a salad you can eat with you hands, so well, everyone is going to love that!

Rosemary and Thyme Focaccia Bread

This bread is a new take on the 1 Hour Focaccia Bread.  We mixed it up a little bit by adding rosemary and thyme into the dough when we were making it and let me tell you, it is FANTASTIC!  One of the best things about this bread is that it only takes about 1 hour make from start to finish!  It comes out crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside making it perfect to snack on with a glass of wine or with some homemade spaghetti!

Garlic Parmesan Spread

I am first to admit it, I am a lover of all things garlic!  And I have to admit, this whole living so close to Gilroy CA (basically the garlic capital of the world) we have some amazing fresh garlic!  I'm talking like giant bulbs of garlic that almost look like elephant garlic (which on that note, has anyone tried cooking or roasting elephant garlic? I'm so curious about it).  This spread is great to have on hand, it is delicious on toast, and put it on some bread and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes and you have instead homemade garlic bread!

Spinach Artichoke Pastry Cups

I am always on the lookout for new easy appetizers to make.  Appetizers have to be my favorite food group, I have had made an entire meal out of just appetizers and I am not afraid to admit it!  This recipe is great because it's like two appetizers in one.  You can make a bunch of these pastry filled, cheesy, spinach artichoke cups, and then you still have spinach artichoke dip left over to serve with crackers!  It really is a win-win situation here.

Cheesy Spinach Artichoke Dip

I am a lover of dips and sauces and am always on the look out for new ones to try making.  My sister always makes this spinach dip and everyone loves it.  I added in some artichoke hearts and it's oh so delicious!  This has to be one of the easiest dips to make, it's pretty much a full proof, no-fail recipe that your guests are sure to be impressed with!

Balsamic Bruschetta

I'm a lover of appetizers, especially when they are super easy to make!  This is another one of my "cheat" cooking appetizers because you actually start with a tomato bruschetta from Trader Joes!  If you haven't noticed yet, I'm addicted to anything and everything Trader Joes.  If you don't have one near you, I feel oh so very sorry.  I wouldn't know what to do without it!  Anyways, this one also uses that Balsamic Glaze from Trader Joes as well.  Its seriously so delicious and makes everything taste so much better!  I've tried reducing balsamic vinegar and making my own glaze and it never turns out as good as this one so now I just always buy it.  

Oven Roasted Garlic: A DARLING Appetizer!

It is no secret that I am a lover of all things garlic.  Oven roasted garlic has to be one of the easiest and yummiest appetizers out there.  You look totally fancy serving it on your cheese plate and it is seriously melt in your mouth delicious.  When the garlic is roasted in the oven it becomes sweet and tender.  Make sure you make a lot of them because they will be the popular item in your appetizer spread!

1 Hour Skillet Focaccia Bread

I love me some good bread, especially ones that have a crunchy crust and are light and fluffy on the inside.  Add in some parmesan cheese on top and it makes it even better!  I have never made bread before and if all other breads come out this yummy and are this easy (it only takes an hour start to finish) than I am going to turn into a bread making machine!  Seriously, I only have good things to say about this, it's so delicious!

Olive Oil Rosemary Dinner Rolls

I loooooove me some good rolls.  Trust me when I say, no matter how many of these you make, you will want more!  And the are totally easy to make.  They come out of the oven all piping hot and taste of rosemary and delicious olive oil.  They are so flavorful you wont need any butter or dip them in anything, they are just THAT good on their own!  A crispy outside crust and a fluffy inside, it doesn't get much better than that!

Wings 3 Ways: Spicy Asian Ginger, Buffalo, and Smoked Honey BBQ

Nothing is better than some juicy chicken wings!  Places like Buffalo Wild Wings gives you countess options on sauces, so I decided it was about time that we had some options when we make them at home.  We made a traditional buffalo sauce, a smoked honey BBQ sauce, and an asian spicy ginger sauce (which is probably my favorite).  I highly recommend all three of these and it is totally easy to make them all for dinner one night!

Parmesan Garlic Knots

So you know those oh-so-delicious Parmesan Garlic Knots you get as your bread at some italian restaurants?  Well, we are gonna tell you how to make them!  They are super easy to make (like most things I make) and they are just as yummy!  They are really addictive, it's hard not to eat them all at once! But we wont judge you if you do (it's not like we haven't done that before or anything...)  Anyways, try them for yourself and let us know what you think!

Black Truffle Parmesan Shoestring French Fries!

Ok so it is no secret that I am a lover of all things potato.  Well we were messing around with the mandolin (its still fairly new to us) and discovered that with one swift swipe of the potato on it, we can make shoestring french fries!  You know, those oh so darling long and skinny cut fries that you can eat up by the handful!  I tell myself they're not as bad for me since they're so skinny but you know, they're still fried, so theres that... Anyway, we tossed ours with some black truffle oil and parmesan and oh boy, I couldn't put them down but you could totally just toss them in some salt or some cajon seasoning if you wanted some fries with a kick!  Or you could just make them all three ways and eat only fries for dinner, we wont judge you.

Greek Beef Gyro with Lemon Rice Pilaf

Just a Darling Life has gone GREEK!  We made these delicious greek beef gyro sandwiches and a lemon rice pilaf and oh boy did we fall in love with them!  Despite the long list of ingredients, they were pretty easy to make!  Oh and the marinade for the meat?  It's our favorite, we use it all the time!  It's excellent to marinate some beef with just to throw on the grill!  

Oven Roasted Asparagus

Oh asparagus how I love you!  Here at Just a Darling Life we are asparagus fanatics, we just cant get enough of it!  We are particularly fond of roasting them in the oven with a little bit of rosemary and some coarsely chopped garlic.  Check out our recipe on how to make some delicious oven roasted asparagus and let us know what you think!