How to Quick Pickle Radishes

Radishes aren’t my favorite veggie in the world, but they’re in season and I’m trying my best to incorporate more of them into my diet! On the other hand, I love pickles, pickle juice, Tommy Pickles and anything else that is in any way related to the juicy snack. I was talking to a chef friend of mine about pickling my radishes (hi, Daniel!), and he suggested I do a “quick pickle”. What comes next is my recipe, not his, because I assure you his would be more exotic and probably contain some crazy ingredient I’ve never heard of (but of course tastes delectable).

Pickled radishes are having a moment in the food scene right now, so if you haven't tried making them yet, now is a great time! I've had them recently in ramen bowls and on street tacos, but they can add an unexpected kick to many recipes if you're creative in the kitchen. Photos below and recipe at the bottom! xo.

Ingredients
- 1/2 lb radishes
- 8 oz. mason jar
- 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbs sugar
- 1 tbs salt

Directions
Start with one bunch of radishes (about half a pound) and thinly slice them. Place radishes in mason jar. Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir well and pour mixture over radishes — you may have a little more pickling juice than fits in the jar, and that's ok! Store in the fridge for 24 hours, and you're good to go. If you sneak a few before the 24 hours, I won't tell. 😉

This is a pretty basic pickling recipe, so you can use it with cucumbers, onions, carrots, or any veggie, really! For a more unexpected flavor, you can add ingredients like peppercorn, dill, etc. What would you add? Let me know!

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Mint and Citrus Sun Tea

Welp, friends. Labor Day is coming up, which means everybody who loves fall will be crushing my spirits on the daily, with reminders of #PSL, pumpkins, Christmas and this meme. Hobby Lobby has already gone and done it by stocking Thanksgiving supplies. What nerve!

Anyway, you already know I love summer. But did you know I love making sun tea in the summer???? Maybe you did. Maybe that's obvious. Maybe it takes one look at me to say, "hey, that looks like a lady who loves making sun tea in the summer." I wear my heart (food) on my sleeve.

Ok, ok. Here's the recipe and such. I highly recommend you make sun tea before the sun begins to set too early — it's the easiest, and it makes you feel like a champ when you have a whole pitcher of tea to drink!

Ingredients:
- 2 family sized tea bags (or one per quart of water). If you're using regular, smaller tea bags, the general rule of thumb is about 8 bags per gallon of water.
- Water
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 3 sprigs mint

So then you slice up that lemon and add mint, tea bags and water to your pitcher. That's it! Go put the pitcher outside in direct sunlight (preferably in a pretty garden), and leave it for about 3 hours. You could go to a hair appointment and come back in that time if you wanted, or you can supervise your tea. It probably won't move, but it might.

....And, voila! It's tea!

Enjoy for 5-7 days, if it lasts that long! The lemon and mint add the best flavor to this tea, so you may not even need a sweetener. If you do, I recommend just a dash of honey. Hope you enjoy the tail end of summer! xo

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Cran-Raspberry Lacroix Holiday Punch

'Tis the season for lots of parties! One thing I've found when hosting holiday gatherings is small touches can do a lot to up your game. Enter: This punch.

When you're having big groups of people over, it's good to have a variety of options for those who have different dietary restrictions and concerns. Obviously, the only way to completely ensure you're serving the right foods to your friends and family is to text every single person on the guest list and ask if there's anything they can't or won't eat. But, when you're having a larger get-together, it's nearly impossible to contact everyone and perfectly accommodate their food needs. I mean, it is possible. But then you wouldn't have had time to binge Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life for the second time this month.

So here's my solution: I play it safe. I try to go with the most wow-worthy, clean ingredients that pack a punch — and YES, that pun was intended. (Do you feel like I'm about to start talking about Lacroix? I might be about to start talking about Lacroix...)

Okay, you guessed it. Lacroix is the not-so-secret ingredient in this holiday concoction! In my humble option, the absolute worst thing at parties is punch that tastes like melted sherbet. So instead of buying a bunch of sugary mixers and adding in a dessert, try this recipe instead:

Single Serving

- 8 oz. Cran-Raspberry LaCroix (3/4 of a can)

- 4 oz. Cranberry Juice

- Splash of Orange Juice

- Garnish with orange slice, frozen cranberries (to keep it chilly!) and rosemary

For a Punch Bowl

- 8 cans LaCroix

- 1 46 oz. jug of Cranberry Juice

- 1/2 cup Orange Juice

- Garnish with orange slice, frozen cranberries (to keep it chilly!) and rosemary

The best thing about this punch is you'll still feel great after drinking 10-12 glasses of it! Don't ask me how I know...

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Spiced Apple and Pear Pie

People. We've got PIES today. Well, OK, just one pie — but if you're looking for pies (plural), I can point you in the right direction.

My friend, Stephanie, is kitchen queen extraordinaire, and she's been one of my dearest pals since college. Steph is one of those people who is gifted at everything, and she's still sweet and incredibly gracious. Trust me, I have hard evidence from the one time we tried to do kickboxing together.

Serious paragraph: Springfield, MO (where we live) is home to some great nonprofits including iPour Life, which has what they call a "10x10" women's empowerment program in Korah, Ethiopia. The women who live in Korah have leprosy or a HIV diagnosis, and they're at risk of losing their children. The goal of the program is to train women in different skills and business knowledge, so they can sustain themselves and provide for their families. You can learn more about the program, including why it's called 10x10, here.

And where does Stephanie come in? Glad you asked! She's baking pies to support a trip she's taking in June. She'll be on the ground in Korah to encourage these women and aid them with home repairs. Stephanie is baking up a storm to support her trip, so if you're into women's empowerment (or if you're shamelessly into pie), head over to werise.life for more!

AND if that wasn't all enough, Stephanie is going to share her pie recipe here today! Here we go:

Dough Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
- 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), diced 1 large egg
- 3 to 4 tablespoons very cold water

Dough Directions:

- Put flour, sugar, and salt into a large food processor bowl and pulse to combine. Cut cold butter into - 1 inch cubes and put into processor with dry ingredients. Pulse processor until the dough resembles coarse dough (like cornmeal with only small, pea-sized pieces of butter left).

- Beat the egg with 3 tablespoons of the water; then drizzle it evenly over the dough in the processor. Pulse the dough just until it begins to hold together. If you need to, you can add about 2 tablespoons of ice water to get the dough to come together.

- Take the dough out of the food processor and mold into one large ball. Divide the dough in half and flatten into 2 discs. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (The dough can also be frozen for 2 months and defrost the dough in the fridge overnight.)

Filling Ingredients (Recipe adapted from The Food Network):

- 1/2 lemon

- 3 pounds baking apples, such as Golden Delicious, Cortland, or Mutsu (about 6 apples) 1 1/2 pounds baking pears, such as Bosc or firm Bartletts (about 3 pears)

- 2/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on the pie

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon

- 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

- Generous pinch freshly grated nutmeg

- 1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 stick)

- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

- 1 large egg, beaten

Filling Directions:

- Finely grate the lemon zest and set it aside.

- Peel, core, and then slice both the apple and pear into 1⁄2 inch slices.

- Squeeze the lemon juice over the fruit, then toss fruit with the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, salt and nutmeg.

- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the fruit and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves and juices simmer, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, until the fruit softens and the juices evaporate some, about 10 minutes.

- Evenly mix the flour into the fruit; then cook about a minute more to thicken the juices slightly. Stir in the vanilla and lemon zest; and remove from the heat. (The filling should resemble a tight compote.) Cool completely.

Form the Pie:

- Heat the oven to 425 degrees and place a rack in the lower third of the oven.

- Lightly dust the work surface with flour. Roll one disk of dough into an 11 to 12-inch circle. Transfer the dough to 9-inch glass pie pan by rolling the dough up around your rolling pin and then unrolling across the pie pan. Then, trim the dough so it hangs about 1/2-inch over the edge of the pan.

- Fill the crust with the prepared fruit so it mounds slightly in the center. Roll the remaining dough into a 12-inch circle. Brush the rim of the crust already in the pan with some of the egg.

- To make a lattice top, cut the flattened dough into 8-10 strips, about 1 inch wide. Carefully layer about 4-5 strips of dough across the top of the filled pie. Then, carefully begin crossing the remaining strips above and under the pre-laid strips until it creates a lattice with about 2 inch gaps between all strips. Trim the dough strips until they match the length of the bottom crust. Press the lattice ends to the bottom crust and use a little egg to seal.

- For a regular pie top, roll the dough onto the rolling pin and unroll it over the fruit so it hangs over the edge of the pie pan by about 1/2-inch. Trim crust if needed, reserving the scraps for decorations or for patching, if needed. Fold the top crust edge under the bottom one, then press the edges together to seal. Cut trimmed scraps into designs if desired and set aside. Flute the crust by pressing a finger into the crust against the other hand's index finger and thumb to make an even impression. Repeat every 1/2 inch around the pie to create a ruffled edge (see photo). Cut a few small steam vents in the top of the dough.

- Brush the top of the pie with egg and sprinkle with sugar.

- Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any drips, and cook for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375 degrees, and bake until the crust is golden brown (about 50 minutes).

- If the edges begin to brown too quickly, put a piece of aluminum foil around the edges to cover while the rest of the pie cooks.

- Once the pie is golden brown and cooked through, take the pie out of the oven and cool it on a rack.

Serve the pie warm or at room temperature with ice cream. (Always with ice cream.)

So, clearly, it's a lot of work! But if you have the patience and stick with it, it's SO worth your efforts. Plus, the best part is if you live in Springfield, you can just buy one from Steph! Not only will you have a great pie, but you'll be supporting women in Ethiopia — sounds like a win-win to me!

Pie, guys!

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A Healthy, Easy, Yummy (!) Steak Salad

Y'know what? I'm just gonna come out and say it. Eating healthy can be boring! Most of the time when I try to be healthy I end up eating the same recipes over and over, and I don't even get to add any Chick-Fil-A sauce to anything. It's a struggle, y'know?

THEN some other times you try some cool-girl zoodles recipe and completely ruin it (more on that in a later post).

But then, there are days when the clouds part and a ray of sunlight pours into your brain and you have the idea for an easy, healthy, tasty steak salad. Those are the days I live for.

To be perfectly honest, I don't really like steak. Is that comment going to get me kicked off the internet? But steak is the healthiest red meat that's high in iron, so if you're looking to supplement iron, it's a great option.

And this salad actually made me want to eat steak again, so I'd call it a win-win!

So easy it's crazy.

Ingredients
- Mixed greens
- Steak
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Garbanzo Beans
- Sunflower Seeds
- Goat Cheese

Directions
Grill steak, or pan sear if you live in an apartment (🙋🏼).While steak is cooking, rinse mixed greens, strawberries and blueberries. Toss salad with garbanzo beans, sunflower seeds and crumbled goat cheese.

Now the dressing is where you can make this really fun (or really healthy). If you're trying to make this meal Whole 30, you could remove the garbanzo beans and cheese, use an olive oil dressing, and cry yourself to sleep.

Personally, I used a raspberry vinaigrette. Happy salad days!

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