My Neighborhood Kitchen

Spent the day in the kitchen baking breads 🥖 including these delish english muffins

In honor of St Patrick’s day 🍀 I made my first ever Irish Soda Bread using Heritage All Purpose Flour….so it will be easy on my belly!

I don’t usually do these things but I figured eh why not because…just look at that face! Please feel free to vote and share!

Will Tucker take home $10,000, be featured on the cover of Modern Dog, and take the title of America’s Favorite Pet? You decide! Just a lovable Great Dane with a heart as big as my paws! 🐶❤️ Embracing the world with my wagging tail and charming good looks.

Cow cake 2.0! This is a smaller version of my cow cake for a special 12 year old gal’s birthday! Cupcakes on the side for easy serving.

Visiting our favorite tea lady at today!

My preference is always to bake my own treats but when there is a hurricane coming and it’s your friend’s birthday…well you have to call in reinforcements. I walked into .tampa at on Monday and said…..everyone else is worried about water and all I’m worried about are cupcakes! The owner was uber patient with me while I pondered on the flavors I wanted and I finally chose: chocolate with salted caramel, chocolate with cookie dough, strawberry pop tart and Biscoff cookie. Thanks for bailing me out this week! Pictured in the photo is the chocolate chip cookie dough with a slightly smashed top (my fault not the bakery’s!).

Since I had some freshly baked rolls just screaming to be eaten….I tossed together a homemade bbq sauce mixed with some chicken, topped it with a quick vinegar based slaw and served it with a side of homemade fries, air fried with just a bit of beef tallow. Delish!

Most store bought breads are full of high fructose corn syrup and other not so good ingredients. I like to make my english muffins and rolls using ancient grains flours, grass fed milk, pasture raised eggs and unrefined sugar. Yep, it’s effort and yep, it costs more but it’s a whole lot easier on the belly!.

In an effort to limit buying any store bought breads due to their ingredients, I have been making my own breads at home with ancient grains flour. This week I made english muffins which turned out great!

I don’t usually make pancakes because they don’t treat my belly very well BUT…I made my favorite pancake recipe with all purpose flour and they were belly friendly AND tasted delish!

I got my first delivery of all purpose and bread flours today. I tried it out by baking a loaf of bread, pretzels and some cheese crackers. This flour is fantastic and milled with ancient grains, like they used to do before mass production compromised the quality of our food!

Added a new tea to the collection today…can’t wait to try it! Coconut Grove from It’s a pouchong tea which I’ve never had before!

I loved Carvel cakes as a kid…those crunchies! Ever since they closed up their stores (near me anyway) and started selling their cakes in places like Walmart, they’ve just lost their luster for me. They’re a childhood fave of my hubby too so I decided to make him one for his birthday. Here are the layers: pound cake as crust, layer of fudge, layer of homemade vanilla bean ice cream, thick layer of crunchies, another layer of ice cream, then iced with a freezer-stable whipped cream icing. Not my best deco job but hey, it kind of looks like a Carvel cake and certainly tasted like one so I’d call it a win 🙌

This one may rank at the top of my favorite cakes I’ve ever made…and the reaction on my friend’s face when she spun that cake around on her 31st birthday and realized that cute, chonky unicorn started eating her birthday cake was just priceless!
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Hershey’s Chocolate Cake recipe is my favorite chocolate cake recipe…and I like to do different things to dress it up! I mounded some giant marshmallows on top of a cloud of buttercream, torched them, then splashed with some chocolate…. 😋

I’m pretty excited to have this granola on my yogurt tomorrow morning…I’ve been grabbing handfuls of it all afternoon since I made it! Delicious recipe from .

I’m so thankful to my husband for building me a beautiful pantry where I dedicated a whole section to my love for tea ☕️ This is such a functional space that I use EVERY day. Fully stocked with teas from and local raw honey from Queen Kathleen. And, of course, my Tea Maker 🫖 ☕️

Made some Valentine’s treats for the folks over at and …dainty little brownie bites with a dark chocolate icing and fun holiday sprinkles.

Made this Creme Brulee Ice Cream from for my hubby. Couldn’t quite get my spun sugar hearts to stand up straight but hey, it was my first time making them!

I had never tried sticky toffee pudding until I made it for myself…assuming I nailed it (and I think I at least came close)….it’s quite delish! Thanks for the recipe 😋 🇬🇧

Our little couch potato!

My valentine loves ❤️ these chocolate buttercream cherries🍒 A sweet maraschino cherry gets coated in a cocoa buttercream then is dipped in white chocolate…then spattered with chocolate for a striking presentation! (Easier than it looks…melt some chocolate, fling it on with a fork…make a mess!) This recipe is from just search for chocolate buttercream cherries, DM me if you can’t find the recipe!

Rollin’ with the gnomies…Valentine’s Day is coming up. Simple sugar cookies are fun to decorate and make a delish garnish for ice cream 😋

Lunches for the week! Farro, chicken, roasted carrots, tomato, pesto, mozzarella and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.

Enjoying a delish cup of Valentine’s Romance Chocolate Black Raspberry Tea on this chilly Sunday morning! Go pick up some of your own at urbanteagardens.com (she ships!) or visit her today at the Hyde Park market!

My entire dad’s side of the fam worked at the Black Forest Inn in Stanhope NJ. I remember having spaetzle there when I was younger, it was so delish! I made it once myself as an adult and it was kind of a mess….but my mom got me a handy spaetzle maker for Christmas this year and it proves that having the right tools can get the job done! I’m not sure if this is a traditional way to serve it but ham, cheese and broccoli…tasted good to me!

This is one of my favorite cakes to make. Simple white cake, buttercream and a few rainbow sprinkles.

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Funny story…my hubby and I went out to dinner with some friends to Against my husband’s wishes, we shared dessert…the Snickerdoodle Cookie Skillet. Apparently, I ate more than my half soooo….to make it up to him, I recreated the dessert at home with a freshly baked snickerdoodle cookie, homemade cinnamon ice cream and pound cake croutons.