Apple, Fennel, & Red Onion Marmalade

Happy Friday guys!  There's two exciting things I've got to share with you all - number one being that I made Foodbuzz's Top 9 for the Andes Mint Cupcakes!  Apparently you guys thought they were just as good as we did!  So thanks to all of you!

And exciting thing number two - we're finally doing our engagement pictures tomorrow afternoon!  After a couple months of getting pushed back (due to horrible weather and busy schedules), we're finally getting them done!  So we'll be heading out to Central Park in downtown Louisville for a little picnic engagement session.  And possibly a food fight, hehe.  I'm excited and I can't wait to share them with you all!

Anyway, I purchased a case of mason jars a few months ago and never ended up using them for anything but drinks.  So I thought it was about time I did some sort of food concoction with them.  Marmalade seemed easy enough, so I decided to try my hand at it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Emerald + Ella's recipe

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 fennel bulb, sliced
1 red onion, sliced
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and julienned
1 tea fresh rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
black pepper, to taste

In a medium skillet under medium high heat, add olive oil and heat until shimmering.

Add onions, fennel, apples, rosemary, and salt.  Saute for about 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables and apple start softening.

Stir in brown sugar, vinegar, and black pepper, to taste.  Cook for an additional 15 minutes or until onions start to carmelize.

Cool slightly and spoon into Mason jars for storage.  Serve with crackers and cream cheese for a tasty snack!

I can't wait to use this marmalade in other things too - possibly a savory and sweet pizza in the works?  Yeah, most definitely!

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend and I will definitely let you know how our engagement pictures turned out on Monday!

Strawberry Yogurt Parfait

 

Sometimes I wish I could make more time for breakfast.  It's one of the meals I happen to "skip" over.  I'm just not hungry in the morning - and by the time I am, it's already time for lunch.

But a few weeks ago, when strawberries were still in full swing, I couldn't help but make these parfaits over and over and over.  I wish I had decided to take pictures of them when we had an abundance of strawberries, but I got around to it when we only had a few (so the layers aren't as pronounced - but it was delicious, nonetheless!).

I just might have to switch over to blueberries since they're the fruit of choice in our CSA right now.  Feel free to improvise with whatever fruits and yogurts you have on hand!



And don't forget to vote in the treat poll - I need something to make for the 4th of July!  There's a little bit of everything, and no matter what gets picked, I'll try to give it a 4th of July twist!



Ingredients:

1 cup strawberry-flavored yogurt (I used Stonyfield Organic Strawberry)
1 cup strawberries, hulled and sliced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 strawberry-flavored Nutri-Grain Bars, chopped

In a small bowl, combine the strawberries and sugar.  Let sit for 10 minutes.

In a mason jar (or bowl/cup/container) spoon about 1/3 of the yogurt for the base of the parfait.

Add your chopped strawberries.  Top with another 1/3 of yogurt.

Add chopped Nutri-Grain bar pieces (you could also sub in some granola here, but I had the bars, so that's what I used).  Top with remaining yogurt.

And you've got breakfast in about 10 minutes!  I couldn't stop eating this - I was definitely sad when strawberry season slowed down.  But like I said, I just may have to switch up the flavors and try this with the blueberries!

What's your favorite way to use yogurt and fruit?

Hope you all have a fantastic 4th of July weekend!