Almond Bear Paws
While some people are hooked on William Sonoma ,I am hooked on Sur La Table for those of you who live in the metro Detroit area check Sur La Table out at The Creek… the store is amazing! Like William Sonoma, Sur La Table sells celebrity chef cookbooks as well as has their own cookbooks. I absolutely love baking so it\’s not a surprise that one of my favorite books they make is called The Art and Soul of Baking. This book has taught me so many new baking skills. Including how to make that AMAZING almond filling that you find in bear claws…. HEAVEN! I decided to make some almond bear paws.
For this recipe I made my own croissants however Pillsbury Crescent Rolls will work fabulously for those who are not as adventurous.
Ingredients
Pre-made croissants or Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
Almond Filling
1 cup raw sliced almonds
Almond Filling
(from The Art and Soul of Baking)
Ingredients
4 ounces almond paste
2 tablespoons sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon all purpose flour.
Directions
Break or cut the almond paste into 12 pieces and put them into a food processor. Add the sugar and process until the almond paste is cut into tiny pieces. Add the butter and process until well blended. Scrape down the food processor bowl and place the contents into a mixing bowl. Add the egg, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Add the flour and mix until combined.
Assembly
Cut your Croissants into triangles. If using crescent rolls lay out your triangles. Spread the Almond Filling onto the triangles and roll like you would to make crescent dinner rolls. Brush your Bear Paws with an egg wash sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Bake at 375 for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
POMtini
In order to make a fabulous drink look gorgeous rimming a glass in sugar is essential. However plain old boring white sugar wouldn\’t look as classy. Here is the secret to coloring sugar. This also works as great sanding sugar for cookies.
{1/4 cup white sugar goes into a baggy}
{add three drops of red food coloring}
{close the bag and squish the color into the sugar. the sugar will absorb all the color}
{voila! rimming sugar or sanding sugar made easy!}
POMtini
1 3/4 oz. SKYY Infusions Cherry Vodka
3 oz. orange juice
2 oz. freshly squeezed pomegranate juice
1 oz. pineapple juice
Combine all ingredients and enjoy!
Cheers! xoHow to cut a pomegranate
It\’s officially pomegranate season, and these beauties are popping up everywhere. Which means there is a lot of questions about how to cut a pomegranate. POM Wonderful usually offers a great little booklet about \”How to Cut a Pomegranate\” near where there pomegranates are being sold. I used their method, but always seemed to have an insanely large red mess ALL over my kitchen. This is when I came up with the following method of how to cut a pomegranate. It leaves little to no mess!
First I begin to make a slit down the side of the pomegranate
all the way to the bottom
I repeat this step five times around the pomegranate
Your pomegranate should now have five sections
Now at the top of the pomegranate you want to create a box
Your pomegranate should now look like this.
grab a section and begin to pull downward.
Repeat all around the pomegranate 
Voila! Simple and hardly any mess!!!
xo
A Holiday Harvest
I was fortunate enough to be selected by POM Wonderful to host a POM Dinner Party this week. POM was so gracious and sent me two cases of gorgeous pomegranates to help with my menu. Let me tell you these were the BEST pomegranates that I have ever tasted. For my dinner party I incorporated pomegranates into each item I created. I also created a lovely tablescape.
{the table scape: i used pomegranates as place cards}
{while waiting for dinner, guest munched on pomegranate brittle.}
{Appetizer: Bacon wrapped shrimp with a pomegranate glaze}
{Salad: spinach, mandarin oranges, pomegranate arils, slivered almonds and poppyseed dressing}
{Cocktail: a POMtini}
{The main course}
{buttermilk biscuits with pomegranate butter}
{chicken orzo with pomegranate arils}
{and pineapple clove boneless pork ribs with a sweet and tangy pomegranate barbecue sauce}
{Dessert: homemade vanilla ice cream with a pomegranate honey glaze, slivered almonds and pomegranate arils}
{After dinner drink and treat: POMegranate mulled cider and shortbread cookies with a lemon glaze}
the secret to the cheeks you\’ve always wanted!
Apply bronzer after you\’ve applied your blush. Gold shades will contour your cheekbones creating a more prominent look. When applying the bronzer you want to sweep it from the apples to the temple.
{LORAC blush/bronzer duo in Hot Flash}Hot Flash allows me to create the gorgeous cheek bones that I wished I was born with. The blush is a pink shimmer and the bronzer is a golden bronze shimmer. They\’re the perfect couple for fabulous cheekbones.
Fashion meets Food 
