Lemon Lavender Tea Cake

It's been over two months since my last post! Boy does time fly. I honestly cannot believe that I am already a third of the way through my chief year. This year has had its challenges for sure, but has been incredibly rewarding in so many other ways. Aside from working along side some of my best friends and colleagues and having the opportunity to both teach and learn from my residents, I get the wonderful opportunity of trying out new recipes! 

Earlier this summer, the Boy and I had a weekend off together (I know, weird, right?) and spent it at a lavender festival in Highland Springs. I had been DYING to go to a lavender festival ever since this tiny little lavender obsession of mine started and was thrilled that this was only 30 minutes from home. 

A Black and White Affair: Cookies and Cream Blondies

What do you do when you have 10 packs of left-over Oreos? Make blondies of course! Combined with Hershey's cookies and cream chocolate chunks, these blondies are rich, decadent, and truly a guilty pleasure. 

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Blueberry season is coming to an end, but not before I get one more recipe out of them! This recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen is simple to follow, uses basic ingredients and will stay good for a couple days in the fridge. 

Let's Talk Peaches and Poultry

Amazon prime day rolled around the corner a couple weeks ago and I was able to get my hands on a much awaited Instant Pot. I've had my eye on this thing since my friends Marilyn and Wesley got one a few months back. They are some of the biggest foodies and best cooking couples I know and so if they have one, you know it's gotta be good. And as expected, this new gadget was magical--it can do 7 different things but is the size of a simple rice cooker!

The first recipe I wanted to try out was peach balsamic chicken. With fresh peaches from Jen's garden and fresh basil from my own kitchen bay window, this recipe came out wonderfully, thanks to my trusty instant pot of course. While I made this recipe in the instant pot it can easily be made in a skillet on the stove as well. 

Nectarine and Peach Pizza

Summer is here and nectarines and peaches are dropping faster than we can pick! My friend Jen's house had literally HUNDREDS of delicious nectarines and sweet as can be peaches. After a couple hours of picking we ended up with boxes overflowing with beautiful stone fruit. Now what to do with them. We were making nectarine and peach everything for days. From pies, to jam, to cobbler and ice cream we tried it all! I even tried making nectarine ravioli but the flavor was overpowered by the goat cheese :D.