OK, Indulging fans…the votes are in and *drumroll please* the decision is WordPress.com! The official Indulging in Guilty Pleasures website will now be indulginginguiltypleasures.wordpress.com. I’ll work on transferring old entries over there and start up a knitting page as well. Never fear, nothing will be lost! And I’ll leave weebly here for sentimental value so if any of you get nostalgic you can visit just to wave at our old home and format…



Here we go, kids!


 
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Sunday was Batt Lady’s birthday and I knew I wanted to do something nice for her since her husband, parents, and friends weren’t able to come visit…on TOP of which, it was opening weekend of our maniacally manic summer festival. So Saturday night I made sure I got out a little early (guiltily leaving the almost birthday girl to finish off the shows for the night) and snuck home with Miss Rice to make some box office/Batt Lady friendly cupcakes. She can’t eat eggs (and I just happened to have recently ordered Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) and she can’t eat processed sugar, so I hopped out to the Red Hook Natural Foods store to buy a large bottle of Agave, along with some other vegan provisions.

There’s definitely a stigma around vegan baking (maybe it’s just cause I’m so into butter and eggs from my childhood baking experiences and Julia’s influence) and on top of that I’m not an enormous fan of the flavor of Agave, but Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero changed my mind (as they almost always do…). These. were. delicious. And though the frosting was a bit runny, it had a great texture and an even better taste!


Go ahead, experiment a little…you won’t be sorry.


Read on for photos and the recipe…

 
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Flaky pastry pockets bursting with a splash of tart and sweet flavors. We picked these berries ourselves which makes it seem even more handmade and organic! They’re perfect for dessert, breakfast, or a snack…yummmmmmm! Be careful, they go fast!

Read on for photos and the recipe…

 
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Sweet, but not too sweet, crumbly, but not falling apart, this is an amazing pie for summer. The cherries were fresh and delicious and it was a nice refreshing end to the heavy BBQ we provided our friends on July 4th. Yum!


Read on for photos and the recipe…

 
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It’s like a cold chicken korma with grapes! That may not sound appetizing to you put that way, but daaaaaaamn. SO. GOOD. Plus it’s that gorgeous yellow curry color and you get the burst of flavor and purple from the grapes…I wish we had leftovers, but it all went so fast!

Read more for more photos and the recipe…

 
Just to be nice to all the vegetarians who decided to come to our BBQ, I decided to make lentil veggie burgers. I recently went to a local restaurant that cooks with all local and organic produce…They make the best veggie burger I’ve ever had and I’m pretty sure there were no lentils or beans. It just tasted so fresh and veggie-licious! So the ultimate goal is to find a recipe like that but for now I’ll stick with this one, which did turn out pretty tasty. Vegetarian and Carnivore approved!

Read more for the recipe…

 
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Not to be confused with baby back ribs…These. were. awesome. The ribs I got from Price Chopper were grass fed and delicious but not really what I was expecting. They were really long (not the side ways length slabs you normally cook ribs as) and had the side bones in them? Very strange. But! nonetheless they were deeelicious. Feel free to make your own BBQ sauce…with tons of people coming and lots to prepare, I wasn’t quite up to the challenge (Dinner Impossible anyone?)

Read on for photos and the recipe…

 
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What an absolutely amazing weekend! Fireworks, BBQs, and friends…what more could you ask for. Keep your eyes peeled for the following recipes over the next week or so:

  • BBQ Pork Ribs
  • Veggie Burgers
  • Southwest Burgers with Lime Chipotle Mayo
  • Curried Chicken Salad
  • Cherry Pie with Almond Crumble
  • Blueberry Raspberry Pastry Pockets

And a great BBQ tip if your area isn’t doing fireworks on July 4th (which ours wasn’t…wtf is that??), SPARKLERS ARE ALWAYS AWESOME!!!!
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Ever made cheese before? Because you should!

The lovely Batt Girl is a well experienced cheesemaker so she, Frau, and I decided to not only make cheese, but then use it for pizza! The only things we didn’t make (or grow) on this pizza were the sauce, the mushrooms, and the tomatoes (and only because they’re not quite in season).


Read on for recipes and step by step photos…