eclaire (what's in a) name?

way back in october, while answering the door for trick or treaters, i had a conversation with nancy about a cooking demonstration she watched online (via cook’s illustrated) in which she learned several tips for making perfect peanut butter cookies. during the course of our chat, i realized that i have never made peanut butter cookies. this may not sound like a big deal, but they are mike’s favorite cookie in the whole world, and peanut butter is one of my all time favorite foods. so how is it possible i’ve never made them?

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after making tofu skewers a couple of weeks ago, i found myself staring at a little mason jar full of peanut sauce, unsure of how i wanted to use it. i strongly dislike throwing things away – it feels so wasteful to throw out perfectly good food – so i knew i had to come up with something to use up the last of the sauce.

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ok, so i know we’re all fully into bbq season, right? these long, warm summer days are practically screaming at us to light up a grill and cook our food outdoors. but what do vegetarians grill? most of my life, i’ve bought pre-packaged veggie dogs and burgers for grilling season, but i inevitably get very, very sick of them after two or three bbqs.

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mole is one of the most amazing sauces i’ve ever consumed. it has such a complex flavor – spicy, sweet, rich, and above all, absolutely delicious on any taco, burrito, tamale, tortilla, enchilada, or even nachos! despite the amazing taste and flexibility of the sauce, mole is not something that looks amazing in pictures. trust me, on this one though, because once you try it, i’m sure you’ll be back for seconds…and thirds.

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a year ago, i posted a long and detailed explanation of march madness around here (waaay back before this was a food blog), and here we are a year later, actively caught up in the middle of it again.  before you get the wrong impression and think that we’re huge basketball fans, let me stop and clarify – march is the month of birth for practically everyone we know.  ok, that’s an exaggeration, but you get the idea.  every weekend this month has been full of celebrations (and desserts!), and to add some extra fun, we’re flying out to indiana to spend time with my great-uncle, who is turning 99 this week!

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