Shaina Olmanson's Blog, page 4

Grapefruit and Avocado Green Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

A green salad recipe with bright pink grapefruit slices, creamy avocado, and bits of purple radicchio and red onion brought together with a citrus vinaigrette to chase the cold away this winter.

Each morning we are chess pieces in our checkerboard of a home, sliding by each other and hip-checking one another out of the way. It is an intricate dance – who can occupy the bathroom and which times, family members twirling past and side stepping around in the kitchen as breakfasts and lunhttp://f...

Get Minted for the Holidays {Plus, a Giveaway!}

I’m gifting and giving with Minted.com this holiday season, which definitely means New Years cards, personalized art, calendars, and, of course, a giveaway for you.

I’m going to tell you a secret.

It’s December 18th, and I still haven’t mailed my holiday cards. From LAST year.

That’s right. I haven’t mailed the cards that I printed in November of 2014. This year? I didn’t even order cards because I was all, “Yes, I can totally mail last year’s cards. Never mind that tiny 2014 on the back....

Langoustine with Saffron Vanilla Tarragon Cream Sauce

An entertaining-ready recipe for langoustine in a beurre blanc style saffron- and vanilla-flavored cream sauce with fresh tarragon to serve over saffron rice with Nielsen-Massey Vanilla. I have partnered with Nielsen-Massey to develop a savory vanilla dish and was compensated for my work. Opinions, words, ramblings all my own.

Winter is nearly here. Each night as the last member of the family arrives through the door, we lock it behind them. The Christmas tree illuminates in the living room...

Meyer Lemon Cottage Cheese Sugar Cookies

A Meyer lemon curd- and zest-infused cottage cheese cookie recipe inspired by Berlins’ke pechyvo and Eastern European cheese-style cookies I grew up with tucked into Christmas tins. These are rich with bursts of lemon, crisp and chewy at the same time.

Friday I stood in a church, light gleaming from skylights across my grandmother’s casket, silent tears brushed away as I answered my youngest’s questions. She was buried in a field, this one dotted by distinct white marble headstones in perfec...

Dressed Arugula and Crisped Prosciutto Egg Sandwich: Build a Better Breakfast Sandwich

This breakfast sandwich recipe combines champagne vinaigrette dressed arugula, crisped prosciutto, fried eggs, and plenty of cheese all on a toasted bun. It’s better than your standard muffin + cheese + egg + ham and worth all the minutes you spent dreaming it up under the covers.

I dream of being a morning person, waking up before the dawn and savoring a few quiet moments before my day begins, hands wrapped around a warm mug. Everything about how I function makes this seem like the best wa...

Honey Roasted Beets and Kale Salad with Apple Cider Vinaigrette

A kale salad recipe that pairs honey-roasted beets with crispy pepitas and goat cheese, tossed together with an apple cider vinaigrette.

I’m standing in the kitchen over a bowl of steaming beets, watching as the sunlight streams in from the window and reflects off the whirls of thick steam rising from the bowl, dancing together across the countertop. The sky outside is a deep, clear blue, and a burst of cool air fills the small room as Lene pulls open the sliding door and runs in from raking...

Ceramic Cookware Giveaway: Farberware PurECOok

A quick review of Kohl’s Farberware PurECOok Ceramic Cookware, as well as the opportunity to win a 12-piece set in a giveaway provided by Kohl’s. As I mentioned before, this was a natural fit for me to work with Kohl’s, and any opinions expressed below are mine.

Every night after dinner I stare at the pile of hand-washable dishes that fill the sink – pots and pans crusted with color from searing and cooking, dried bits of food plastered to the pan left there inexplicably when someone’s kid...

Potato and Arugula Frittata with Goat Cheese

A recipe for a potato and arugula frittata with crumbled goat cheese made in an eco-friendly ceramic skillet that turns your morning eggs into something worth waking up for. I had the opportunity to try Kohl’s new Farberware purECOok Ceramic Cookware and work with them, so the obvious choice was making a frittata that went from stove to oven to table in 30 minutes.

“What’s for breakfast?”

“I’m hungry.”

“When are we eating?”

Every morning the cries ring out of their mouths long before I’ve fu...

Concord Grape Focaccia with Salted Honey Glaze

A recipe for olive oil focaccia stuffed and topped with concord grapes in the style of a schiacciata con l’uva, with a salted honey glaze and rosemary.

Sunday treated us to one last summer day, warming everything until we were clad in shorts and tank tops, soaking up every last ray. We rode our bikes in a long line down the street to the university, golden-hued leaves cascading to the ground as we pedaled past. We ate dinner outside on a table lit with candles before heading off to bed, our...

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins

Soft, spiced pumpkin and cocoa combine in this pumpkin chocolate swirl muffin recipe. Serve spread with nocciolata (chocolate hazelnut spread) for a real treat during Fair Trade Month.

The air is crisp, the kind of crisp you feel chill your lungs when you inhale in the early morning hours. Our windows, which had been open all summer in an attempt to let the air in, are now closed tight against the wind. Across the street, we’re watching as the fiery red leaves at the top of the neighbors’ gi...