Jessica Merchant's Blog, page 345

Pomegranate Cranberry Juleps.

It’s another holly jolly cocktail for us!

This super festive and fun cranberry pomegranate julep is a tad on the stronger side, for those of you who want something more than a mimosa or a margarita. Something a little EXTRA.

So! While I usually consider mint juleps to be a spring cocktail with the Kentucky Derby and such, I actually love the idea of serving them in the winter. Bourbon is just so… warming. You know? Even though we are pouring it over the traditional crushed iced, it’s still warm and wonderful especially when mixed with the flavors of pomegranate and cranberry.

It’s so, so good!

Also, if you’re a major crushed ice lover like I am these are ridiculously crunchy and satisfying. It’s like a grown up slushie.

These are SO easy to make for a holiday party. I’d actually suggest setting up a little bar with your pomegranate and cranberry juices in cute jugs and having the bottle of bourbon near. Have a bowl full of adorable fresh mint and then a bucket of your crushed ice! The only thing that will take some maintenance is the ice, but this way, people can construct their own juleps.

Because cocktails are certainly something that need to be constructed… eye roll.

I’ve shared a bunch of cocktails lately that would be wonderful for Christmas morning, but I have to say that this one is much more of a Christmas dinner or party drink. Unless you’re into consuming bourbon first thing when you wake up. Eeeep.

But it’s a classy and more sophisticated beverage that can hold up against a roast and fancy snacks.

And it’s jewel toned!! I want to jewel tone my life. Like decorate our home in jewel tones, only wear jewel tones. Forever and ever!

Okay let’s majorly cheers.

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Pomegranate Cranberry Juleps

Yield: makes 1 drink, is easily multiplied

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 ounces bourbon
1 1/2 ounces mint simple syrup
1 ounce cranberry juice
1 ounce pomegranate juice
crushed ice
fresh mint leaves

mint simple syrup

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 bunch of mint leaves



Directions:

Combine bourbon, mint simple syrup and juices together in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake for 30 seconds. Pour over crushed iced and serve with extra mint leaves. You can also garnish with cranberries or pomegranate arils if you wish.

mint simple syrup

Combine sugar, mint and water together in a small saucepan and heat over high heat until boiling, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook for another minute or so, then set aside to cool completely. Remove mint before using. You can do this ahead of time and store it in the fridge!

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Doesn’t that just look like a glass of jewels?!

The post Pomegranate Cranberry Juleps. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of Seriously Delish! [CLOSED]

Thank you guys so much for your excitement over the holiday giveaway series! xo

Today I’m giving away THREE signed copies of my first cookbook, Seriously Delish! I will send these out as soon as I’m in contact with the winners tomorrow, so it will make an excellent holiday gift!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this blog post telling me the best holiday gift you ever received.
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. If you already have preordered with a giveaway this week, just leave a comment saying you did so! You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders [at ] gmail [dot] com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

[Yesterday’s winner of the KitchenAid blender is:

Ashlyn The Pedantic Foodie who said “I already follow you on both! And my goal is to be able to come home and work full time on my business.”

Congrats Ashlyn! Email me at howsweeteats [at] gmail [dot] com] 

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of Seriously Delish! [CLOSED] appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of Seriously Delish!

Thank you guys so much for your excitement over the holiday giveaway series! xo

Today I’m giving away THREE signed copies of my first cookbook, Seriously Delish! I will send these out as soon as I’m in contact with the winners tomorrow, so it will make an excellent holiday gift!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this blog post telling me the best holiday gift you ever received.
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. If you already have preordered with a giveaway this week, just leave a comment saying you did so! You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders [at ] gmail [dot] com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

[Yesterday’s winner of the KitchenAid blender is:

Ashlyn The Pedantic Foodie who said “I already follow you on both! And my goal is to be able to come home and work full time on my business.”

Congrats Ashlyn! Email me at howsweeteats [at] gmail [dot] com] 

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a Signed Copy of Seriously Delish! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Chipotle Caramel Chex Mix.

There might not even be words for how delicious this is.

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS. This chipotle caramel chex mix recipe is life. I have been waiting weeks to share this with you and every single day until now when I was prepping my blog posts, I’d think that I should swap it out for this recipe.

Finally! I am telling you about it.

Holy flavor explosion.

It’s all about sweet heat. This flavor combo is unreal. Trust me, I have made this SIX times in the last two months. And I just bought the ingredients again last week to make it for Christmas.

Even Eddie is losing his mind over it. He isn’t really into chex mix either. I mean, he likes pretzels and chips and stuff occasionally, but when I have a weak moment buy a bag of cheddar chex mix or something (I mean, it tastes like my youth, more specifically Saturday nights watching Snick) he rarely bites. Pun intended.

And if I make a chex mix recipe at home? He’s usually like… whatever.

WELL NOT HERE. He has devoured sheet pans of this stuff.

The ingredients are simple! We don’t use an ACTUAL caramel sauce because it would clump everything together and make this much less chex mix-like. Instead, I made a mix using sugar and light corn syrup and some other delicious add-ins. Not only does it taste like heaven, it makes your kitchen smell incredible too.

This isn’t my first foray into homemade snack mix, but this is the first I’ve made where it’s sweet AND salty! And a bit spicy. I used regular old chex mix ingredients in here, but I certainly think that the addition of cheese crackers or other nuts or whatever the heck you’d like would be perfection.

Just want to eat this forever. Okay bye.

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Chipotle Caramel Chex Mix

Yield: a ton!

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon chipotle pepper seasoning
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
4 cups rice chex cereal
4 cups corn chex cereal
2 cups mini pretzels
1 cup peanuts
1 cup cashews



Directions:

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the butter, corn syrup, sugar, chipotle pepper and smoked paprika in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave in 30-second incredible, stirring after each, until the butter is melted and the mixture combines. Stir it well so it looks caramely.

Place the chex cereal, pretzels, peanuts and cashews in a large bowl. Pour the caramel mixture over top and toss well to combine, even using your hands if needed. You want ALL pieces coated!

Spread the chex on two baking sheets evenly. Bake for 60 minutes, tossing well every 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss the mixture every 10 minutes or so until it cools so it doesn’t all clump together. Store in a ziplock bag or sealed container.

[adapted from allrecipes]

All images and text ©How Sweet Eats.







Did you make this recipe?

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page.

I appreciate you so much!

Looook at that caramel! And that crunch!

The post Chipotle Caramel Chex Mix. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a KitchenAid Proline Series Blender! [Closed]

Onto our second round of my favorite things for this holiday giveaway series! This is something I am seriously excited about. Like, MAJORLY.

Today I’m giving away the blender that I’ve been raving about in all of 2017! This KitchenAid Pro Line Series Blender is UNREAL. I absolutely love love love it. This giveaway is not sponsored and is given by me to show how much I appreciate you being here.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this post telling me one goal you have for 2018.
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. If you already have preordered with a giveaway this week, just leave a comment saying you did so! You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders [at ] gmail [dot] com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

[The winners of yesterday’s amazon gift card giveaway are below! Please send me an email at howsweeteats [at] gmail [dot] com!

Vicki Collins who said “MY favourite memory of 2017 is moving into the new house my husband built (mostly) by himself for us. It required a lot of hard work and sacrifice but we feel so lucky to finally be in our dream home and making memories with our family.”
 Jessica Ratchford who said “Also pre-ordered The Pretty Dish. Can’t wait!”

Thanks to all who entered!]

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a KitchenAid Proline Series Blender! [Closed] appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a KitchenAid Proline Series Blender!

Onto our second round of my favorite things for this holiday giveaway series! This is something I am seriously excited about. Like, MAJORLY.

Today I’m giving away the blender that I’ve been raving about in all of 2017! This KitchenAid Pro Line Series Blender is UNREAL. I absolutely love love love it. This giveaway is not sponsored and is given by me to show how much I appreciate you being here.

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this post telling me one goal you have for 2018.
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. If you already have preordered with a giveaway this week, just leave a comment saying you did so! You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders [at ] gmail [dot] com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

[The winners of yesterday’s amazon gift card giveaway are below! Please send me an email at howsweeteats [at] gmail [dot] com!

Vicki Collins who said “MY favourite memory of 2017 is moving into the new house my husband built (mostly) by himself for us. It required a lot of hard work and sacrifice but we feel so lucky to finally be in our dream home and making memories with our family.”
 Jessica Ratchford who said “Also pre-ordered The Pretty Dish. Can’t wait!”

Thanks to all who entered!]

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a KitchenAid Proline Series Blender! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Tuesday Things.

1. All I want at the moment is some goat cheese potato gratin. I mean, RIGHT?!

2. Here’s a weird thing. I think that I’m the only one who ISN’T into the Trader Joe’s everything but the bagel seasoning. Now, don’t get me wrong, I adore everything bagels. I’ve made everything hummus and generally enjoy the flavor when it comes to bread and crackers. But I just don’t want it on anything else. I’m not into the hype!

3. I am totally loving the 2018 pantone color of the year: ultra violet! OMG. I mean this is almost as good as the year it was radiant orchid.

4. Are trashy Christmas movies becoming, like, the new soap opera? Did you even watch soap operas? I loved a good Guiding Light episode when I came home from middle school. It was my mom and grandma’s fave.

5. Like I mentioned a few weeks ago, we got the Amazon Echo Show on Black Friday. Max is obsessed with it and it’s so cute listening to him yelling at Alexa to “check the weather” BUT … he now thinks that he can talk to all computers and what not in the house and that they should respond. I mean… maybe in like 2021?

6. Did you see the Starbucks Christmas tree frappuccino? Truly no flavor combo sounds more terrible. Ick.

7. While I wish I could have a vacation mindset all year long, I’m not sure if that is ever how my brain will work.

8. I can’t believe I’m even typing this, but I think we are done watching the Walking Dead. It was our favorite show for soooo long (especially Eddie’s, so this is huge) and it was so good, but we didn’t start it back in October when it began again and with the events of Sunday’s episode (yes I know what happens, ugh), I just don’t think I can watch it again! But I am emotionally unstable right now, so there’s that. Maybe I’ll change my mind eventually.

9. If you have a bit of time today, you can listen to my podcast interview over on paleOMG. I adore Juli so much. Annnnd I will repeat for the millionth time: there isn’t much worse than listening to your own voice/audio. Bah.

10. Last year I did a big 12 Days of Christmas vlogging series and while I can’t really get my act together (hi, Emilia) to do it this year, I am holding a holiday giveaway series starting today of all of my favorite things!

The post Tuesday Things. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card! [CLOSED]

Happy December 12th! I am SO excited to begin counting down the 12 days of Christmas!

You guys have been asking me left and right if I’d be holding another 12 Days of Christmas vlogging series this year. While I’d love to, all we’re REALLY doing over here is cuddling a newborn. But! Starting today, I will be holding multiple giveaways for some of my favorite things and you can bet that they are in.cred.i.ble. I promise!

These giveaways are not sponsored and are given by me to show how much I appreciate you being here. I LOVE YOU! Thank you for stopping by this rambly corner of the internet every day. It seriously means the WORLD to me.

To kick things off on this first day of Christmas, I’m giving away two $500 amazon gift cards! This gift card will be sent to you electronically, so you will receive it well before Christmas. Like you will receive it two or three days from now.

Please see below for detailed rules on the giveaway, but all you really have to do is leave a comment on this post. And… something else super exciting!

You also have a chance for a second entry and to get a signed copy of my next cookbook, The Pretty Dish!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this post telling me your favorite memory of 2017!
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders@gmail.com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card! [CLOSED] appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card!

Happy December 12th! I am SO excited to begin counting down the 12 days of Christmas!

You guys have been asking me left and right if I’d be holding another 12 Days of Christmas vlogging series this year. While I’d love to, all we’re REALLY doing over here is cuddling a newborn. But! Starting today, I will be holding multiple giveaways for some of my favorite things and you can bet that they are in.cred.i.ble. I promise!

These giveaways are not sponsored and are given by me to show how much I appreciate you being here. I LOVE YOU! Thank you for stopping by this rambly corner of the internet every day. It seriously means the WORLD to me.

To kick things off on this first day of Christmas, I’m giving away two $500 amazon gift cards! This gift card will be sent to you electronically, so you will receive it well before Christmas. Like you will receive it two or three days from now.

Please see below for detailed rules on the giveaway, but all you really have to do is leave a comment on this post. And… something else super exciting!

You also have a chance for a second entry and to get a signed copy of my next cookbook, The Pretty Dish!

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Follow @howsweeteats on Instagram and Facebook. Leave a comment (with a valid email address so I can contact you!) on this post telling me your favorite memory of 2017!
For a second entry, pre-order a copy of The Pretty Dish and leave a second comment saying you did so. You can find the book on amazon, barnes and noble, books a million and indie bound. Simply forward your confirmation email to theprettydishorders@gmail.com along with the the mailing address that you’d like the plate to be mailed to and the name or message you would like on the plate (if any)! If you have already preordered the book before today (thank you!!!), you are included too! Send your same details to the email with your order confirmation. Please note that the book plate will be arriving in the spring, and should be there before your copy of The Pretty Dish arrives on March 20th!

This giveaway will run for 24 hours and the winner will be announced in tomorrow’s giveaway post! xoxo

The post My Favorite Things Holiday Giveaway: Win a $500 Amazon Gift Card! appeared first on How Sweet Eats.

Herb and Butter Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish and Caramelized Onions.

Let’s talk about your Christmas beef!

I might have the best beef tenderloin recipe right here for your holidays. Because!

For years, and I’m talking YEARS, my grandma would make a tenderloin on Christmas day. And ever since she passed away, my mom has been making one too. It’s so delicious and such a decadent treat that we really only have for a holiday meal. 

I mean, never did I ever think that I would be craving beef on a Monday morning but I guess there is a first time for everything.

P.S. Just seeing this recipe makes me want to shout out “the roast beast!” because we have already watched the Grinch probably 56 times and it’s only December 11. Yep yep. I can recite the entire movie to you right now. I swear.

Anywhoooo. (< see what I did there?)

The thing was that I had never prepared a beef tenderloin before by myself and I was adamant to learn how. I took this method from serious eats and ran with it. I made three filets in three months to test the method and make sure I could get it down pat. I was so sure that my first attempt would fail or just any attempt would fail, because it’s such an expensive cut of meat and I was certain I’d screw it up.

But! I’m happy to report that this is pretty much foolproof. I absolutely LOVE this method of roasting the tenderloin. It’s so simple and flavorful and tender. It’s just delicious and worthy of the center of your holiday table.

For extra flavor, I threw together a horseradish sauce because let’s just say that we ate so much filet throughout this testing process in the fall, we needed something extra. Extra extra flavor, you know? The brown-ish butter (oh yeah, there is some brown butter here. eeeeep!) and herbs were fantastic, but if you take this filet and make a little sandwich with it and throw some of the horseradish on top? Oh Mylanta. Fantastic.

And to go with THAT, I also made some caramelized onions. Like allowed them to caramelized the entire time that the beef was cooking, so… yes. Super slowly caramelized onions that are out.of.this.world.

So now that we’ve talked about this whole plate of flavor, I’d LOVE to hear what you eat on Christmas Eve or Christmas day and what your traditions are? Aside from the cookies, of course. Tell me all the things!

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Herb and Butter Roasted Beef Tenderloin

Yield: serves 4 to 6

Total Time: 4 hours

Ingredients:

1 (3 pound) trimmed beef tenderloin
1 to 2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 bunch of fresh sage
1 bunch of fresh rosemary
1 bunch of fresh thyme
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, for melting

caramelized onions with thyme

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 sweet onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

horseradish sauce

1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives



Directions:

The key to a delicious beef tenderloin is to start a day or two before! Ideally you want to tie the filet up with kitchen twine so it cooks evenly. You can do this with the method of using butcher’s knots – there is a great tutorial right here.

Place the tenderloin on a wire rack that’s sitting on a baking sheet. Season the meat liberally with the salt and the pepper. Place the sheet in the fridge and let the tenderloin sit uncovered overnight.

Be sure to pull the beef from the fridge at least an hour or so BEFORE you want to starting roasting it.

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. I like to take the fresh herbs and stick them right against the beef inside the kitchen twine. No rhyme or reason – just tuck them all over the beef!

Place the beef (still on the baking sheet or on a new one) on the center rack in the oven and roast for 2 1/2 to 3 hours (for a 3-pound tenderloin) or until the internal temperature reaches 120 to 125 degrees F on your meat thermometer. Remove the beef and set it aside for 10 minutes.

During those 10 minutes, place the butter in a saucepan and let it melt. If it verrrry slightly begins to brown, I let it, but I don’t let it brown too much because it’s going to be under the broiler!

Adjust the oven rack so it’s about 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler to high. Spoon some of the melted butter oven the roast and place it under the broiler. You want to turn the beef every 30 seconds (and I also spoon more butter on it!) until the outsides are golden and browned. You only want to do this for about 2 to 3 minutes total! Remove the beef from the oven and drizzle with more melted butter. Let the beef rest for another 10 minutes or so before slicing and serving with the caramelized onions and horseradish.

caramelized onions with thyme

Give yourself about an hour to do this! Heat a skillet over low heat and add the butter. Add the onions and salt and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions caramelize and turn golden, about 45 to 60 minutes. They will be close to finished by then, but you can continue to caramelize for a few hours as long as you stir often. Keep an eye on them so they don’t burn and keep the heat low! Stir in the thyme after 45 minutes.

horseradish sauce

Whisk all ingredients together (aside from about 1 tablespoon of chives for topping) and let sit in the fridge for 30 to 60 minutes. Top with fresh chives and serve!

this recipe is highly based on this version from serious eats!

All images and text ©How Sweet Eats.







Did you make this recipe?

Be sure to follow howsweeteats on instagram and tag #howsweeteats. You can also post a photo of your recipe to the howsweeteats facebook page.

I appreciate you so much!

Sandwich it with some fondue too. For real!

The post Herb and Butter Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Horseradish and Caramelized Onions. appeared first on How Sweet Eats.