Author: longdistancebaking

3 Ingredient Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles

3 Ingredient Strawberry Watermelon Popsicles

It’s obvious we have an ice cream obsession around here, but sometimes you want to beat the summer heat and not feel guilty about indulging. Or maybe you’re doing the Whole30 like us and can’t have sugar. Or maybe you just want a healthy summer 

Friday Finds #8

Friday Finds #8

We took a few weeks off but we’re back with another Friday Finds! It’s hard to believe this is the last Friday in August! Hope you have a great weekend 🙂 Starbucks is finally introducing almond milk. Of course, we can’t enjoy it until our 

Lemon Coconut Biscotti

Lemon Coconut Biscotti

 

Lemon Coconut Biscotti | longdistancebaking.com

If you are not watching The Great British Baking Show on PBS, you are missing out. Seriously, your life can’t possibly be complete. This show is hilarious, heart warming, tense, funny, educational and wonderful all wrapped in one! In fact, go stream the first two seasons on Netflix then come back and read the rest. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

Hello again! Can we please talk about how funny Sue and Mel are? And isn’t Mary Berry just the best! I want to invite her over for tea and pick her brain on all things baking. Then there’s Paul Hollywood. He seems tough and definitely tells it like it is but how awesome to have him judge your baking and give feedback. I just really wish I could go cook in the tent for a weekend!

Season 3 started a few weeks ago and my mom and I are big fans. I’ll usually go home and do laundry at some point during the weekend and watch the latest episode with my mom. We’re hooked! As you know (because you just binged watched the first two seasons), each episode has a theme and three challenges. Recently, they had a biscuit themed episode and for one of the challenges they had to make biscotti.

I’ve never had biscotti before. Honestly, I was afraid of cracking a tooth because it seemed so dry and hard. I also didn’t used to be a big coffee drinker so I never had a reason to buy biscotti with my coffee. After this episode, however, I was inspired! I channeled my inner British Baking Show contestant dreams and made Lemon Coconut Biscotti, adapted from these Lemon Almond Biscotti from King Arthur Flour. I even talked through the process in my head as I made them and pretended I was on the show… Don’t judge, I know you’d do the same. I was so pleasantly surprised with how they turned out, I made a second batch the next night to take on our family vacation. These are so easy to make, seriously, so easy! And so good! I even forgot to photograph them because I was too excited with how they turned out. I can’t wait to make another batch soon!

And in case you were wondering, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry loved them in my pretend show. I was definitely star baker that week…

-Kelly

Ingredients:

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. coconut extract
  • rind of one lemon
  • juice from two lemons
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups flour
  • shredded coconut (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper and sprinkle with flour.
  2. Combine butter, sugar, salt, lemon rind, coconut extract and baking powder in mixer and beat until smooth. Beat in eggs and lemon juice.
  3. On low speed, add flour and mix until dough forms. It will be sticky, don’t worry!
  4. Transfer dough to floured parchment paper and shape into a log, about 3/4″ thick.
  5. Bake for 25 minutes and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees.
  6. Using a wet paper towel (or spray bottle), dampen biscotti and cut evenly into 1/2″ slices. Bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven and cool completely before adding glaze.

For the glaze: To toast coconut, spread coconut on baking pan and bake for about 10 minutes in 400 degree oven. Remove and cool completely. In a bowl, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, the juice of one lemon and a splash of milk. Whisk until well combined. (Add more milk if glaze is too thick.) Dip the biscotti, curved side down, into glaze. Sprinkle with toasted coconut and enjoy!

Coffee Ice Cream

Coffee Ice Cream

Coffee might be my biggest weakness. I need it in the morning, I won’t turn it down in the afternoon, and I’ve been known to drink it in the evening before bed (I’m not an addict. Italians do it. It’s classy). The only problem with 

Friday Finds #7

Friday Finds #7

The Summer Olympics start tonight with the opening ceremonies. Here’s a look back at the 1996 Olympics. What happens to Olympic villages after the Olympics? Check out these abandoned ones. It’s kind of sad… What’s the difference between ice cream and gelato? Have you seen 

Friday Finds #6

Friday Finds #6

Boise Wedding | Let It Shine Photography

  • Wedding pictures are back!! Here’s a sneak peak for now.
  • Who’s ready to go back to Stars Hollow? The new Gilmore Girls date has been set and trailer released and it looks pretty good!
  • A few years back we both read Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet by Shauna Niequist. She quickly became one of our favorite authors and Cold Tangerines became an instant favorite! We cannot wait to read her new book Present Over Perfect!
  • Nothing beats a good cheese plate.
  • We’re starting our Whole 30 challenge this August and thankfully this Strawberry Jalapeno Salsa is acceptable.
  • Some pretty powerful images of the wildfires raging in California.
  • If you have a serious case of wanderlust like we do, check out these Best Apps for Cheap Flights!
  • As heartbroken as we are that it looks like One Direction is taking more than just a hiatus (Kelly probably more so than Steph), you can bet we will be buying any music Niall Horan puts out because he is our favorite (Kelly’s favorite) 1D member. Guess it’s pretty obvious who found this find… #OneDFanForever
  • The Museum of Ice Cream just opened in New York. What?! Guess we need to fly to NYC stat!
  • We now have a new mission in life- try a chocolate chip cookie from all these places!
  • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is released this weekend. Did you know some cities will have Amazon Midnight Delivery?!
Small Batch Peach Crumble

Small Batch Peach Crumble

By now everyone knows I obsessively love peaches. Between the peach cobblers, peach muffins, peach jam…I could honestly eat all peach everything and never get tired of it. So when we stopped at an adorable farmer’s market in Tuscaloosa  and they had fresh peaches (and again 

Friday Finds #5

Friday Finds #5

We’re giving up wine for the month of August. Well, actually, all sugar and alcohol (send your prayers, we’ll need them!) but apparently some days are better than others when buying wine. Who knew?! Looking forward to September already… For those days when going to 

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party

If you follow us on social media, you know that we had an LDB wedding recently. Steph and Matt got married in a truly awesome, fun and wonderful wedding weekend in Boise, Idaho, the place they first met 8 years ago! But more on the wedding later… Because a month before the wedding we celebrated with a Bachelorette party New Orleans Style!

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
It’s not a party unless Sugar Cookies are involved!

One night in New Orleans and three nights in a beach house on the Mississippi Gulf made for a truly epic Bachelorette weekend. Here are some highlights from the weekend!

Night 1: We somehow coordinated Kelly’s flight from Sacramento, Steph’s sister Cassie’s from Spokane, Brittney’s from Boise and Steph and Jamie’s drive from Monroe to all coordinate and arrive at the airport at the exact same time! Though the real miracle was getting all our luggage to fit in the car. Our first night in NOLA consisted of charbroiled oysters and fried gator at Drago’s, Popeye’s chicken, Bourbon Street, Hurricane’s at Pat O’Brien’s and lots of dancing, laughter and fun!

Drago's, New Orleans | longdistancebaking.com

Since we had appetizers early, we hit Popeye's down the street from our hotel before hitting Bourbon St.

Since we had appetizers late, we hit Popeye’s down the street from our hotel before hitting Bourbon St. It was absolutely pouring, in true Louisiana fashion, but we bought umbrellas from the corner store and braved the storm!

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
“I belong to Steph’s Bachelorette Party. If found, please buy me a drink”
At Pat O'Brien's- Home of the Hurricane. Also, a really awesome piano bar!
At Pat O’Brien’s- Home of the Hurricane. Also, a really awesome piano bar!

Day 2: We checked out of our hotel and walked around the French Quarter, ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, heard live music at Jackson Square and got brunch at Napolean House. Fun fact: this is the house the mayor of New Orleans at the time was going to give Napoleon, had they been able to “rescue” him. There is just so much history like this in New Orleans! We’ve already decided we need another trip to explore more.

Jackson Square
Jackson Square
IMG_1286
So much history in NOLA!
New Orleans had the coolest buildings and apartments!
New Orleans had the coolest buildings and apartments!

Night 2: After strolling around New Orleans, we checked out of our hotel and picked up Lauren from the airport. We made a pit stop at Costco to stock up on food before driving to our beach house in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. The first night we ate pizza, drank plenty of wine and played both Cards Against Humanity and the wedding spin off, Cads About Matrimony.

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
Our weekend attire…Harry Potter themed of course!
A view of the beach house from the water. Super cute, right??
A view of the beach house from the water. Super cute, right??

Day 3: Each morning we relaxed with coffee and Lauren’s amazing scrambled eggs (seriously, she’s a pro), sitting out on the porch watching the ocean. Saturday we then went on a Swamp Tour! While we didn’t see any gators, we had a lot of fun on the boat and learned about the local wildlife. This started a theme for the weekend of sharing interesting animal facts. Turns out we know quite a few! (do not youtube how seahorses give birth. I repeat…do NOT).

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
Gator Watch 2016

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.comSitting on a boat is pretty demanding, so we’d worked up quite the appetite. Luckily The Shed, a famous BBQ joint, was on our way home. There’s a good reason it’s famous too…everything was amazing!

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
Spicy mac & cheese, brisket and fries
New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
These “squad” hats got a lot of questions, like: “are you cheerleaders?”

Day 4: It was so relaxing to end the trip with a day spent doing absolutely nothing. Well…if drinking mimosas, walking the beach, and laying by the pool count as doing nothing.

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.com
It was hot during the day, but cooled down a lot in the evenings.

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.comWe did a little research and found out the entire beach we were on was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. While there are some beautiful new homes, like the one we stayed at, there are obvious remnants of the storm: pillars from docks that were never rebuilt, whole foundations left behind, one lot had just a staircase remaining…it’s hard to imagine the aftermath, and scary to think it could easily happen again.

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.comOverall it was the perfect weekend. Half of the group hadn’t met before, and it is such a great feeling when friends from different stages of your life get together and magically everyone just clicks. There was so much laughter, some amazing food and even more to drink! We’re already talking about a bachelorette reunion next spring because we had so much fun. That’s a thing, right??

From Steph: throughout this entire wedding process, I realized I have some of the best friends in the entire world. I couldn’t ask for smarter, kinder, more hilarious girls to surround myself with. I’m so grateful for their friendship and their willingness to fly across the country to see me!

New Orleans/Gulf Coast Bachelorette Party | longdistancebaking.comAnd that’s it! If you’re looking to plan the perfect bachelorette party, all you need is a great group of girls, one night of dancing, and three nights of beachside bliss. And taquitos. So many taquitos.

~Kelly & Steph

Friday Finds #4

Friday Finds #4

Our hearts and prayers are with Dallas this week. Another attack in France yesterday. This video, after the attack in France last year, seems very relevant today and melts our hearts. Still reeling from their own tragedy, Dallas stands in solidarity with Nice, France. Catastrophe