“I like the word Peameal Bacon much better than the word Canadian Back Bacon. I will make something with Peameal Bacon soon.”
I had a craving this morning. I was craving something hearty, sweet and semi-healthy. The cure? Jam-packed oatmeal cookies with a decadent brown butter icing drizzled over top. This recipe is simple, yields a large quantity of cookies and is quite quick. Enjoy and indulge.
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Then, cream together the butter and brown sugar, until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs and beat until the mixture is light in colour.
Now add the buttermilk. Don’t worry when you notice that the buttermilk doesn’t mix into the mixture too well, this will all change when you start adding the flour!
Mix together the flour, baking soda, powder and spices before adding to the wet ingredients.
Stir the flour and spices into the wet mixture.
Measure out and mix in the oats…
…and then the walnuts and raisins and cherries! And ta-da, you are finished making your cookie dough.
Now simply spoon your dough onto greased or parchment papered cookie sheets…
…and pop in the oven (for about 12-15 minutes)!
Now it’s time for the most important part of this cookie…the making of the brown butter icing!
Start off by melting about 1/4 cup of butter in a sauce pan.
Let it bubble away until it turns brown, like so:
Remove the brown butter from the heat an stir in about 2-3 cups of icing sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
Stir, stir, stir until you find yourself staring at an interesting little icing dough ball.
Now add a touch of water at a time (it amounts to about 1-2 tablespoons in the end), and stir it into the icing ball until it turns into a nice drizzling consistency.
Finally, simply drizzle this beautiful icing over all your cookies and wait a few minutes for it to set up!
These truly turned out delicious. The brown butter icing added such an interesting, decadent touch to plain ol’ oatmeal cookies. Love it, hope you will too!
xoxo
Mariel
I think it’s time that this wonderful, wonderful restaurant gets the attention it deserves on Mariel’s Noms. Friends, go to Burger Bar. This little spot located in Calmar, Alberta (it’s on the main street…you can’t miss it) has the most incredible hamburgers and french fries I’ve tasted in my life. And trust me, I have tasted a lot of burgers.
Yesterday after spending the afternoon lounging under the hot, hot sun, me and Katie treated ourselves to the first Burger Bar feast of the summer. I got the straight up single patty hamburger (delicious simplicity):
Oh yeah…and I got fries…a banana milkshake (wow) and a coke…
The fries are really incredible. They are the perfect blend of crunch and soft potato, and go down reaaal easy after you’ve inhaled your burger.
And then there are the milkshakes…did you see the flavor options?!? Once I saw the word banana though, I had no decision to make. It was amazing.
Katie got the mozza burger which looked equally incredible, with it’s stringy, cheesy center oozing out of the soft, toasted bun.
It was the perfect summer day! Swimming and relaxing on the beach followed by a sandy trip to the Burger Bar in our bikinis. Pure happiness. Anyways, there is my homage to Burger Bar!
xoxo
Mariel
It finally feels like summer after this weekend! How do I know this? My consumption of ice cream, milk shakes and XL slushies has significantly increased…oops. Oh, and a nice unplanned trip to the beach didn’t hurt, either.
Okay, maybe the mid-sized planters filled with herbs and two types of fruits and vegetables I planted today don’t count as farming…but I am excited to tell you about my backyard farming/gardening adventures regardless!
One pot nestled on the deck in the backyard now holds pretty little rosemary plants, bountiful looking Italian parsley, lemon sage and chives (all bought at the Superstore garden center for 3.50 each)! We did this little herb garden concept last summer too, and it was amazing! I am a bit of a fresh herb loving freak, so the idea of being able to stroll out into the backyard and rip fresh flavour right out of the ground really, really excites me.
I love how easy herb gardening is, too. I found last summer that herbs tend to be quite resilient…much more than flowers, and even with my less than tender loving care, they still flourished into massive, tasty plants!
Next I moved onto planting up the real food…in other words: a cherry tomato plant and some celery plants! I have never grown either of these before…so I will keep you updated on their growth and/or demise.
I love how planting a small backyard garden is so easy and rewarding. Just from spending 30 minutes re-potting the plants from the garden center, watering them and now just keepin’ an eye on them I will soon have a never ending supply of fresh herbs, probably about 9-12 stocks or celery and endless cherry tomatoes! Yum, I cannot wait!
The best part though is you can do this no matter how large or miniscule your outdoor space is, I say give it a try! Oh yes…and the celery plants (they came in a package with 6 individual plants per pack) were about 2.50 at Superstore and I think the tomato plant was 12.00… Enjoy!
xoxo
Mariel
I know what you’re thinking. Mariel’s still alive?!? Yes, I am! I have finally figured out how to downsize the monstrous images my camera likes to produce on this big old computer I have had to get used to operating once again, and so folks, I must announce: Mariel’s Noms is back in business!
To start things off once again I will share with you a simple, seasonal sweet that will satisfy your cravings for fresh, summer flavours! I have been working quite a bit lately and have not had the time to bake or cook anything for the past little while that requires more than 30 minutes prep and cooking time! Today however…I was sick! I had all the time in the world to create whatever I desired.
To decide on what I wanted to bake I usedmy usual tactic of thoroughly examining the fridge and cupboard…today the ingredient that really caught my eye was a bountiful bundle of strawberries in the fridge!
So my friends, I give you a recipe for delicious strawberry cupcakes with fresh strawberry icing!
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F and line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners!
Begin your baking journey by taking about 1/2 cup of fresh strawberry and pureeing them in a food processor or a trusty magic bullet until bright and smooth! This should create approximately 1/3 cup of pureed strawberry. I made a lil’ extra…just in case!
Next, combine 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl (or measuring cup) and set aside.
Then, in a small bowl (or measuring cup) combine 1/4 cup of room temperature milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and the 1/3 cup of strawberry puree, and set aside.
Now in a mixing bowl, cream together 1/2 cup of room temperature butter and 1 cup of sugar.
Now add 1 egg and 2 egg whites to the mix and blend until well combined and fluffy.
Now it’s time to bring everything together! Add half of the flour mixture and blend until just combined.
Then add all of the strawberry/milk mixture and stir ‘er in!
Finish up with the rest of the flour mixture and blend everything together until you have a pretty, pink cake batter like this:
Spoon the batter into the muffin tin and pop it into the preheated oven for 22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean as a whistle.
Look at these cute lil’ cupcakes! Pop them out of the tins and let them cool while you prepare the icing.
For the icing I combined 1 cup of room temperature butter, 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar, 1/3 cup of strawberry puree and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. This icing is incredible! And pretty…
I hope you enjoy these little gems as much as I am enjoying them! I think I’m on my….4th? 5th? I’ve lost track… Anyways, you’ll be hearing from me again very soon now that I’ve got this whole technology thing figured out!
xoxo
Mariel
“Hello Nom lovers! Just a little update: my poor macbook has took a turn for the worse and is currently visiting the “Apple Doctor”. It is a very sad situation. Therefore my noms have been lacking majorly for the past little while. It sucks!”
I love pretty kitchens almost as much as I love delicious food.
There are certain recipes out there. You know the ones, the recipes that have gained god-like statuses through the various recreations they’ve endured on blogs around the world. For the most part, I’ve tried to avoid the temptation of following the pack and making these recipes, and just cook to the beat of my own drum! But my friends, this recipe was one that haunted my cravings for months upon months…and I’ve finally broken down and made it. I think from now on I will live with the knowledge that is: there is a reason some recipes make their rounds on hundreds of thousands of blogs…they are unbelievably perfect.
I have never tasted a more delicate, rich, sweet tomato sauce in my entire life. This sauce is pure perfection in simplicity. Butter, onions and tomatoes melded together in a heavenly union. This sauce is beautiful ladeled onto plain, al dente pasta, but I think it could also be turned into a delectable, one-of-a-kind tomato soup. Whichever direction you decide to take this recipe, and make it your own…there is no doubt about it, you must try it in one way or another.
This sauce has a simple beginning. Cook down however many whole, fresh tomatoes (with the tops cut off) you think you need in the tiniest touch of olive oil. You could also use a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes for this step, if you wish. We didn’t have any on hand so I went for the classic way of makin’ a sauce. I simply picked out the tomato skins when the tomatoes broke down into a nice, bubbling liquid.
Once all the “chunks” of tomato have dissolved, throw in a whole yellow onion, peeled and ends chopped off. Also plop in about 5 tablespoons of butter. Lower the heat to medium, put a lid on your sauce pan, and let your creation bubble away for about 15-20 minutes…until the onion is completely soft and tender and the fat from the butter has turned your sauce into a luxurious, smooth consistency.
Then pick your pasta! I used these cute little swirly-queues.
Throw them into salted, boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain.
Now, here’s where I strayed from the rest of the blogging pack. This recipe says to “discard” the soft, tender onion after 20 minutes of simmering, after it’s infused it’s delicate flavor into the sauce. But I just couldn’t bring myself to toss what I was sure was a sweet, lovely onion. So…I kept it. I grabbed my hand blender and blended that little beauty right into the sauce. After this decision, I strained my sauce to make sure it was extra smooth. After the straining, I added one lat dab of butter to finish the sauce.
And then…the taste test. Let me tell you…I’m glad I kept the onion. This sauce was perfect.
As my family all came to the table, I could tell they were afraid of a incredibly bland meal as they laid their eyes the lone little bowls of pasta with a plainer-than-hell looking sauce piled on top. But as soon as the sauce touched their lips…I saw the same wonder in their eyes as I felt in my stomach. This sauce is really something special. I can still taste the sweet, creamy pasta, and can’t wait to make this again.
I hope you all enjoy! I know I went a little over board in the description of this dish…but it really deserves it.
xoxo
Mariel
The weather is finally beautiful, and I finally got to host the potluck that I’ve been waiting to host! Chili, to-die-for potato salad (among other impeccable salads: caesar, pasta, noodle salads and more), homemade everything (salsa, rosemary pita chips, other delish dips), thai fresh spring rolls, and a plethora of desserts (cookies, cupcakes, pies, cakes, brownies….creme brulee, you name it), all attended the party. It was perfect. I really do have the best friends.