STICKY RICE WITH MANGO

I can still remember the first time I tasted Thai food. My dad brought my brother and me to a Thai restaurant in Madison that some friends had taken him to, and although at first we complained about having to go and try a new cuisine, we left begging to come back. We loved the Pad Thai, of course, but the real treat was the sticky rice with mango that we had for dessert. The combination of warm coconut-flavored rice and cool mango is just absolutely amazing. Have you ever had it?! If you have, you're probably just as excited as I am about this post. I'll admit, this recipe isn't a perfect replication of the Thai restaurant-style mango and sticky rice that I'm obsessed with, but it's good enough for me to enjoy and forget my lack of Thai-cooking skills that often frustrates me. I just think it's funny how you can be so good at cooking certain types of cuisines and so poor at cooking others. I guess I'm not that bad... I just have really high expectations and probably no where near the right ingredients in my cupboard. But I've definitely found the right rice and rice-cooking method! The coconut flavoring is where I still have some internal debate. Sometimes I feel like the rice should be bathed in the coconut milk, sometimes I think the milk should just be drizzled on top... honestly, I think I need to go back to Madison and taste the sticky rice that started it all for me and then I'll know which method is really the way to go. But for now, I figured the more coconut flavor, the better! I'm headed to Madison July 4th so I may have an update to the post then!

sticky rice with mango

1 cup sticky (a.k.a. sweet) rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup brown sugar (or just regular sugar will work!)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 ripe mangos, peeled and sliced

Rinse rice and then soak in cold water for 1 hour or up to 1 day. Drain the rice using a fine-meshed sieve and place over a pot of simmering water (but don't allow the rice to be submerged in the water) Steam, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir the rice and steam, covered, for another 15 minutes. Taste to make sure that the rice is cooked completely before removing from the simmering water. While the rice is cooking, simmer the coconut milk with the sugar and sea salt to reduce to a heavy cream. When the rice is done, combine the rice and cream and let sit for about 20 minutes until the cream is completely absorbed. Pack into a flattened oval and serve with sliced mango on top.

PERFECT PEONIES

We get a little giddy each time we spot a fresh bouquet of peonies. Today the bright fuchsia and soft pink caught our eye and it was love at first sight. Hope these beauties give you good vibes all day long.

PETAL BY PEDAL

We love a good #GIRLBOSS. That's why we love this super savvy, super chic brand in NYC. Founder Kate (read more here) delivers flowers by bicycle across the big apple. Which is pretty rad. But even more rad is how Kate goes about getting her stems. She empowers local growers around the state... creating an eco-floral movement we can't stop gushing over.

FETA, ZA'TAR, AND SUN-DRIED TOMATO WHOLE WHEAT QUICK BREAD

I can't say how happy I am that it's finally nice out! Summer is great for so many reasons, but I think one of the things I'm most excited about is how there is just so much more to do outdoors when it's warmer out! Baltimore doesn't have that many outdoor destinations, but a few friends and I have made a pact to try to do some more exploring of the greater-Maryland/Chesapeake area this summer. Just after getting back from New York a couple weekends ago, I got a random text saying one of the friends would pick me up between 4:30 and 5 and asked me to guess where we were going. I had no idea haha. I thought maybe a hike somewhere but the weather was pretty cold and it was kind of drizzling... Turns out he ended up driving us to Annapolis to explore City Dock a bit! I had never been to Annapolis before but it was a great beginning to all of our anticipated summer explorations! One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting a little spice store. I'd been looking for sumac so that I could make za'tar for quite some time so I was really excited when I saw that they carried the spice. There are a lot of recipes I've been wanting to make that call for za'tar, but this made the top of the list because we used to make it in college and one of my old housemates just visited and reminded me of how much I miss cooking with all of them in St. Paul! Plus, I guess it's the week of quick breads! Banana bread covers the sweet side of the spectrum and this covers the savory side:) Yummm. The sun-dried tomato and feta are perfect ingredients for summer baking!

feta, za'tar, and sun-dried tomato whole wheat quick bread

2 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons za'tar (recipe to follow)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 cups crumbled feta

2 tablespoons diced sun-dried tomatoes

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, za'tar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Combine the milk, eggs, and olive oil in a separate bowl. Whisk to combine, then add to the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the crumbled feta and diced sun-dried tomatoes and pour into prepared bread pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then remove the loaf and let cool on wire rack until ready to serve. 

za'tar

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons thyme

1 teaspoon sumac

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Just combine all ingredients in an old spice jar! You can use this for lots of Middle Eastern recipes!