I had so much fun at the Locavore Market! It was great to meet so many other locavores. Plus, it always warms my heart to see people enjoy something I've made and I sure got plenty of smiles and oohs and ahhhs at the market.

I was actually surprised that my pralines weren't the biggest seller. Top honors went to the pecan macarons, which actually sold out. Another big shocker was everyone's praline preference. I made two different batches: one with butter I made myself from Kleinpeter heavy whipping cream and the other with Kleinpeter salted butter. I was very much opposed to the flavor of the salted ones because they just didn't taste right to me, but my mom convinced me to bring them anyway and let people taste both and decide themselves. Taste testers overwhelmingly liked the salted ones better. Go figure.

Anyway, here is another sweet treat I made for the market that can be locally sourced. It's easy enough to make, but if you don't have any experience making candies the hardest part is making sure you've cooked it long enough. This recipe said about 15 minutes but I found it was closer to 20 before the mixture had boiled down enough to make a nice chewy caramel, otherwise you just get something that would be better as a warm ice cream sundae topping (of which I now have a jar-full of!) rather than stand alone as a candy.

So if you didn't know, June 21 is National Peaches and Cream Day. Yes there is this big list of food related national [insert delicious food] days. For the breakdown, check out this list of American Food Holidays. Coming from New Orleans, where we'll use pretty much any excuse to have a party, festival or just good eats...it sounds like a good enough reason to me to celebrate. 

I did a little google search and looked at a few different recipes and finally found my inspiration in this recipe from What's Cooking America. But what's a celebration in Nola without booze? Not a celebration at all...so I made a few modifications.

I also foolishly thought that it would be nice to make it into individual serving sizes, but in reality it just made me feel guilty picking up the second one, which I inhaled as quickly as the first... I'd say it probably works in the ramekins like I did just as well as the original single baking dish.

I know I probably say this all the time, but it's mostly because I only share the good recipes with you....so here it is, this is totally one of my new favorite recipes. The rum flavor hit the spot! If you've got some fresh juicy peaches laying around, I promise you won't regret diving into this recipe.

So we had a swap meet for all the locavores to barter or sell any specialty items they might have growing in their yards. I was hoping my bananas and grapes would be ripe in time, but it's been so hot and dry in New Orleans they just aren't quite ready.

Then I realized there would be a need for sugary sweets--if I'm having a hard time coming up with goodies for myself, then the not so baking inclined probably aren't having much luck either. I made some pralines, pecan macarons and some caramels too, which I'll hopefully post soon.

Canillas de leche are a Guatemalan candy that I usually only get to enjoy when my aunt comes back from Guatemala with her stash of specialty candies. I'm pretty excited my mom and I thought about them when I was brainstorming things I could make--she's uber excited that I know how to make them now, which actually could be very dangerous. I'd say they're like a Guatemalan fudge.

Anyway, hope you like them, and special shout out to Ms. Gamble for helping me translate the recipe. FYI, only do this when you're up for the workout and have a good two hours of mostly undivided time to spare. I didn't make these for the swap because they just take too long to make, but if you have the time they are well worth the effort.

I really have no business walking into a bookstore--or really any brick and mortar store for that matter. I have a compulsion. If I could just stay away, actually sticking to my monthly budget would be soooo much easier. See when it comes to online shopping, the VAST majority of items I add to my shopping cart never actually get purchased. When it's just a pretty picture, I can usually remind myself that I don't actually need this. When it is actually in my hand in the store and there is the instant gratification of going home with it and using it right away, well then duh! I must have it.

Anyway, I made the mistake of actually venturing out of the kitchen and into multiple stores a couple weekends ago, and I have the credit card bill to go with said mistake. The upside is that I finally treated myself to David Lebovitz's latest cookbook, Ready for Dessert: My Best Recipes. And of course the first thing I tried were the brownies because they just looked so good...and they are! Just the perfect combination of crusty outside and ooey gooey rich chocolatey goodness with the delicious crunch of nuts... I can't wait until June is over so I can treat myself to these bad boys again.

According to Lebovitz, don't skimp on the "stir energetically for 1 full minute" step because this is where the magic happens! Hope you enjoy.

So our anniversary was last week. It makes me think about our very awesome wedding. (For a run down of some of the awesomeness, check out the post on Offbeat bride.) It also gets me reminiscing about our honeymoon in Paris. God knows when we'll have the money to go back, but I'm so glad we at least got to go once in our lives.


At the same time, I've been trying to brainstorm what kinds of goodies I'll be able to make this month since I decided to join Nola Locavore's Eat Local Challenge. Thank god Louisiana grows sugar, because otherwise I think I'd be SOL. I'm having a hard enough time trying to go without wheat flour, baking soda or baking powder--don't even get me started on the no chocolate.

YES, that's right. I'm a foodie baker and I willingly and happily joined the challenge because I figured it would be interesting and educational---pah! Sometimes I jump in feet first and kind of forget about the little details, because I've made it through a week and it has been freaking hard. BUT it has been really educational. The crumby husband on the other hand....again is filing this away as one of the many reasons he thinks I'm insane. If you want more deets on what I'm cooking or what I'm up to in general, check out my personal blog, Magic Stixx.

Anyway, this is hopefully just the first in a month's worth of delicious locavore sweets. With my mind on Paris and locavore foods, I took Martha Stewart's recipe and modified it with pecans for a New Orleans twist. I used a french buttercream filling so I could use the leftover egg yolks, but I had a bit left over...use it as you see fit. Under non-locavore circumstances, I think a chocolate ganache filling would pair nicely with these.