Posts Tagged ‘SQIRL Jam’

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread

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Happy New Year friends! If you follow me on Instagram (@lydiahowerton) you’re probably curious about the recipe for this bread. Developed from a Paleo Bread recipe that I adapted many times until this creation was born, this bread is Gluten free, low carb, has no refined sugar, no dairy and it’s Paleo and Yeast-free diet friendly (if you use only almond butter and no banana). This is the IDEAL breakfast bread, all the fat and protein from the nuts and eggs keeps you full and satisfied much longer than regular toast.

Peanut Butter Bread Batter with Fresh Berries

I stud the nut butter batter with jewels: ruby raspberries and sapphire blueberries. Be sure to gently press them into the batter until they’re covered, so they don’t get crushed or all float to the top.

PB&J bread

Who knew that eggs and nut butter can bake up into a fluffy, spongy bread?

 

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread

Whole berries baked inside. This bread is really best toasted and if your diet/lifestyle choice allows you than spread some Sqirl Blackberry+Meyer Lemon Jam on top.

Peanut Butter & Jelly Bread Recipe
makes one large loaf pan or 3 mini loafs

Ingredients
Grapeseed or Coconut Oil for greasing the pan
1/2 cup organic creamy almond butter
1 cup organic creamy peanut butter
1 ripe banana, well mashed (optional)
5 organic free range eggs
3 tablespoons agave syrup or honey (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 Teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice
1/2 cup organic blueberries, washed
1/2 cup organic raspberries, washed

Instructions
Lightly grease a loaf pan with oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except for berries until well combined and pour into baking pan or pans. Evenly distribute the berries over the top of the loaf and gently press them into the batter until covered. Bake at 350 for 30 mins and check it with a knife or toothpick to make sure the center is cooked (knife should come out pretty clean). Some ovens will require the bread to bake longer. Just don’t overcook or it will be dry. Allow to cool 10 mins in the pan and then run a knife around the loaf to release it from the pan. Allow to cool and then enjoy (best when toasted!) Wrap the loaf well in plastic  and it will keep for 5 days on the counter or in the fridge.

xo,

Lydia

Meatless Monday: Toast with Almond Butter and Fresh Fruit

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Sarah and I have many things in common but our love of toasted bread spread with nut butter and topped with thin slices of fresh fruit is one worth sharing with y’all. Sarah has a cute story that she would pack such a sandwich as her lunch in Grad school and her fellow students would marvel at the concept of the fresh fruit version of PB&J. When we first met we admitted to eating close to a jar of peanut butter a week in this fashion but in an effort to be healthier I have switched to almond butter (most of the time.)

Toast with Almond Butter and Fruit

 This is my go to healthy breakfast or afternoon snack, in fact  I’m getting almond butter on my computer as I write this post before I rush off to work.

Toast with Almond Butter and Fruit

When fresh fruit can not be procured in the wee hours of the morning, SQIRL Jam is an excellent substitution (Kumquat Marmalade pictured above.) Below is all my favorite brands if you want to try this “recipe”. I use Gluten Free bread because that is the bread we keep in our house and I just don’t miss the gluten in this instance.

Toast with Almond Butter and Fresh Fruit

2 slices whole wheat bread (I like Udi’s Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread)

2 tablespoons Almond Butter (I like raw, creamy, unsalted almond butters)

Fresh fruit thinly sliced (strawberries, banana, nectarine, peach, plum, apple, pear or just a pile of berries)

 

Hope you love it too!

Lydia

 

 

SQIRL Jams in the LA Times

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Sqirl Jam

Jam lovers get on board!  The LA Times has caught on to the wonder that is A & O pal Jessica Koslow and her gorgeous Sqirl jams, jellies and marmalades.  Here’s Sqirl’s MO straight from Jessica herself:

Sqirl subscribes to the philosophy that as far as fruit preservation goes, nothing beats tradition. Our jams, jellies and marmalades are made with produce from family-owned farms that practice sustainable, certified organic methods that are in close proximity (no more than 200 miles) to our kitchen in Los Angeles, California.

Shall we discuss flavors?   How about Santa Rosa plums with Sorrento lemon juice and wild flowering thyme?  Or Mudcreek Ranch pineapple quince with rosewater?  Or maybe a dollop of seascape strawberries with rose geranium?  Not much beats a ripe strawberry, but seascape strawberries just sound, well, like strawberry magnified to a degree I have yet to experience.   I’m putting that one on my Christmas list.

What makes Sqirl extraordinary is that Jessica uses traditional means to honor California farmers, showcasing their bounty in a combo of flavors most of us would never dream of.  I, for one, have no idea what rose geranium tastes or smells like, but based on my previous Sqirl tastings, I know the flavor will make perfect sense in a totally unexpected way.  Though short overall, the ingredient lists are long on names of farms because Sqirl is the quintessential California product: a home-grown collaboration warmed by many suns into something unfussy and naturally vibrant.

The LA Times has it right.  Who wouldn’t want to find a spoonful of California in their stocking?

xoxosl

Strawberry Morning Muffins

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No muffin left behind is my motto these days. I’m really in love with muffins. Currently my favorite is our Strawberry Morning Muffins from last week’s Easter Brunch. Fresh chunks of strawberries nestled in a sweet vanilla batter with an extra crunchy top due to the late addition of the sugar in this recipe.

 

Strawberry Morning Muffins

 

These were so amazing that the day we shot the brunch Sarah and I snacked on the mini versions throughout the day (which is why there are no pictures of them). Then I went to a wine night with some girlfriends and came home and ate 1 large muffin and the 7 remaining minis while I recapped the night for Drew. So take it from me this is a great recipe.

 

strawberry muffin batter

 

Strawberry Morning Muffins
Adapted from Ina Garten’s Tri-Berry Muffin recipe
Makes 16 regular and 30 mini muffins

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1-¼ cups milk
2 extra-large eggs, lightly beaten
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
zest of ½ lemon
2 cups fresh strawberries, diced
1-½ cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Stir with your hand to be sure the ingredients are combined. In another bowl, combine the milk, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and lemon zest. Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture, pour the wet mixture into the well, and stir until just combined. There will be some lumps but don’t overmix the batter! Add the strawberries, and sugar and stir gently to combine.

Using a 2¼-inch ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into the muffin cups to fill the liners. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean and the tops are nicely browned, about 18-20 minutes for the mini and 20-22 minutes for the regular muffins.

Best enjoyed at room temp with salted butter and SQIRL Moro blood orange+Campari jelly.

 

Strawberry Muffin and Jam

 

xo,

LEH

Easter Brunch Decor

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Happy Friday, loves.

Our latest contribution to The Daily Meal went live yesterday and features our ideal Easter brunch which includes tangerine mimosas, strawberry morning muffins with SQIRL jam and a deconstructed salade Niçoise with poached salmon. We’ll have more details on the menu and recipes for you next week, but here’s how we thought out the space.

The picture above is of the buffet table on which we set out all of the elements of the salad separately so our friends could build their own plates.

 

We kept the look clean, light and interesting by mixing serving dishes in our favorite materials- glass, wood and white or gently-hued ceramics- in different shapes, sizes and heights.  Building up on a buffet table makes the spread more abundant by allowing you to squeeze in more food and the layering effect adds enough visual interest to banish the buffet blahs.  You can’t help but want to investigate the unexpected mix of materials and heights.

Don’t you love the truffled deviled eggs lined up in two straight rows? Lydia modeled them after Madeline and her friends!

 

I still love finding Easter eggs, so we made it easy on our pals by using eggs as place cards.  We found these speckled shells in varying shades of brown and yellow at a local craft store, but you can also hardboil some pretty eggs from the market and mark them accordingly.  Linen napkins and ramekins in robin’s egg blue complete the look.

 

For the center of the table, we re-potted store-bought wheat grass into narrow glass containers to reveal the layers of soil and sprouts.  We then “planted” ranunculus in Easter shades for a fresh Pop art look.

Jordan almonds in blue, white, pink and yellow added color to the natural linen table runner.

Vintage French flatware and glass coupes for fresh tangerine and prosecco mimosas finish our Easter table.

Are you hosting an Easter event?  How will you decorate?

Have a wonderful weekend!

xoxosl