I’m going to try really hard not to use superlatives on this blog. In no way do I think I make “The Best” or “World’s Most Delicious” of anything. I share things that I REALLY like (and I think you will too!), but I’m sure someone out there can do it better than I can. I need one exception to this rule, though. These peanut butter bars. They have got to be the exception because they are THE BEST I have ever had. The Ultimate. And I’ve tried a lot of peanut butter bars because I’m the kind of girl that eats peanut butter by the spoonful and considers it a perfectly normal afternoon snack. I don’t crave many things, but I do crave good peanut butter bars. And these right here… the best ones I’ve tried.
Mother’s Day is tomorrow. I wrote about my grandma and her sage advice along with some strawberry rhubarb galettes last time. Today, these cookies are for my mom. She loves lemon, hates chocolate, and is always looking for a good cookie recipe. These fit squarely into all three categories. Prior to these beauties, I’d never had a traditional Italian lemon ricotta cookie. After comparing some recipes from a few notable Italians who probably know what they’re doing (Giada and someone at the New York Times’s Italian grandma) and a few trial-and-errors of my own, I settled on these.
This weekend is Mother’s Day. My first, in fact. Which is exciting because I love being a mom. Truly, I do. I love that we dedicate a day to celebrating motherhood. For this Mother’s Day, I wanted to do something a little different.
What you’re looking at right here is a Plan B. Not that there’s anything wrong with a Plan B, it’s just not a Plan A. Plan A was going to be BEA-U-TI-FUL!! It was going to be delicate and pastel-colored and bursting with so much Easter cheer that you just couldn’t help but take the giant project on of actually producing one yourself. Giant project yes, and also a giant flop. Sigh… So I had to come up with a Plan B. While I was cleaning up the also giant mess of Plan A, I could only think of one thing – SIMPLIFY.
Yeah sure, the goal for Plan A was to break Instagram with the millions of likes I would get (ha!), but I’m not sure anyone would realistically make Plan A. I probably wouldn’t. So here’s Plan B. It’s delicate and delicious, has a pop of color, and is, most importantly, simplified. You could make this. Easily. I promise.
Hello and welcome to From Her Kitchen! I’ve read numerous first posts on numerous other food blogs, and it feels a bit surreal to actually be writing my own. This post is most definitely going to end in some delicious cookies, so stick around while I put myself out there for a little bit first. They’re worth it, I promise.
First things first – I’m Jillian. Full-time mom, Registered Dietitian, avid home cook, food blog stalker, and lover of all things Disneyland. I’ve loved food and cooking since I was young. Most kids came home from school and watched Hey Arnold or That’s So Raven. Not me. I watched the Food Network. I wanted to be a chef for a while but decided that being a really great home cook would be even better.
My first (and still favorite!) food blog to discover was Smitten Kitchen. I don’t know Deb personally, but I feel like I do. She’s good. Really good. After I binge read every post she had written up to that point (clear back in 2009), I worked my way through a few other blogs. I was hooked and still am. I sincerely believe that anyone can learn to cook really well from the internet thanks to some seriously amazing food blogs that are out there.
So why am I here? Why did I finally decide to throw my hat into the blogging arena? A couple things…
Mostly I need this blog. I’m a new mom, which I truly love, but I NEEDED something else. I needed a creative outlet like crazy. I’ve been considering starting a blog of my own for ages but then all the doubts set in – I have no clue how to start, I have nothing new to contribute to the blog world, food photography… YIKES, nobody is going to read it, etc. etc. etc. These doubts are mostly still there but here we go anyway!
