DIY kitchen series: flavored salts

I am a huge fan of finishing salts - truthfully I love any unique salt. Salt can bring out the best in a dish, elevating the flavors to the next level. I have a home arsenal of salts - they have their own dedicated shelf in the spice cabinet. Gourmet salts can be a bit pricey, I thought it was about time that I start making my own. Not only are they super easy, making your own gourmet salts is economical and allows you to experiment with different flavor combos that are unique.

Welcome to number 2 in the DIY series: make your own flavored salts.

If you missed last week- check out the first in the series here!

bitter & sweet asian salad ~ at vegan richa

Richa  from the Vegan Richa fame is one of the most inspiring ,compassionate & strong Ladies I know. Not only is her personal story and life journey inspiring, when she's in the kitchen that is really where the magic happens - Richa turns out the most creative and inspiring recipes I have ever come across on the blogosphere. I am honored to share with you a dish that so very much reminds me of Richa, bright, happy, definitely not bitter despite the name but definitely sweet.

Thank you Richa for sharing your space with me today and for being such an amazing friend and beautiful person. The world is so very lucky to have you.

Join me over at Vegan Richa to check out this Recipe along with Richa's amazing Blog!

carrot cake

I absolutely adore Carrot Cake, so does Justin. This post is a little late considering Easter was a couple weeks back. I have never been that organized of a blogger to pull together a week's worth of themed treats just before a holiday. Another reason you see many holiday posts after the actual holiday is I like to enjoy all my "themed" treats on the holiday, not weeks before. So a day late and a dollar short I present to you my contribution to the Easter Dessert Table - really though, do you need Easter as an excuse to make this cake? I didn't think so - Carrot Cake, in my book is an anytime cake to bake.

DIY kitchen series: homemade vanilla extract

Making homemade vanilla extract has been on my to do list for ages. I love the idea of homemade extracts, salts, mustard's, drink mixes. My problem isn't bookmarking an idea, it  is finding the motivation to actually start the project - I have had all the necessary supplies to make vanilla extract for month's; minus the vodka...but it sat, and sat and then sat some more- that's when the idea of a DIY kitchen series came to mind. Sharing these ideas and projects with you would give me the motivation to complete some pretty neat kitchen DIY's. I hope you enjoy this series - let me know if there is a DIY you would like to see a post on!

Welcome to the very first post in the series: Homemade Vanilla Extract- and it couldn't be simpler.