Hazelnut-Dark Chocolate Shortbread Sticks

 This recipe is actually a throw-back to my Christmas baking but I never got around to posting it, and luckily it's not a flavor that is strongly tied to any holidays. The combination of crunchy shortbread made with hazelnuts and a coating of dark chocolate on the outside provides the perfect vehicle for dunking in your morning coffee, tea or munching on them sans beverage.

Perfect Spring Sandwich, or Salad

This post is a bit belated, but with several oral surgeries in the last few months between my boyfriend and myself, most of the food currently happening has been of the mushy-soft texture. In addition to lots of dental work, I just finished up my last shift in the burn unit one week ago. Not only does this mean that I'm 110 days away from graduation (!!), but also that my next rotation will determine the jobs I'm eligible to apply for next year. Most importantly, whether or not I get a pediatric rotation determines if I'm able to apply for pediatric nursing jobs, which is what I've always known I want to be. Even people who don't know me well realize very quickly that I belong in pediatrics, and if an adorable baby is around, that 'very quickly' turns into a few microseconds. Wrapping up my time in the burn unit was bittersweet. I learned SO MUCH in just 125 hours, it's really incredible to think back to January and where my skills and comfort level was and how far I've come. The things I saw and treated in the burn unit don't lend themselves well to a food blog, so I'll leave you with one of the best moments I've had thus far in my nursing career.

About a month ago, I had an evening shift with three very emotionally taxing patients, the kind of night that ends with a lot of tears, chocolate and wine. But a week later, one of those patients, a young adolescent, was having their last shower/wound check before being discharged to go home. As I stopped to say hi and see how she was, her mom asked to take a picture of her daughter with me, thanking me for caring for her daughter and their family during such a hard time. Taking the picture with my patient and talking with her and her mom was easily one of those crystalizing moments of 'yep, this is exactly where I belong', which is unbelievably exciting to experience and very important to hold on to when school's taking everything I've got.

Sorry for the long divergence, but this is supposed to be a food + nursing school blog, and I really wanted to share that with whoever is reading out there. Alright, so back to awesome food! The recipe for this sandwich came from TastingTables email updates, and it combines some of my favorite spring ingredients into a delicious Mediterranean-style sandwich. The eggplant and artichokes form the basis of the filling, and are a filling-enough combination that nobody left feeling hungry or wishing there'd been meat on the sandwich. The sun-dried tomatoes add a little bit of a sweet, olive-y taste, which is well matched by the mild pepperoncini spice and the tart Feta cheese. Sandwich all that between a thick, crusty loaf of sourdough bread with some hummus schmeared on it and you've got one impressive entrée.

Vertical Pear Walnut & Gorgonzola Salad

Winter, you have very much overstayed your welcome! Three weeks ago, I spend over an hour digging my car out from shoulder-high snow drifts and two weeks ago I got to celebrate my 25th birthday with a little frostbite, thanks to the -15º temperatures (not windchill, but temperatures!). In past years, once my birthday has come and gone, I'm about done with February and winter in general, but this year I had to stick with winter at least week longer for Valentine's Day. Previous Valentine's Days were observed with eating chocolate, drinking wine and watching Blade:Trinity with my girlfriends, but being in a new relationship meant this was the year to actually embrace the gooey-ness of the day. Being only a week after my birthday, for which I was spoiled for an entire week, I decided to tackle the V-day plans with a go big or go home attitude!

Now, of course I wouldn't be content with either making reservations at a restaurant or cooking up some heart-shaped mac-n-cheese. Nope, after a few weeks of searching through recipes and every romantic menu I could find on a food-related website, I finally nailed down my menu the morning of: this salad, steak and salmon with roasted potatoes and a raspberry-chocolate truffle tart. Cue panic! After an amusing trip to the grocery store (lots of frantic and confused looking guys wandering around with what was left of the chocolate and roses selection), I spent the afternoon spinning around my kitchen like a crazy person. Luckily everything turned out well and dinner went off without too much of a problem, save for a dessert that was delicious but managed to be an aesthetic mess! This salad, however, was definitely the most impressive looking of the courses.

Cheddar-Jalapeño-(Bacon) Cornbread Muffins

Hey, it's been a whole year since this little blog came into being! Easily one of the crazier years of my life, but I've enjoyed cooking my way through it and sharing that with anyone kind enough to stop by and read the recipes. So a big thanks to anyone reading this, as there isn't much of a point without an audience :) Now, back to cooking!

These muffins were originally conceived for the Iowa-Penn State tailgate, to go along with a very formidable batch of venison chili. While my first attempt at these had several major problems, I made them again for a dinner party a few weeks ago and they were very well received. I split the batch into two halves, one that included bacon and one without for the vegetarians in attendance.

Irish Cream Hazelnut Fudge

Being that it's January 2nd, I realize that posting my Christmastime baking recipes, most of which require sugar, butter, cream and all manner of deliciously bad things, may not be going over so well with some New Years resolutions. Well... this one isn't going to be any different, but I will get back to making food that doesn't require a lot of gym time soon!

There are always a few staples that I look forward to having each year during the Christmas baking season. The peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses, frosted sugar cookies in various shapes, rum balls, Buckeyes, and fudge! Fudge is by far my favorite 'find' every year, because it was the one thing I've never been able to make, so it was always a welcome treat when someone else brought it to parties. Fudge is also a favorite because it's so versatile -- there are as many flavors of fudge as there are bakers to make them. And because fudge is usually so intense that only little pieces are a good idea, I usually manage to sample a large number of options.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Surprise Cookies

As I'm sure is very apparent by now, I'm a big fan of chocolate. 'Big fan' may be a gross understatement, but I'm reasonably certain it's in my DNA... in fact, whenever someone in my family is jonesing for some chocolate, we're often lovingly teased that our Hellman-side is showing. Obviously it's not shocking at a woman is down with chocolate, but even more than just straight chocolate, I think the person who first decided to combine chocolate and peanut butter should be given as many accolades as possible. It's a magical combination!

Chocolate-Candy Cane Cookies

Hello! I know I promised lots of recipes over Thanksgiving, but somehow that week moved very fast and by the next time I had a second to look up and breathe, final were done. Crazy! I'm now just under 7 months away from graduating, which is very exciting. But you're not really reading this to hear about my adventures in nursing, you're here for delicious recipes, so I'll get to it.

I spent the entire first week of my break baking and going to dinner parties... rough life, I know :) I discovered these cookies last year when I first started procrastinating for school by looking at cooking websites and blogs, and they've been a huge hit. The chocolate cookies aren't so sweet that they're cloying or make your teeth hurt, and the peppermint frosting adds a punch of sweet. Plus, it's like a dessert breath mint!