A Red, A White, and A Blue Dessert For 4th Of July!

When trying to come up with the perfect "Red, White, and Blue" recipe, I kept falling back on some of my old favorites. Thanks to the freedom given to us by our forefathers, it's my blog and I can do whatever I want. Therefore... you're getting 3 different recipes! A "red" one, thanks to the fresh strawberries in the recipe... a "white" one made with yummy coconut chips... and a BLUEberry one!



Here is one of my favorite summertime recipes. It brings together the freshness of strawberries and the induglence of cheesecake without the drama of all those calories. Bonus, it whips up in minutes, so you won't miss that valuable time in the sun!

Fresh Blueberry Bars

I stumbled into this recipe after having an abundance of blueberries from the farmer's market and a surprise delivery from Duchy Originals. I thought to myself, "Kasey, you're not the best baker in the world... it's time to step up your game!". So I did! Let me know what you think.

Ingredients

For Filling:

2 cups of blueberries

1 cup of white sugar

cornstarch

For Crust:

2 1/4 c flour, sifted

1 stick of butter, room temp

1/2 c white sugar

1 tsp sea salt

1tbsp lemon zest

For Crumb Topping:

2 tbsp butter

1 package Duchy Originals Lemon All Butter Shortbread 

2 tbsp brown sugar

BLD and National Pancake Week

 

As some of you know, I’m a newbie to Los Angeles therefore there are hundreds of places I’m told I have to try. One place in particular that my friends have been raving about is BLD on Beverly Drive. I had heard it was the best Brunch in all of L.A. and so far, they were right! 

My experience at BLD was fantastic. We were promptly seated by a welcoming host and instantly felt the low-key, local feel of the place. Since I was dining with some BLD vets, they suggested a few menu items and then asked our server Matthew if we had missed any “must haves”. 

We started off with fresh squeezed OJ and a chocolate croissant then moved on to a parade of food that drew cautious looks from the other diners. Yes folks, this is all for us. 

We ordered everything from savory to sweet including the Ode to Butterfield’s, a flat iron steak Benedict with Cabernet Sauvignon Hollandaise and Spanish Chorizo Homefries [to die for], the Three Bean Huevos Rancheros which had some of the tastiest beans I’ve ever had, a Nutella & Banana Crepe which was cooked just right and last, but certainly not least… the Ricotta Bluberry Pancakes.  Click here for all the pictures!

Since the pancakes are the star here, let me fill you in on all the yummy details.  We were able to get the inside scoop from BLD’s Manager, Nina. The secret to the pancakes is not only the fresh ricotta cheese that is whipped into the batter, but they also whip in extra egg whites to make the pancakes as fluffy as possible. As if this short-stack could get any sweeter, a toasty log cabin filled with REAL warm maple syrup and whipped butter.

Needless to say, with all that food, our wonderful experience was bagged up for us to enjoy throughout the rest of the week!

Go check out BLD for yourself and don’t leave without sinking your teeth into those amazing pancakes! What better time to try brunch at BLD than Pancake Week! That’s right, you heard me. February 10^th-16^th is National Pancake Week!