So many incredible food photography shots on Sprouted Kitchen, and lots of yummy recipes to boot.  I’m in heaven this morning.

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I’ve heard of lots of different types of jams, but not violet jam.  This recipe from SouleMama has definitely peaked my interest!

Violet Jam (from SouleMama)

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I’ve never baked with rhubarb before and this recipe looks amazingly good.  Plus, it’s in season right now and I’m always trying to eat local, seasonal food (especially produce that I’ve never tried before).  So excited to also find a good (new-to-me) food blog (thanks to Southern Hostess from The Soho who left a lovely comment for me)!

Lemon Buttermilk Rhubarb Bundt Cake (via honey & jam)

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I’ve been seriously craving doughnuts lately.  Not the crusty, glazed, corn syrup-laden ones from a certain chain that’s on every corner of every street (at least in New England), but the homemade kind.  The kind you get in the fall when you go to an apple orchard (like The Big Apple, a place I’ve been going to since my childhood).  The smell of the cooked dough mixed with cinnamon and nutmeg hits you right when you walk in the door.  This recent post on 3191 Miles Apart definitely spoke to me, and my tastebuds!  I’ve tried making lots of different types of baked goods, but still haven’t tried making my own doughnuts.  That needs to change very soon…

{image shown belongs to 3191 Miles Apart}

I’ve been really trying to cut back on my bread intake lately, but every once in a while I’ve got to have some pasta.  Tonight I made a delicious and super quick pasta dish using this one as a base, and added fresh chopped broccoli, matchstick carrots, and english peas to make a pasta primavera (I also omitted the olives).  Although I always go for whole wheat, I cheated and bought some yummy organic durum bowtie pasta at Wholefoods and it was well worth it.  Check out more of these quick and easy pasta dishes on Martha.

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A few people in my family, my Gramps being the main one, are big on anything Pineapple.  I think this cake is in order for Easter this weekend, especially for him!

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake ~ Smitten Kitchen

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This roast chicken recipe from Simply Recipe looks too good to pass up!  A good roast chicken is one of my favorite dinners.  This will be on my cooking agenda for the weekend…

Keller’s Roast Chicken ~ via Simply Recipes

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I’ve been curious to try making doughnuts for some time now, and these photos are making me drool…

Cherry Blossom Doughnuts from Cannelle et Vanille

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With St. Patty’s coming up and all the Irish folk in my family, I think this recipe is in order for the weekend!

Caraway Soda Bread from Simply Recipes

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To celebrate my Mom’s recent birthday, I thought it would be nice to have a small get together with the immediate female family members and have a tea party this weekend.  Take out the fine china, make some finger sandwiches and soup, and of course have scones and desserts.  I’ve tried so many scone recipes and this one is by far, the best.

Here’s my best advice to any scone recipe… do not overmix the dough when you mix the dry and wet ingredients (or they’ll be absolutely ruined) and use your hands.  I cannot stress this enough.  It seems a little odd, but trust me in that it makes all the difference.  After so many of my attempts at scones came out horrible, I started watching videos of older women from various parts of the UK making scones and the one thing I noticed was how they mixed the wet and dry ingredients: with their hands.  This proves two points: sometimes hands are better than spatulas, and sometimes you can’t just read a recipe to really understand it.

Thank god for youtube… where else can you learn how to properly make a scone from a 65 year old woman from England at 10:30 pm in Massachusetts?

{image belongs to House of Annie}