Pickles. Honey. If someone presented you with these two ingredients, together, what would your first thoughts be?
Upon coming across this week’s food blog of the week, Pickles & Honey, I was immediately intrigued. Is she combining these two ingredients in every recipe she makes? Is it more like an over-arching theme representing the combination of sweet and sour and salty in different recipes? Is it completely irrelevant from the blog content at all? I read on.
Pickles & Honey, a blog written by a woman named Amanda Maguire living just outside the Boston area, is not exactly about the different ways to combine pickles and honey in multiple recipes and see what people think of them. Instead, pickles and honey are the names of two dogs, one being hers and one her parents’. While these can seem irrelevant to the nature of the blog, it makes perfect sense. She has a passion for these (very adorable) animals in her life just as she has a passion for crafting healthy food and contributing to a community of food lovers just like her.
While all of the recipes are either vegetarian or vegan, I found that as I was reading through the recipes and checking out the beautiful photos, I was caring less and less about the fact that every recipe was meatless. More often than not, I find myself coming across vegan and vegetarian cooking blogs and not even noticing that the recipes are meatless until I am shopping for the ingredients and have yet to pick up any beef or chicken. The blog also shares a fair amount of baking recipes which I found to be pretty remarkable. Sweet Potato Donuts with Cinnamon Sugar, anyone? The answer is undoubtedly yes.
Even as a vegetarian/vegan blog, Pickles & Honey really does offer something for any meal of the day. For breakfast lovers, try her Vegan Pancakes or her gluten-free Orange Scones. For a more savory treat for lunch or dinner, whip up a Tofu Eggless Sandwich, a bowl of her Asian-inspired Noodle Soup, or Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup. There's even a snacks section! My recommendation: Vanilla Ginger Snack Bites.
My favorite section of Pickles & Honey may have to be the appetizer section, mostly because I find that the recipes are so simple to make and delicious that I would probably make a few of them as one main course. Check out her recipe for Mango Avocado Salsa, Baked Barbeque Chickpeas, and Hummus with Smoked Paprika and Capers. I also love the Vegan Caprese Salad, which uses avocado instead of cheese to replace that creamy saltiness in the mozzarella. A perfect summertime dinner in the backyard, without having to fire up the grill.
The desserts on Pickles & Honey may be vegan as well, but are certainly meant for those of us who have a sweet tooth but maybe don’t want to indulge in anything too over the top. A recipe for Quick and Easy Fruit Sorbet is great for entertaining guests at a backyard summer picnic, as is the recipe for Watermelon Margarita Italian Ice. As a bit of a sweet tooth myself, I instantly fell for her recipe for Over-sized, Double-stuffed, Chocolate-Dipped Oreos.
I loved every recipe on Pickles & Honey and I hope you will too. Have any food blogs that you love? Let us know what they are in the comments section below!
Comments
ney
Sara - you just made my week. Thank you for the lovely article! I'm so honored and happy to hear that you enjoy my recipes. Those homemade oreos, in particular, will tame even the strongest sweet tooth. I speak from personal experience on that one. :)
Aug 05, 2012 at 2:50 PM
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