Melissa

artichoke bruschetta

~ artichoke bruschetta ~ Here’s a little something I invented awhile back. It’s a salad, it’s an appetizer…it’s delicious! 2 (6 oz) jars marinated artichoke hearts, chopped and undrained 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 1/4 cup red onion, chopped fine 1/3 cup sweet bell pepper in assorted…

tomato bisque ~ two ways

~ Tearoom Tomato Basil Bisque ~ We LOVE tomato soup in our house. As the beginning of a meal or to dip gooey grilled cheese sandwiches into, it’s one of our favorites. Above is my riff on the tomato basil bisque we use to serve at “The Tale of Two Sisters Tearoom” here in Red…

citrus spatchcock chicken

photograph by Jeffrey Placzek ~ spatchcock chicken ~ My friend Shelly introduced me to the idea of cooking a “spatchcock” or “butterflied” chicken at home. This method of cooking a chicken is so amazing, I’m quite sure we’ll never go back to the old way of roasting a chicken again. The poultry cooks more evenly…

chocolate truffles

~ peppermint ~ ~ orange ~ ~ coconut ~ ~ cayenne ~ Hello my lovelies! Here is the 7th surprise in the “Week of Valentine Treats” line up. I hope you’ve enjoyed the romantic posts this year. I made up a batch of these delicious, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate mousse truffles. These little yummies would make a…

the art of crystallizing flowers at home by karen toocheck

  I would like to welcome my friend and talented flower artist, Karen Toocheck, to ChinDeep today for a very special Valentine’s post! She is the proprietor of a wonderful business called The Crystallized Flower Company located in Willoughby Ohio and has generously agreed to share some of the magic and wisdom that goes into…

nelson creamery

Today we took a leisurely Sunday drive over the bridge into Wisconsin. The Great River Road meanders along the Mississippi river and Lake Pepin through these sweet, quaint villages that remind me of vacations we’ve taken to Door County Wisconsin and Cape Cod Massachusetts. These are places we visit over and over again and they…

five passionate cookbooks & a romantic recipe for breakfast in bed

Valentine Treat #5… My favorite passionate cookbooks! The Passionate Palate by  Desiree Witkowski Aphrodite by Isabel Allende Intercourses by Martha Hopkins & Randall Lockridge The Erotic Baker Cookbook by Karen Dwyer & Patrika Brown Romancing the Ordinary by Sarah Ban Breathnach Stay-in-Bed Fruit and Wine Omelet recipe adapted  from the beautiful book… The Passionate Palate…

valentine traditions & time capsule

My hubby is a romantic, no doubt about it. I love this idea he came up with as part of my Valentine’s gift back in 2001. We had been married for 6 years at that point, and were spending our second Valentine’s day in our Victorian cottage here in Red Wing Minnesota. I love the…

six senses saturday

seeing :: these photos from my date with Jeff  “in the night kitchen.” We had so much fun sipping wine, listening to music and making pasta! hearing :: still listening to Florence + The Machine (the new MP3 download of Ceremonials…and THIS SONG, from Between Two Lungs, which I am hopelessly in love with.) some…

rose ylang ylang massage oil

~ rose ylang ylang massage oil ~ “All thoughts, all passions, all delights, whatever stirs this mortal frame, are all but ministers of love, and feed his sacred flame.” ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge Did you know that I wrote a “home spa” book? Yup. I did. It’s called Chin Deep in Bubbles and on pages 35…