real talk. it is freaking cold outside. most of the country is being drenched by winter rain at the moment and socal is no exception. it's been raining buckets all day, and i feel like i'm battling a cold so i need a bit of a pick me up. a warming, kick in the pants kind of pick me up. and i know the perfect thing...

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.

while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it. 

using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.

take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.

once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.

place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. 

stir well to combine.

add your clove studded twist to the mug. 

pour in the lemon juice and whiskey.

stir well to combine.

serve hot.

xo, a

hot toddy
serves: 1 cocktail
prep time: 5 minutes
active time: 2 minutes
total time: 7 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 oz rye whiskey (you can sub whatever whiskey you like or have on hand). juice of .5 lemon. 1 tsp brown sugar. 5 cloves. lemon twist. 2 cups hot water.
while your water is heating, make your twist. as soon as you have hot water, place 1 cup of water into your mug to warm it.
using a vegetable peeler, peel the lemon not top to bottom, but around the outside of the lemon making a curl. try to keep just a bit of the pith on the peel. curl it up with your fingers and it will hold.
take your lemon twist and poke the cloves into it.
once your twist is made and pricked by cloves, dump out the water warming the mug.
place the brown sugar in the bottom of the mug and pour the remaining cup of water into the mug. stir well to combine.
add your clove studded twist to the mug. pour in the lemon juice and whiskey. stir well to combine.
serve hot. 

these days, i'm hitting some sort of food store at least seven times in a week. some days, i'm in four or five stores. and at a certain point, it all starts to blur together. so a trip to the farmer's market is always a welcome treat. 

i'm always on the hunt for new food to play with. when i was in barcelona years ago, i remember their large outdoor market being filled to the brim with these dragon fruit. it was really early on in my foodie journey and i had no clue what to do with them. 

fast forward five years to the irvine farmer's market and this little guy. 

but of course, i've never actually used dragon fruit so it took a week of staring at it on my counter before i came up with something good. i needed something to really display the beauty of the fruit. enter deliciously simple cheesecake. together they make the perfect pair. 

dragon fruit cheesecake
serves: 10-12
prep time: 10 minutes
bake time : 45 minutes
total time: 55 minutes
ingredients: 1 dragon fruit. 1 cup all purpose flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans. .5 cup butter, melted (1 stick). .25 cup packed brown sugar. 1 lb cream cheese (2 8oz packages). 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla. parchment paper. spring form baking pan.

start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. line the bottom of your spring form pan with a round piece of parchment paper. 

in a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans and butter. mix it together until it forms a loose ball. 

place the crust into the spring form pan and spread it along the bottom and about an inch up the side.

poke the crust with a fork and bake it off until lightly golden. about 15 minutes. 

while the crust is baking, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. mix on a medium speed until creamed together. 

with the mixer on a low speed, add in one egg at a time and then the vanilla. when everything is combined, turn off the mixer.
press all the ingredients down the sides of the bowl, and then mix again until well combined and smooth.

reserve about .25 cups of your cheesecake filling.

half your passion fruit and scoop out the flesh. place it in a blender and puree.

combine the dragon fruit and cream cheese filling in a small bowl. 

too small... 

our your filling into the baked crust. use your dragon fruit cream cheese filling to create your desired pattern. i used a spoon to place 1 inch sized drops around the cake and then used a toothpick to create hearts by swiping the pick through the middle of the circle. when you have your desired design. bake the cake till set, about 30-35 minutes. you will know it is done when the center no longer jiggles. 

allow the cake to cool to room temperature and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve. 

xo, a

dragon fruit cheesecake
serves: 10-12
prep time: 10 minutes
bake time : 45 minutes
total time: 55 minutes
ingredients: 1 dragon fruit. 1 cup all purpose flour. 1 cup finely chopped pecans. .5 cup butter, melted (1 stick). .25 cup packed brown sugar. 1 lb cream cheese (2 8oz packages). 1 cup sugar. 3 eggs. 1 tsp vanilla. parchment paper. spring form baking pan.
start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. line the bottom of your spring form pan with a round piece of parchment paper.
in a medium bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, pecans and butter. mix it together until it forms a loose ball.
place the crust into the spring form pan and spread it along the bottom and about an inch up the side.
poke the crust with a fork and bake it off until lightly golden. about 15 minutes.
while the crust is baking, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. mix on a medium speed until creamed together.
with the mixer on a low speed, add in one egg at a time and then the vanilla. when everything is combined, turn off the mixer.
press all the ingredients down the sides of the bowl, and then mix again until well combined and smooth.
reserve about .25 cups of your cheesecake filling. half your passion fruit and scoop out the flesh. place it in a blender and puree. combine the dragon fruit and cream cheese filling in a small bowl.
pour your filling into the baked crust. use your dragon fruit cream cheese filling to create your desired pattern. i used a spoon to place 1 inch sized drops around the cake and then used a toothpick to create hearts by swiping the pick through the middle of the circle. when you have your desired design. bake the cake till set, about 30-35 minutes. you will know it is done when the center no longer jiggles.
allow the cake to cool to room temperature and store in the fridge until you are ready to serve.