by unsightly

Key Lime Coconut Sugar Cookies

While these cookies might not be able to compete with the over-the-top showiness of the Twinkie Key Lime Pie, they are a slightly more subtle (and just as delicious) alternative. Key lime zest and juice are combined with a chewy coconut sugar cookie and rolled in sparkling sugar to give them a nice crunch on the outside. Fiori di Sicilia gives these another level of complexity. You can substitute regular vanilla extract, but the splurge on this flavor is completely justified but the amazing flavor it gives. Regular granulated sugar can be substituted for the white sanding sugar as well. This dough is best baked right after making. Chilling the dough yields an uneven cookie.

Key Lime Coconut Sugar Cookies

The Endless Road Trip: Salt and Straw

We’re no strangers to crazy ice cream flavors here at ES, and let’s be real—in this brave new dessert world where salted caramel sundaes and olive oil ice cream have become the norm, a chef putting something insane inside your cone is not really newsworthy. HOWEVER, when I heard there is an ice cream shop in meat-mad Portland serving bone marrow ice cream, clearly I was there in a New York minute.

The bad news: Salt and Straw did not have the bone marrow flavor in stock on the day I visited, but really for the very best reason possible: they were waiting for cherry season to start, so that they could make a bone marrow-black cherry ice cream. Obvi.

The good news: I had enough friends with me to order up a smorgasbord of outrageous flavors: honey balsamic strawberry with cracked pepper, sea salt with caramel ribbons, coffee-bourbon, blue cheese and pear (!), honey-lavender, blood orange, and blueberry with key lime marmalade. All head-over-heels amazing. the sweet-and-savory balsamic-strawberry-pepper took top honors for me.

The better news:

Easy Drinkin’

Ah, summer. Pool parties, farmers markets, and…tailgates.

At my family’s tailgates, we’re normally more concerned with the quantity than quality of our food, since tailgating is all about surviving a day of drinking. This is a little lot strange to me, considering Philadelphia is supposed to have a lot of really good tailgate food. We do bring enough grub to feed the entire parking lot (30 hot dogs, 30 hamburgers, and four hoagies for 8 people?), but the star of the show is undoubtedly our bar menu.