And that's a Wrap to 2017!

/
And that's a Wrap to 2017!

Hello there and Happy delicious and inspiring New Year to you! I know I have said this before in other posts, but I will say it again - Whew! It has been a whirlwind of activity both personally and professionally for our Newport Sea Salt family. During our first small business Christmas season, we moved into our old home in Newport from military housing. This was our first move ever that did not involve moving out of state, across country or across the ocean - but just across town. It was the shortest move we have ever made, but not the easiest. As snow came down as well as the cold temperature, we watched as box after box came into our home marked ‘nick nacks’ and books waiting to find a cozy spot in our extra small home. Matt and I just looked at each other with a bit of bewilderment, but smiled and started to unpack - and decorate for Christmas. Did I mention that between the move and the crazy holiday season that it was business as usual?! And not usual by any means, as we had vendors calling us with replenishing requests and new orders to stock their shelves. It was AH-MAZING.

Read More

A Pumpkin Bread that You Will Crave all Season Long

/
A Pumpkin Bread that You Will Crave all Season Long

It is a wind whipping 27 degrees here in Newport, Rhode Island - in November! Oh man, I am not ready to brave the cold temperatures outside so I will stay cozy right here sitting at our farm table with my hot cup of coffee and my winter blanket scarf wrapped around me while I write about this ah-mazing pumpkin bread I can’t stop eating! I know I just posted another pumpkin recipe in cookie form, but seriously while we were stationed in Italy we did not get around to too many pumpkin items and I am now catching up! But just wait, this pumpkin bread is different.  It is moist, it is dark and pumpkin pie spicy and it is topped with, drumroll please… rosemary sea salt! I know what you are thinking - rosemary sea salt on traditional pumpkin bread??? This recipe is to add a twist for those that want to throw caution to the windy day out there and make a traditional recipe ‘POP’ with sea salt and fresh fragrant rosemary. It brings out all the fall flavors! You will want to make it for your neighbors, friends, and loaves just for yourself to enjoy on cold fall weekend mornings curled up on the couch. 

Read More

Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with a Maple Sea Salt Glaze

/
Spiced Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies with a Maple Sea Salt Glaze

I realize I bake during times of stress and lately I am baking a lot. it is a good thing that it is fall time as we need to get our winter ‘coats’ on. ;) The news is a constant reminder of ‘ugh’ in our world…I can’t believe I used ‘ugh” as an adjective?! When I feel overwhelmed by life’s woes, I love to bake and take pictures and just find the pretty. So with that being said, I woke up super early on a rainy Saturday morning that I could have slept in and decided to get out a few baking bowls and a can of pumpkin while the coffee maker percolated our Custom House coffee blend and created the scent of fall in the air before all my boys woke up. I come from the school of thought that cookies should be part of every meal….breakfast cookies, why not? Life is short, enjoy the moment. 

Read More

Post Apple Picking Extravaganza….Apple Pie Bars! 

/
Post Apple Picking Extravaganza….Apple Pie Bars! 

“And all at once Summer collapsed into Fall.”

Oscar Wilde

I am ready for…fall leaves, cooler nights, pumpkin patches…heck, pumpkin beer and most of all apple picking. When I was little, my parents would take my brother and I to an apple orchard in East Lyme, Connecticut. We would cruise along on the Merritt Parkway bopping along to my parent’s favorite 50’s music station watching the colors of the trees change the more north we drove. I remember arriving to the orchard with the smell of apple cider donuts wafting in the air and the promise of apple cider at the end of our apple picking. Annually, I would gorge myself on fresh picked apples. I loved to pluck a little red and golden yellow Cortland or Gala gem off the tree branch and bite into the crisp skin and discover juicy fall in that apple. A full bag of fresh picked apples promised to become an apple pie that my dad would later bake….his only claim to fame in the kitchen. He would bake a juicy apple pie and slice up cheddar cheese to place on top after it came out of the oven wafting the cinnamon and apple aroma throughout our home. 

Read More

September is Here and with that comes...Comfort Food!

/
September is Here and with that comes...Comfort Food!

Welcome September! Can you believe it that the summer is coming rapidly to a close?! Did you get all your BBQ’s, summer parties, beach visits, and summer reading checked off your ‘How to Spend your Summer Days’ list? It has been such a phenomenal summer of good activity for us. We did have some lows with our kiddos sick with a summer flu while at their grandparent’s house in CT, and a bout of poison ivy before sail camp was to start, and topped off with a dog bite, but other than those incidents we had a beautiful summer being back in New England with our family and friends.  Our boys learned to sail and crab, and we enjoyed our summer living in Fort Adams to the full extent with these amazing coastal views.

Read More

In the Kitchen with David Lebovitz and I

/
In the Kitchen with David Lebovitz and I

Oh hello, so glad you stopped by!  Did you want to see the final pictures from the chocolate mousse I attempted to make? I have unstuck myself from the hardened caramelized spoons and cleaned up the floor of sticky golden caramel to now sit down and write about David Lebovitz’s dreamy ‘Salted Butter Caramel Chocolate Mousse’. I love reading cookbooks, and thinking if I ever have all the ingredients I need I would love to make recipes like this one. Well, this week the lovely Butter Cuisine’s Brian and Lori collaborated with us and made a Sea Salted Butter. It is fantastic! They were kind to stock our market table to share with customers and I was able to bring a butter roll home. Normally, I would buy a baguette and marry the 2 up and perhaps, maybe make a salad on the side. But, not this time. I took out my David Lebovitz cookbook and started to flip through the gorgeous matte pages until my eyes fell upon the perfect recipe to use with Butter Cuisine’s Sea Salt Butter and our flaky Newport Sea Salt - this heavenly chocolate mousse that would use both of our ingredients and use up our heavy cream in the fridge and make for a nice solo dinner for me…I mean ahem, dessert to share with Matt and our boys. 

Read More

Newport Sea Salt Co.'s New Flavor - Rosemary and Thyme!

/
Newport Sea Salt Co.'s New Flavor - Rosemary and Thyme!

When we started thinking about the idea of making sea salt, we automatically thought of all the flavors we could make once we got the sea salt process down: a spicy red pepper blend, a citrus sea salt, garlic herb, an espresso blend; we couldn't wait to get started! But as they say in Italian, piano, piano…slow, slow. Even as I write this, Matt is in our home kitchen tinkering away with different blends and asking our boys what flavors they taste. He is definitely having fun with it! 

Read More