Time for this week’s Thursday Things:
1. I signed up for Ziplist
“Ziplist the free, easy-to-use online grocery list service that enables you to build and share grocery lists and recipe boxes, has teamed up with Averie Cooks to provide you many of ZipList’s capabilities. Save your favorite recipes from Averie Cooks in one place, along with any other recipes you may have, then automatically create a shopping list with different recipes each week.
No matter where you create your grocery list or save your recipes, they will always be available online at Averie Cooks or ZipList. If you have an iPhone or Android, you can also access your list(s) and recipe box from ZipList’s free mobile apps too.”
ZipList Features:
- Save your favorite recipes to one universal recipe box.
- Use our free appsto take your list with you to the store – in aisle order.
- Add recipe ingredients to your grocery list with just one click.
- Easily create a weekly meal plan calendar with your saved recipes.
- Connect & share content with friends & family so you can collaborate.
- Search for new recipes your family will love.
- Quickly scroll to discover new trending recipes.
- Easily browse and search weekly grocery deals by zip code, favorite store, or grocery item and add deals to your shopping list with just one click.
- Save money and time by getting deals on items that are already on your shopping list. We bring the savings right to your fingertips.
2. How does it work and what’s the benefit to you?
Let’s break this down in plain English because I was really confused by it for ages and didn’t see the benefit but now I do.
In the upper right corner of all my new recipes, there’s two little buttons. One allows you to Print and the other allows you Save the Recipe to your online recipe box. When you’re on my blog, or any other blog that uses Ziplist and you come across a recipe that you want to remember, you just hit Save and it goes into your virtual recipe box.
It covers many bases all in one – you don’t have to Pin It to remember the recipe. I do this all the time and my Pin boards are overflowing with saved ‘ideas’.
You don’t have to email it to yourself. My inbox is overwhelming already.
You don’t have to Bookmark It, and you don’t have to print it out. You can just save it to your online virtual recipe box and it’s as good as gold.
The other bonus is that the site helps you to create a shopping list based on the various recipes you’ve saved and the various ingredients used in all of them. Trying to remember whether it was pumpkin puree or pumpkin pie filling, whether it was 8 ounces of semi sweet or milk chocolate, or whether it was cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup you need to purchase for a savory recipe you want to try from another blog, there are so many recipes, so many ingredients, and so many times I stand in the market trying to think-think-think what was it that I needed again.
3. It’s taking everything in me not to just go buy this Emmerson Buffet from West Elm, $999 and figure out how I’m going to pay for it later but the responsible adult in me is refraining. So far.
Much of my living room is from West Elm and it would not only fit in aesthetically, but I love the rustic wood. And I love that it’s functional and that I could store lots of dishes in it.
See, I’m kinda outgrowing this hutch. Did I mention I love dishes? And old wood.
5. Celebrities who name their babies after places
Reese Witherspoon named her baby Tennessee James and “It’s a trend that had its roots starting in the late 1980s with several celebs picking names from the American West, like Austin, Dallas and Dakota, including Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, whose now grown daughter Dakota is the star of a new sitcom. But lately the trend seems to be heating up and much more widespread,” Rosenkrantz said. “Sometimes the place has real significance to the parents… Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale have meaningful associations with Kingston, Jamaica. Others seem to have no personal connection to the place, as in Bronx Wentz and the two recent celebrity kid Camdens.”
I grew up in rural Minnesota and growing up there, Dakota meant either North or South. And Madison was a place in central Wisconsin. I wonder if the names Minneapolis or Des Moines will catch on any time soon?
6. I recently received this new cookbook, Cooking Light The New Way to Cook Light: Fresh Food & Bold Flavors for Today’s Home Cook
If you’re looking for healthier meal ideas and recipes, this book is a good one.
There’s an abundance of glossy, beautiful images, which is key for me. Without a photo, it’s hard for me to fully embrace a recipe.
The recipes seem straightforward and not overly complicated, long, or cumbersome. The book has given me a jumping off place for some dinnertime ideas and there’s a chapter devoted to vegetarian entrees, which is nice.
7. I tried some Clearly Kombucha. It comes in Original, Ginger Berry, Asian Pear, Black Currant and Tangerine. I liked them all but I especially enjoyed Ginger Berry and Black Currant.
Really though, I love kombucha and making your own Homemade Kombucha with more info here and here is really easy once you get into the groove of brewing. It’s so good for you, full of probiotics and it just does a body good.
8. This woman paints KitchenAid Stand Mixers and her work is so gorgeous. Although I doubt I’ll ever want to paint on top of my shiny red machine, she’s the only person who could tempt me.
9. Mum’s Original Vine-Ripened Banana Powder
“Produced from a delicious red banana variety, sweeter and heartier in flavor, grown to their fullest potential with the only help of natural sunshine. Our careful dehydrating and milling process ensures that our Banana Powder maintains its dense nutritional composition that includes high fiber content to gently cleanse your digestive system. Pop into a daily smoothie for a great source of natural energy, help to decrease blood pressure, and relax your muscles after a work out.”
I love bananas. Banana Bread Fest much?
Six weeks and counting and that banana powder has be intrigued.
10. Display your cornucopia of squash, pumpkins, fruit, or pretty little display items in this iron Rustic Bucket with Stand, Pottery Barn, $299
What are your Thursday Things?
If you’ve made anything, done, seen, or bought anything fabulous recently, feel free to link it up in the comments.
How do you organize your recipes?
My recipes are all over the place and it’s a mess. And I do mean all over the place.
I have them in emails to myself, handwritten on pieces of paper and tucked into various drawers around the house. Pages of magazines are dog-eared, cookbooks have paper bookmarks in them, and online sites are digitally bookmarked. My Pinterest boards overflow, I have dozens of browser windows open at all times on my computer of various blog posts or recipes I’ve seen online and want to try, and now I have Ziplist.
I don’t lack for ideas and inspiration. I lack for a way to cohesively organize it all and not lose or misplace recipes. I feel like I lose track of or forget about so many good ones because I can’t seem to remember where I put them or find them again.
I’d love to hear your recipe organizing tips and strategies.
Thanks for the Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies + KitchenAid Stand Mixer + $200 Williams-Sonoma Gift Card Giveaway entries
I think I’ve told you before that I use macgourmet for my recipes that I create. You can do a lot of the same things with it, including creating a grocery list and there is an iphone app so you can sync it. I also use grocery gadget, an app and website that does all the stuff ziplist does, including the recipe thing and auto-creating a shopping list based on that. Since I really don’t cook from reciopes, I haven’t used that part of it. I love it, though, because I can create as many lists as I want – for different store, etc.
I want that banana powder!! I’m thinking about some banana stevia drops!
When I first got into cooking, Cooking LIght was the first magazine I used, and I loved them! The recipes almost always were great, easy to read, straight-forward, etc. Now, in the magazine, they include a color photo for every recipe also, which is HUGE. I still love them for jumping off points for cooking.
I use the Paprika App on my iPad to organize recipes. Love it!
Oh my gosh, I want that buffet!
I organize my recipes with bookmarks on my computer. I have hundreds all organized into different categories. I also have probably close to a thousand pages ripped out of magazines with recipes I want to try – it is excessive and overwhelming.
That kitchen aid mixer is like art! But i’d feel too guilty having one that pretty: I get mine all sorts of dirty!
That mixer is super cute! If only I could paint my own mixer…
Averie, I just pinned that buffet table from west elm- it is GORGEOUS. when I grow up and have a house, i must have that or something identical. such character. i love it! I love dark wood like that, and like the vintage Chinese wood table you have. I’ve been meaning to tell you – I think Ziplist looks GREAT on your site. So helpful for readers. Banana powder?!?!?! whhaaaat? must look into that. I like their idea for adding it into my frozen banana smoothies! I use pinterest to save my recipes- and my blog! I also have an adorable recipe card set I received form my friend for my birthday – they say Sally’s Baking Addiction on them!
Glad you think the ziplist turned out well! And I love that your friend gave you monogrammed baking/recipe cards. What a great gift! I need that banana powder, too!
Good morning! My recipes are all over kingdom come as well. Bookmarked here, emailed there, saved in document folder – AAaagh! I love your new save button. So much more organized and neat! Yes! Thank you for doing that for all of us!
I like the look of that banana powder. I have been really into throwing bananas into my green smoothie lately and am enjoying that flavor. It would be fun to try the powder! Have you tried it yet?
As for naming our kiddos after places we grew up in, I don’t know that I am hippie enough to have named my boys Eagle River, the little town I grew up in. LOL! No offense to those who do so, just not my style. Although I am sure the names we chose for our boys (Seraphim and Simeon) are not at the top of anyone’s name list, either. To each his/her own! :-)
Here is my Thursday thing:
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/2012/10/hearty-chicken-gnocchi-soup.html
My boys love gnocchi and our weather here has changed so warming foods are really appreciated. Seraphim plays soccer until 9:00 at night and although he eats a hefty meal before he goes, he wants a little more of it when he is done. 6’3″ and 175 pounds of solid muscle running for 2 hours, 5 times per week will do that to ya! ;-)
Happy Thursday, Averie!
I love your boys’ names – always have! They’re not John & Steve and love that you went with unique names! Glad you like the Save button. I had no idea if people would use it/like it, but glad you do!
OMG, that mixer! I die. And normally, I balk at celebrity baby names but for some weird reason, I kinda think Tennessee works. I don’t know–for me, it does. Would I name my kid that? Heeeeeccck no. I already have an obsession with Olivia for that kid :)
I think Tenn. works, too. Not for me personally but it’s a fun name. Olivia is so pretty. Skylar has a few Olivia’s as little friends!
Ooooh – I’ve been eyeing that buffet from WE too! SOOOO cute!!!
You’ve been eyeing it too? Well I hope you can get it!!
Banana powder? How cool. I use OurGroceries.com for shopping lists. Jason and I can both add to it and mark things off separately and it’s updated immediately. Easy to divide and conquer in stores or for me to add to the list while he’s shopping ;-)
Ive never even heard of that site/service! Thanks for the info!
Recipe organization– I always have such good intentions with that concept (but just never quite get there)!! My current system has my cookbook/recipe collection in pretty good shape, but only because I went through folders of magazine/newspaper clippings, etc. and simply pared down. The ziplist sounds like a helpful tool because sometimes I find myself searching for a recipe I saw on the internet but can’t remember the site or I simply forget about things I want to try. Love the part about creating a grocery list too. I’ll wish you strength in restraining yourself from buying that West Elm buffet… it is definitely a beauty and I keep scrolling back to look at it!
Glad to hear ziplist may be helpful to you. Sounds like your recipe system is work-able; mine is the same, but not quite as work-able and organized. The online vs. physical/printed ones create a mess and I can’t possibly print everything I see online! I’d need a whole forest of trees!
The zip list sounds great! I usually bookmark a page in my history but it is overflowing with bookmarks! Ah des Moines as a name totally made me giggle- I hope for future children they don’t catch on! Haha. There are definitely some interesting ones around!
Glad you like the ziplist and yes, there are some crazy names out there! To each their own though!
I have a Cooking Light baking book that was sent to me last year, and I love it! Cooking Light always has great recipes, so I bet the cookbook is great. And I say splurge and buy the buffet — I mean, the holidays are coming, so it’s totally justifiable. ;)
I was really pleasantly surprised at how awesome looking the recipes seem to be. And the photos are really pretty, which always helps!
Avery, I’ve been a frequent reader of your blog, but my life was too busy to write earlier. I love your pictures! The light, the colors… Delicious!!
And I’m a huge artichoke fan, which brought me to experimentation with your recipe of spinach artichoke squares. Was a magnifiecient experience! Thank you!!
I’ve got two Thursday things. The first is the yurt. It’s like the adult(and way more pricy)version of building yourself a fort: https://www.coloradoyurt.com/yurts/history/
The second is another pumpkin recipe, a soup that is savory and a bit spicy, rather then sweet:
Mmmm, the spicy soup sounds delish!
I know you’re going to get that buffet. :D
Love those painted mixers! How pretty!! Banana powder sounds so awesome for smoothies or shakes. I’ve heard of plantain flour before, so it’s probably similar. And I actually like the city/state names more than some of the traditional or nontraditional exotic names out there!
Plantain flour? Omg that sounds amazing! I used to make things with peanut flour; really dense, like coconut flour. I bet plantain flour is similar but better tasting! I haven’t bought the buffet (yet) and it’s taking every inch of restraint :)