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Thanks for joining me for another Nine Favorite Things post.

Nine Favorite Things | halfbakedharvest.com

{no fuss lemon tart}

Happy June 2nd! I am so excited June is here and feeling very confident that our weather is going turn beautiful very soon. Postive thoughts!! We’ve had one of the coldest springs, and truthfully, it’s taken its toll on my mood and overall mental state. I truly believe that the weather can have a huge effect on our moods. That was certainly the case this past week. Thankfully, Friday brought along some sunshine with a beautiful sunset that finally showed signs of green grass and leaves blooming on the bare trees. Yes, we don’t even have green leaves on our trees yet, but soon. I know a beautiful Colorado summer is ahead and I am so ready.

Once Memorial Day comes and goes I pretty much declare it officially summer. I’m ready for watermelon, tomatoes, stone fruits, sweet corn, and all the berries. My brother Malachi flew in on Wednesday. We spent Thursday and Friday filming new recipe videos all geared towards refreshing drinks, summertime dinners, and berry-filled desserts. It was a good couple of days. I love spending time with Malachi, and I certainly love ending the week on a productive note. Just makes the weekend feel that much better.

I spent time yesterday catching up on some computer work, planning, and plotting out finishing up the office barn space. Which has really been a long and tedious process. I know so many of you are dying to see the full reveal, but it’s just not where we’d like it to be yet. Hoping to have it finished up by summer’s end for a full reveal in the fall. More to come, and some behind the scenes over on Instagram stories.

Coming up this week, I’ll be kicking things off with one of my current favorite recipes. It’s super family-friendly, pretty, and delicious. I’ll also be sharing a fun snack, buttery shrimp, and a dessert that’s perfect for warm summer days. So all good things. Ooh, and maybe even a cocktail (should I do a Saturday summer cocktail series?).

Lastly, if you missed anything from the past week, be sure to sign up for our newsletter here. Hope you’re all having the best weekend, and enjoy this Sunday’s Nine Favorite Things!

1. Inspiring Me This Week. 

Nine Favorite Things | halfbakedharvest.com

Candace Nelson founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes and Pizzana.

If you’re a cupcake kind of person (or just love desserts), you’re likely familiar with Candace. She is the founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes and the all-around dessert queen. She’s also one of the kindest people that I’ve been lucky enough to meet…and have the honor to bake with! I have followed Candace for years, but finally meet her when I was in LA last week. We filmed a really fun video together that I can’t wait to share with you guys very soon. She graciously welcomed me (plus our entire film crew) into her home. We baked a delicious strawberry recipe while chatting away.

In the short time I had with Candace I learned so much about her. She’s incredible and so inspiring. Not only did she found Sprinkle’s Cupcakes, which opened its first bakery in Beverly Hills in 2005, but she recently opened Pizzana, a Neapolitan style pizza restaurant in LA. Both are incredibly successful, and while I’ve personally tried Candace’s baked goods (so delicious!), I am dying to get back to LA to try Pizzana. I know I’m going to LOVE it.

If you love food, you need to be following Candace. She’s such an inspiration to me, and her cookbook is one of the only baking books I swear by. It’s a favorite.

Fun fact about Candace? She is a judge on both Cupcake Wars and Sugar Rush. 

Fun fact about Sprinkles? In 2012, they debuted the world’s first cupcake vending machine, which is literally just what it sounds. A vending machine that dispenses the classic Sprinkles cupcakes. It’s genius and the cutest thing you will ever come across.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the video Candace and I shot together. It’s coming in a couple of weeks!

2. The Most Popular Recipe of May.

No Fuss Lemon Tart | halfbakedharvest.com #lemontart #dessert #summer #nobake #easyrecipes

Most popular: no fuss lemon tart

YAY! For the first time, everyone’s favorite recipe of the month is also my favorite recipe of the month! I shared this recipe just last week. In that time it has skyrocketed to the most popular of the entire month! Beyond thrilled that you all love this tart as much as I do. It’s so incredibly easy, so pretty, and most importantly, it’s SO GOOD. If you have not yet made this tart, please do so soon. This is one of those recipes that you will make time and time again. It’s definitely one of my favorite recipes that I’ve developed.

Weeknight Saucy Pineapple BBQ Chicken Bowls | halfbakedharvest.com #chicken #instantpot #slowcooker #pineapple #easyrecipes

Runner-up: weeknight saucy pineapple bbq chicken bowls

Good to know you all love some BBQ chicken just as much as my family and I do. This is one of those recipes that can easily be on the dinner menu weekly. It’s easy and so full of flavor, but healthy too! Perfect for any night of the week and kids love these bowls just as much as adults!

Also have to mention: mother’s day menus and entertaining tips

This one surprised me a bit! I didn’t think you guys would care too much for a menu post, but you all seemed to love it. Would you enjoy more posts like this? Summer menus? Entertaining tips and tricks? Let me know, I would certainly love to do more of these types of posts if you all are interested!

3. A Few Favorites from Williams-Sonoma right now…

4. Questions of The Week: 

q: Are you ever tempted to live somewhere warmer?
a: Absolutely. The spring is the hardest because we just don’t have one. It’s cold and snowy till June. BUT my family is here, so it would be hard to leave for good. In my ideal world, I’d spend some of the summer, the fall, and the start of winter in CO, but head somewhere warmer come late winter. Someday maybe!

q: Foolproof hostess gift for any chef?
a: I’d gift a Staub Skillet or Cocotte. I use both every single day and couldn’t get by without them. They make the best gifts!

q: Favorite season to cook in?
a: Late summer through the fall.

q: What is your favorite recipe you’ve created?
a: Right now this lemon tart is my favorite. It’s so good, so easy, and I’m pretty excited about it!

q: Is there anywhere you are dying to travel to?
a: Certainly Italy! Can you believe I’ve never been? Also Spain!

5. Newest Videos: 

3 Cheese Zucchini “Ravioli” with Roasted Tomato Basil Sauce…easy, full of color, veggies, and beyond delicious.

Rosemary Peach Chicken in White Wine Pan Sauce…my go-to summer skillet dinner. It’s the best.

6. Cooking with Hallmark Home & Family.

While in LA last week I filmed a fun segment with Hallmark Home & Family. I shared my asparagus and brie pastries and talked about the new summer series I’ve been working on.

You can watch the full video here.

7. A Few Links I Am Loving…

after decades of neglect a 200-year-old house on the island of Hvar is brought back to life…so beautiful.

a Korean skincare expert reveals the products she can’t live without…if you love a good skincare routine.

summer entertaining made simple…with tips from Terrain.

7 books you won’t be able to put down…for your summer reading.

the 29 best NYC landmarks to visit…if you have a summer trip to the city planned.

20 of the most beautiful sacred sites that every traveler must visit…can I visit them all?

60 cabinet hardware picks to instantly refresh any room…loved this budget friend post.

Sakara Life founders morning routine…I love a good morning routine, and this one involves a cinnamon roll.

inside Marie-Louise Sciò’s dreamy New Oceanside resort…please can I go here?

a kid friendly Cacio e Pepe…just add corn. yum.

working girl summer detox…if you need a healthy summer refresh.

the founders project…if you need business inspiration, read this.

an interview with Amy Wilson (the garden designer)…because I love flowers so much.

10 places to buy the skirt of summer…we all need a good flowy skirt.

the cutest towns in every US state…would love to visit Beaufort, South Caroline

is butter healthy…a dietitians take.

8 common mistakes newlyweds make…because it’s wedding season.

8. Favorites from the Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale…

9. This Week’s Dinners:

20 Minute Garlic Basil Brown Butter Pasta | halfbakedharvest.com #pasta #easyrecipe #tomatoes #basil #easyrecipes #spring #summer

Monday: 20 minute garlic basil brown butter pasta

Tuesday: Thai peanut chicken ramen noodle salad

Spanish Tortilla with Burrata and Herbs | halfbakedharvest.com #brunch #potatoes #eggs

Wednesday: spanish tortilla with burrata and herbs

Sweet Corn Chimichurri Butter Shrimp with Polenta | halfbakedharvest.com #summer #shrimp #easyrecipes

Thursday: sweet corn chimichurri butter shrimp with polenta

Kimchi Grilled Cheese | halfbakedharvest.com #grilledcheese #easyrecipes #korean

Friday: kimchi grilled cheese

Check out all the past Favorites posts here.

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Comments

  1. Hello Tieghan,

    I just have to say that I absolutely am crazy about your postings. Your photography/food is inspired; a work of art. And, your recipes equally so! You are such a delightful person and I am extremely blessed by the sharing of your life’s work! I am a 57 year old woman artist, (formally lived in Breckenridge for 25 years up until 1.5 years ago, and now live in Twin Lakes, CO) . You have been such an encouragement and inspiration to me in regards to cooking for my family after 30+ years of doing so. in addition, your artistry has inspired me to be a better, more devoted artist.
    I, (we, my entire family) who live over the ridge from you, and experienced the LONG and harsh winter/spring that you did, and that we all are still enduring), absolutely know what you are referring to. It has been a TOUGH one!!! Make no apologies. You in no way were making a judgement or comparison to all of the people who have suffered across the country. Thank you for sharing your extraordinary talents and passions and inspirations!!! We are all better because of your kindness, your gentleness, and your devotion to beautiful things, whether they are to be eaten or just appreciated visually! Blessings!

    1. Hi Annie! This is so nice to read! I cannot believe you lived in the same county for so long! That is so amazing!! Thank you for understanding and supporting me. It truly means a lot! xTieghan

  2. I received your cookbook for my birthday and I love it. I am new to your website. My sister kept telling me about the
    Sunday post and Nine favorite things. I find it sad that no matter what a post is about, someone can always find a way to
    turn it into a negative. It would be nice if kindness and positive posts were the order of the day.

    1. Welcome!! I am so glad you are loving the cookbook and my posts, Nicki! You are too kind, just have to shrug it off! xTieghan

  3. Would love some summer menus! Your blog is the best! And the pictures are beautiful! Keep it coming!

  4. Thank you for all that you do tieghan ?I love the menu posts that you do !! Like the Mother’s Day ones etc. they are some of my favorite posts you write and I always refer back to them for drink/app/main/dessert etc ideas for any dinners that month or season like holidays and birthdays and just Sunday dinners!! So def would love more if you enjoy doing them?

  5. Absolutely agree with Rosa. We all need positives in our lives. I look forwards to the Sunday morning posts by TIeghan. For just a bit all the negatives can go away.

  6. Ann, I am very sorry if you or people you know have been affected by the recent flooding and tornado tragedies. However, other people’s tragedies do not negate someone else’s situation. Tieghan is stating that cold, gray weather takes a toll on her mood. Your entire point is about perspective and being in tune to what other people are going through, but you are callously dismissing Tieghan’s feelings and, essentially, telling her to snap out of it. This shouldn’t be about one-upping another person’s distress. Comparatively, someone somewhere is always worse off. We all have our own struggles, and we can only directly know the hand that we have been dealt.
    Tieghan, it is refreshing to read a blog with honest feelings in addition to some of the best recipes I’ve found. This is my first time commenting, though I’ve probably made at least thirty of your recipes! My husband and I are expecting our first child in August, but I love the idea of Saturday cocktail posts. I’ll save them all up for next summer. And after reading this Favorite Things post, I’m so looking forward to making that lemon tart this week!

    1. Hi Rachel! Thank you so much for this comment. It truly means a lot that I have people truly supporting not only my work, but me as well. That is so sweet and means more than I could ever ask for. Also, I hope your pregnancy is going amazing and would love to hear how you are doing in the future with him or her! Have a great week! xTieghan

  7. I did it Tieghan! There are currently four pans of your gorgeous lemon tart sitting in my fridge with about ten pounds of fresh berries for the graduation party this afternoon! I can’t wait to share!

    1. YUM!!! I hope you all love this recipe, Kate! Congrats on the graduation to whomever it is! ? xTieghan

  8. Yes, there is much devastation all around, but we/you are honest with our feelings….that is appreciated and respected.

    1. Hi Renne! I agree and thank you so much for seeing that. I hope you continue to enjoy my posts! xTieghan

  9. Hi Tieghan, I absolutely love everything about your site. You seem like a very sweet person and I love your recipes.
    The pics of your food are gorgeous, so creative and unique. I can’t wait to start making these recipes and I will be buying your cookbook.
    Look forward to your Sunday posts with your fav. things.
    Keep up the excellent work you do and keep sharing, because the world needs more like you.
    Thank you.

  10. Comments from people like Ann are what I dislike about the internet….so often comments are made over the internet that one wouldn’t say face to face…my faith in people is diminishing and she/the internet just keeps adding to that fall. Tieghan – I love your Sunday posts..really all of them..keep up the great work!

    1. Hi Rosa! Its just a different perspective from someone, and thats okay. But I am so happy you enjoy my posts and what I write about. It truly means a lot! xTieghan

  11. Your Sunday Posts are my favorite to find in my inbox. A cup of coffee, a quiet corner of the house and your “voice” is a great way to start the last leg of my weekend.

  12. I WAS Going to read, bc the recipes sounded and Looked good…But, Shortly after reading and I got to the part you referred to the Coldest Spring taking a “TOLL on your MOOD+…. OVERALL MENTAL STATUS” ?!!!…..
    This was written/ printed June 2nd..? I Stopped, You Might want to take a LOOK AROUND You..THOUSANDS, LITERALLY! Of People have Lost their Entire Homes+ livlihoods (Farmers!) and Family members!! 🙁 To Unprecedented Horrible Floods and Tornados Just This Month!!….Also.

    1. Hi Ann! Thank you for your comment. I obviously was not comparing my situation to theirs, because it is just not the same. With that said, everyones situation comes from their own perspective. My perspective may not be the same as yours and yours not the same as mine.. if that makes sense. I hope you understand that I meant no harm by this statement, my mood just doesn’t feel as great with the weather around me, but I am still so grateful for what I have. I feel terrible for the people that lost their homes and family members and am wishing them strength through this time. xTieghan