It’s still way too cold outside! The days are getting longer, though, and juicy, in-season citrus is brightening up my days. Spring will surely come soon. Right?

For now, we can enjoy this cheerful avocado and blood orange salad. You could call it a wintertime version of my favorite avocado salad. It’s bold and bright, and almost looks more like abstract art than food. That is, until you take a bite, and fall in love.

This salad requires some careful slicing and attention to detail. As long as you’re not in a hurry, it’s a really fun dinnertime project and would make a statement at a party.

This salad comes from a relatively new cookbook called Dining In by Alison Roman, which I’ve been reaching for a lot lately when I need a burst of inspiration. I don’t know Alison, but I think she’s cool. She works for The New York Times and Bon Appetit; she’s from California but lives in New York. She’s way cooler than I will ever be.

I really enjoyed her kale salad made with roasted and raw kale, and I can’t wait until summer to try more of the fruit salads in her sweet-and-savory fruit salads chapter (!). I loved her citrus and avocado salad so much that I wanted to share it with you, with some ideas to change it up.

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Here’s the paradox of producing a healthy cookbook: the stress of it leads to cravings for all kinds of not-so-healthy things. Like, mac and cheese. Pizza, delivered. Spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream. Those chocolate coconut almonds from Trader Joe’s (have you tried them?!). I’m only human.

I’m in the thick of recipe writing now, and it’s tedious work. I think and re-think how to structure each recipe so it’s easy to understand. I wonder how much detail to include—will this tip help you along, or just complicate matters?

Such as, do you need to know the weight of apples used in a salad? (Leaning toward no.) Do I tell you how to toast the nuts in every recipe that calls for toasted nuts? (Leaning toward yes.) How do I best explain how to shape veggie burgers to someone who hasn’t made them before? So on and so forth.

I’m so in love with the recipes, though. I have 100 sweet little recipe babies, and I’m struggling to keep them all to myself until next spring. They’re also keeping me from spending as much time here as I’d like. Please forgive me if I’m slow to answer your comments—they’re so important to me, and it’s killing me that I can’t get to each one.

I decided to indulge my sugar craving with a citrusy winter cake. This olive oil cake has made a couple of appearances on the blog already (orange poppy seed and lemon blueberry), and it’s always tender, light and complex in flavor. This time, it’s a pretty pink blood orange cake with blood orange icing.

The only problem is that blood oranges don’t have a ton of flavor compared to other citrus, so it’s not as intensely citrusy as the pink frosting would suggest. The lemon and regular orange versions definitely pack more of a punch, so I thought I would present this cake as a design-your-own olive oil cake with tips on how to change it up. You can use any crazy variety of winter citrus you can find!

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As I edited these sparkling, hot pink photos, I realized my “Super Bowl” cocktail looks more like a Valentine’s Day cocktail. The big game is tomorrow (find my Super Bowl recipes here) and we’re just around the corner from that horrid holiday, so let’s call it a two-for-one special!

My friends are probably tired of hearing me announce that “Champagne is the new beer,” every time I bring over a bottle for a game, but it’s true. You heard it here first. Sparkling sangria is a fun way to drink it.

I’ve been intimidated by sangria for far too long. It always seemed like some sort of magical potion that only a Spanish woman could properly mix up. Plus, my exhausting analytical side always wants to create the “perfect” recipe and there are so many variables when it comes to sangria.

The sweetness and type of fruit, the sweetness and type of wine… Fortunately, I’ve finally learned that sangria is a mix-and-match, do-no-wrong kind of drink, which is just as pitchers of cocktails should be.

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Welcome to the redesigned cookieandkate.com! I’m not quite finished working on it, but I couldn’t stand to keep it in hiding for any longer. The website is finally optimized for viewing on your phone, your iPad, etc. No more pinching and zooming so you can read the recipe! Try it!

Another noteworthy feature is the menu I added underneath the header. It’s designed to help you find the kinds of recipes you’re looking for. Click on ALL RECIPES to see little pictures of every recipe on the site as usual, or narrow your selection by clicking on SALAD, DESSERT, etc. FAVORITES is a list of readers’ favorite recipes, curated by yours truly.

Over in the sidebar, you’ll find lists of special diets and ingredients. I added a gluten free and vegan option for those of you who are trying to avoid gluten and animal products. Please let me know if you’d like to see any other diet combinations and I’ll try to make it happen!

This redesign has been a long time coming. I did it all myself because I’m very particular (read: control freak). Lots of late nights, Breaking Bad and dark chocolate peanut butter cups were involved. I’m still working on the recipe index pages and the search functionality. If you have any suggestions or feature requests, please let me know! I’m all ears.

Now then, this salad. I’m pretty obsessed with it. Tangy goat cheese and lemon dressing tossed creamy avocado, sweet blood oranges, sliced almonds and greens is a winning combination indeed. I usually want fennel to speak up more (be bold, fennel!), but its faint licorice flavor and crisp texture is the perfect complement here. Enjoy!

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Things have not been going as planned lately. Before I dive into yesterday’s fiasco, I’ll tell you that this recipe was supposed to be a curried coconut quinoa dish. The photographed version didn’t turn out quite right, so I’m still working on it.

Secondly, this post was supposed to be published yesterday. I was on track until I realized, with a sudden gasp followed by, “Oh, #$*@!” that my dress—the blue dress I’d shown to all of my friends and the entire internet—was not on its way. Somehow, I didn’t finish placing the order. That’s right, the girl who makes her living on the World Wide Web and stays up late coding a redesigned website and has probably stolen items from your cart while you’re browsing J.Crew’s final sale somehow did not hit the final submit button.

Once I realized what had happened, I was all worked up in a tizzy for a solid twenty minutes. I texted my friends who are going to the party with me for commiseration. I called my mama for sympathy. This post went by the wayside and I ran out the door to go shopping, the whole time fully aware that this would seem like a trivial issue in a few days’ time. In the current moment, however, it mattered.

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I want to bring up two things I’ve taken issue with over the past week: dating, and the word curd. I don’t like either of them, and have no solutions to propose, but let’s discuss.

Topic one: dating. I loathe dating. Sure, it has always been laced with thrill and misery, but I propose that my fellow generation’s way of approaching dating is fundamentally different from that of my parents, grandparents or grandparents. Men and women are pretty much on the same level now, thank goodness. With equality, however, comes massive ambiguity.

These days men are no longer obligated to make the first move, and I am told that they often are too intimidated to try. This is unfortunate because I don’t have the guts to try, either. Official dates are rare and most often, I find myself confused at the proposed prospect of hanging out. Just what does he mean, let’s hang out?

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Happy New Year’s Eve! I’m posting this fizzy pink cocktail far too late for you to make it tonight, I know. Please accept my apologies. Resolution No. 1: Start planning ahead.

I can’t say I’m sad for the year to end because I’m busy looking forward to the year ahead. 2011 has been a year of growth. I learned how to get unstuck, if you will, by leaving an unfulfilling three-year-long relationship and quitting a miserable office job. I traveled as much as possible in search of a new city to call home. I cultivated friendships and tried to savor every moment in each season.

I learned a lot of lessons in my 25th year—some invaluable and others, trivial. I started referring to myself as a woman rather than a girl. That’s something. I realized I’d rather snuggle with my dog than a jerk. I developed a serious appreciation for stretchy pants. Each little success on this blog has reinforced my belief that persistence and creative development will help me get to a better position in life, whatever that may be.

I’m eager to discover what’s in store for 2012. My main goal is to get out of this town and make a new home elsewhere (Kansas City, here I come!). I also resolve to exercise and floss my teeth and wear sunscreen daily. See? I’m old.

These cocktails are a twist on the classic French 75 cocktail, which is made with gin, lemon, sugar and Champagne. Blood orange turns the drink into a beautiful hot pink sipper.

If you’d like to make your own simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar (or honey) and water in a microwave-safe container or small saucepan. Warm them in the microwave or over the stovetop just until the sweetener fully dissolves in the water. Leftover simple syrup will keep in the refrigerator, covered, for up to two weeks.

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