Last updated on July 1st, 2012 I’m sure it’s clear by now just how much I love artichokes (and I’m fortunate to live so close to where they’re farmed). Whenever I see them for less than a dollar, I can’t pass by without adding a couple to my cart – even if I already have…
Main Courses
Lucas’s anniversary chocolate stout-braised short ribs
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 For the second course of our two-part anniversary dinner, Lucas was concocting something special. I’ll narrate my perspective first and he’ll chime in with his side of the story after. We each walked to the produce market separately Saturday afternoon to keep the mystery of each of our dishes alive…
Citrus tuna tartare with pear chips
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 While most people are prepping their finger foods for the Super Bowl, Lucas and I are celebrating our two year anniversary (with food) today. Last year, we mixed up the date of our anniversary and didn’t realize until we were done wining and dining, so this year, we’ve arbitrarily…
Healthy chicken tortilla soup for cilantro-haters
Last updated on June 23rd, 2014 As a serious cilantrophobe, I’ve never been a fan of tortilla soup. Actually, to be fair, I’d only ever tried it once when my friends took me to “tortilla soup Tuesdays” at Houston’s Restaurant, but when the bowl came served with a heaping glob of that detestable herb, I’d…
Chicken chronicles part III: chicken and vegetable burritos (& a spice rack fiasco)
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Prior to meeting Lucas, my experience with cooking flavorful Mexican food was limited to Lawry’s Taco Seasoning packets. When I first made tacos for Lucas, he was appalled at my affinity for the mysterious mix, but agreed to let me do my thing when I insisted it was the way…
The French enchilada: savory crepes with béchamel and roasted tomato sauce
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Today is part two of my roasted chicken adventures. Instead of going through the hassle of cooking chicken for my crepes, I just pulled a leftover breast out of the fridge and was ready to go! After the meal was put together, we decided that the savory crepe is…
Juicy whole roasted chicken with oranges and onions
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 It’s hard to get motivated to cook elaborate meals for one when your boyfriend is out of town. Lucas had planned to be in Taiwan this week when I made my ambitious plan to roast a whole chicken to use in all my dishes throughout the week. His work…
Whole wheat pizza with sweet potato sauce, kale, and shallots
Last updated on March 30th, 2014 Since I’ve tried my hand at a raw kale dish, tonight was part two in this experiment: cooked kale. Not only because I’ll never truly know how much I like kale until I try it with both preparation methods, but mostly because I had half a bunch of kale…
Sweet potato gnocchi with sage brown butter
Last updated on March 30th, 2014 I don’t usually cook with so many potatoes – honest. In 2011, I could probably use my fingers to count the meals I made that included potatoes. I think I’d gotten in a funk with potatoes, a little sick of their sometimes dry texture. For some reason, I never…
Seared scallops with blood orange gastrique and fried shallots
Last updated on January 24th, 2014 I declared this national citrus awareness day. Okay, so I don’t have that power, but when planning today’s meals, I couldn’t help but be drawn to the bins of citrus at the produce market: grapefruit, blood oranges, navel oranges, lemon, etc. Whatever I decided to cook, I would be…
Shabu Shabu (Japanese hot pot)
Last updated on November 7th, 2014 One of our choice date night meals is Shabu Shabu or, Japanese hot pot. Unfortunately, it also costs an arm and a leg (and you even cook your own food!). Shabu Shabu (named for the “swish swish” sound of the beef being stirred in the water) is a dining…
Fresh pasta with brussels sprouts and pancetta
Last updated on June 23rd, 2014 I’ve been craving fresh pasta for the past few days, but also wanted to make a new dish beyond my current repertoire, which requires some amount of forethought. Lucas and I spent a majority of this past weekend working on designing the (yet to be shared) blog layout, and as…
Butternut squash soup with bacon, sage, and parmesan crisps
Last updated on June 6th, 2014 Tonight’s meal began with two jumbo artichokes I impulse bought for 98 cents yesterday (you can’t pass that up); I had to find something that complemented this find. And as someone with a ridiculous sweet tooth, it’s no surprise that I love butternut squash. I’m a big fan of Trader…
Lucas’s skillet-fried white cheddar turkey burger
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Let me start by saying that Lucas and I faced an obstacle in food blogging today: it is not easy to make a burger look appealing in photographs. I’ll continue by telling you that this turkey burger recipe (courtesy of Lucas) is the juiciest, most flavorful turkey burger I’ve…
Ponzu skirt steak
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Every time I move to a new city, there’s a restaurant I leave behind that I just can’t seem to replace. No future restaurant will ever compare. The one that got away when I migrated from LA to Philadelphia in 2007 served selections of meat, seafood, and vegetables with…
Crispy homemade pizza with mixed-herb pistachio pesto
Last updated on May 14th, 2018 I used to choose Trader Joe’s dough when making homemade pizza and was perfectly satisfied. That is, until I discovered how easy it is to whip up in the KitchenAid. I prefer my pizza with ultra thin crust – so thin that it crunches a bit with each bite, and…
Soba noodles with crispy tofu
Last updated on March 30th, 2014 As I’m sure can already be deduced from my ravioli post, I love pasta. I have to consciously and creatively reduce it from our meal plans or we’d eat it seven nights a week. With about half the calories of regular egg noodles, soba noodles are a healthier alternative. This…
Frost kissed artichoke
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 Once, while out at a nice restaurant, Lucas and I observed a patron at the table next to us using a fork and knife to cut and eat her artichoke; I imagine that after unsuccessfully chewing on the artichoke’s tough leaves she thought, “how disgusting.” Meanwhile, Lucas and I…
Steamed mussels in lager
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I seriously don’t know where people who don’t have a seafood market down the street get fresh fish. We treat ourselves to mussels or clams at least twice a month, but I wouldn’t know where to buy them if Monterey…
BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with blood orange slaw
Last updated on July 1st, 2012 I’ve been couponing for the past year and a half (thanks to Margot:), and will eventually share some of my tips and finds. My most recent big bargain is the crockpot I got for free from CVS on black friday (yes, free!). My mom uses her crockpot all the…
Crispy oven-baked buffalo wings
Last updated on January 30th, 2014 One fact you need to know about me is that I will rarely cook a recipe for which I don’t have a picture. How am I supposed to make it when I don’t even know what I’m striving for?! I’m a visual learner (and cook), and Jane Hornby’s What…
Roasted cauliflower steaks and hand cut cauliflower ravioli
Last updated on January 23rd, 2019 I’ve been receiving Bon Appétit for almost two years now, and always enjoy flipping through the pictures of mouth-watering food. I need a better system for flagging recipes I’d like to try though because whenever it comes to meal planning night, I always forget about the stack of shiny…
Homemade sausage sandwiches and baked sweet potato “fries”
Last updated on April 10th, 2019 My KitchenAid mixer is one of the most used tools in my kitchen. We recently bought ourselves the food grinder and sausage stuffer attachments, and had been stewing over the different types of sausages we could make. The first time we attempted sausage with our KitchenAid, it was a…
Shrimp tacos with spicy cabbage slaw
Last updated on August 2nd, 2019 Christmas 2011 was the year of kitchen gifts. We have the world’s smallest kitchen (seriously, it’s smaller than our bathroom – we have one cabinet), but everyone knows that contributing to my kitchen accessories is always the best bet. And our kitchen is bursting at its seams already. Even Lucas…
