For me, Thanksgiving dinner is really about the sides. The turkey gets all the hype, but I could not care less about the bird (even though my hubby has a magical ability to make it really tasty). I’m a side dish gal all the way. As a kid, I would fill my plate with mashed…
My husband and I don’t eat very much candy. Our kids don’t eat much candy either — not just because we limit it, but mostly because they don’t like it. Crazy, right? This lack of candy-eating means that trick-or-treating yields a ton of leftover Halloween candy that we don’t really want around the house. Are…
After researching homemade candy recipes, I couldn’t help but try making some myself. I haven’t met that many candies I didn’t like, but one of my favorites is junior mints — especially at movies.Junior Mints and Peppermint Patties are one of my favorite sweet treats – something about the dark chocolate and mint are satisfying, without…
I can’t believe it’s October already. But I’m happy it’s October because, in Phoenix, that means fall is here — the nights are the perfect temperature and days are a lot more bearable. Fall is also my favorite time of the year because it means Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner! Halloween…
How are you celebrating this 4th of July? We’re planning a pretty low-key long weekend at home with trips to the local splash pads and a few dips in our pool. We will definitely throw some burgers or brats on the grill and make some yummy side dishes, but I want to make some fun…
You know when you have a bunch of leftover baking ingredients sitting around? I realized the other day, I had all these leftovers from previous recipes (phish food brownies). With extra marshmallows, chocolate chips, and toffee chips, I searched for a recipe idea and came up with an everything cookie recipe. I decided to use…
To make it through my work day, I rely heavily on iced coffee. It’s become something of a morning ritual to walk over to my local Starbucks and grab a venti iced coffee. At over 3 bucks a pop, my monthly coffee total is really starting to put a dent in my disposable budget. Given…
Caramel, chocolate and marshmallows — oh my! This new phish food brownie recipe is everything I wanted to make two years ago but didn’t quite get right. Take 2 on the phish food brownies was a huge success. I decided to try to remake the original phish food brownie recipe because, although they were delicious the…
Yay! It’s grilling season. My husband makes some mean grilled meats, but that’s so obvious. I like when he steps outside of the box–my favorite is the grilled pizza he makes on bricks or in a cast iron skillet. We have family coming into town for Memorial Day this weekend, so we plan to grill…
Cinco de Mayo is just a couple weeks away. I’m getting my margarita recipes ready, and scouting out the best guacamole recipe. But those are so obvious. I mean, I always have those things on Cinco de Mayo. I wanted to add something else fun to my menu, so I searched for interesting churro recipes….
Do you do meatless Mondays? This asparagus farro risotto with sweet peas is a great choice. Farro is my new favorite grain. On a recent trip to San Francisco, my friend suggested we try Barbacco, which was delicious. I ordered the farro “risotto” with mushrooms. The waiter asked me if I’d ever eaten farro before–apparently, other…
Asparagus was 88 cents a pound at the grocery store last weekend. Yay! Seriously, I was really excited. Sometimes, it’s the small things in life. I know it might sound funny, but I get really excited when it’s asparagus season. My favorite quick vegetable side dish is oven roasted asparagus with olive oil and a…
My husband, Jade, heard about using a cast iron skillet to make deep dish pizza while listening to the Splendid Table. We finally got a cast iron skillet last fall to make honey sage cornbread, but we haven’t used it all that much. Jade was interested to see how a pizza would turn out in…
My new office gives us unlimited hot drinks. Most days, I stick with my favorite earl gray, but the past couple afternoons, I’ve indulged by sipping a couple pre-packaged hot chocolates. Those little packets bring back memories of building snow forts and giant snowmen in my front yard. I loved playing in the snow as…
For my daughter’s first birthday, I decided to make a homemade funfetti birthday cake for a couple reason. First, it’s cute and looks pretty. Second, I made a low-sugar healthy smash cake for my son’s first birthday, and he didn’t dig into it like I had hoped. I figured the lure of the sweet buttery…
