August 26th, 2013 | 
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Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Corn Muffins
I love making food for friends. It’s probably one of the greatest joys in my life. When I cook for someone, it’s like I’m offering up a little box of love that I designed and created just for them. I try to think about what kind of foods they like, their dietary preferences and then I like to get a little creative with it. There are two parts about the process that I truly love – getting creative designing the dish and watching the face of the person I made it for when they try it for the first time. Oh yeah, it’s also pretty killer if they go back for seconds.
Posted in Appetizers, Breads/Rolls, Snack Foods | 
Tags: baking, bread, corn muffin, cornbread, pesto, Savory, sun-dried tomato | 
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1 Comment »Friday Favorites: Very Berry Limoncello Trifle
This Friday Favorite is a new recipe in our rolodex but after one bite, it was instant love. Berries are so abundant and fresh right now that I can’t help but keep a stock in the fridge. The problem with that is that I need to use them. We have been eating berries a lot with greek yogurt and a touch of honey but having that all the time is not quite enough to glorify these juicy morsels. There are so many ways to use fresh berries (some more to try HERE), but who doesn’t love them in dessert? Uh, NOBODY, that’s who!
Posted in Desserts, Vegetarian | Tags: berries, cream cheese, dessert, lemon, trifle | Print Recipe | 3 Comments »Parchment Baked Tropical Rockfish
I realize that I haven’t shared much about our (that is, M’s and my) honeymoon in Hawaii. We were able to spend close to three glorious weeks exploring the most beautiful state in the country. And, since today is the anniversary of the day that our Polynesian sister became a state, I thought I’d sing her praises a bit.
First, I thought no place had weather more glorious than Southern California but I must say that Hawaii might possibly win on this one. Why? There are no cold nights. Sure, it’s more humid and days can get hot but overall it stays about 80-85 degrees which is just about perfect in my book. You can grow a summer garden year round which rocks.
Posted in Main Dishes, Seafood | Tags: baked, coconut, fish, mango, seafood, tropical | Print Recipe | 2 Comments »Creamy Miso Avocado Dressing
Growing up in the Midwest, I was not exposed to many different salad dressings. I remember selections being ranch, Italian, blue cheese and well, ranch. Ranch dressing always tasted exceptionally strong to me and I always picked blue cheese to don my greens which, I guess, is also strong – go figure. I remember being excited when this “new” dressing, balsamic vinaigrette (up in lights in my head, cue angel choir) showed up on the scene. Suddenly, I abandoned all those other creamy concoctions for this tart thin runny dressing. I started to think there must be more out there. I started to wonder where it is.
Posted in Condiments, Dips, Salads, Sauces | Tags: avocado, dip, miso, salad dressing, sauce | Print Recipe | 11 Comments »Friday Favorites: Drunk Pasta
When M and I were dating we would go out partying a lot with my friends. Friday nights were epic and when things would wind down, we would inevitably end up back at my apartment, drunk, laughing and hungry. Most of the time, our friends C&A were with us and we’d play cards to wind down the night. Before that, however, we needed to eat! C and I would furiously go through the pantry and fridge and start whipping up a crazy concoction while the boys looked on in wonder at our drunk cooking escapade.
Posted in Main Dishes, Meat Dishes, Pasta | Tags: drinking, drunk, pasta, sausage, turkey | Print Recipe | 8 Comments »Smoky Shrimp, Avocado & Mango Salad
M and I recently returned from our honeymoon in Hawaii. We had some amazing adventures including one in particular where we got caught in a flash flood on a trek to a secret waterfall after kayaking up a river. Yeah, that was pretty crazy but totally fun at the same time! We went ziplining, M went scuba diving, we hiked a little, walked a lot and snorkeled in some of the best spots in the world. The best snorkeling we found was on the North Shore of Oahu at Shark’s Cove. It was so beautiful, it was like swimming on top of a giant aquarium. We saw dozens of different kind of multi-colored fishes and even some moray eels – eek! I can’t help but be freaked out by eels. The Little Mermaid ruined them for me for life.
