Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Salmon & Avocado Poke Bowl

When Dan and I first started dating, he told me that he didn’t really like Asian food. Rice was too bland, and anything more adventurous than Orange Chicken was too much. His idea of Chinese food was Panda Express and the over-sweet, candy-red BBQ ribs and fried egg rolls from some place called China Villa….read more »

Homemade Teriyaki Chicken

Is it weird that I sometimes miss college dining? Not dining hall food…definitely not. My dorm’s dining hall served mainly bland stir fries, greasy baked ziti, and soggy Monty Cristo sandwiches. Blech. What I do miss is the food from student center. I liked having all those options, you know? There was a brick oven pizza…read more »

Crockpot Parmesan Chicken….and a Giveaway! [GIVEAWAY CLOSED]

Happy 2014, everyone! Did you guys have fun over the holidays and/or New Years? Maybe you’re a little bit like me, and maybe you slightly over-indulged (a lot) over the holidays. Perhaps you are still getting residual bouts of heartburn from all that rich, indigestible food you shoveled happily into your body and all those boozy cocktails…read more »

Reader’s Choice: Best of 2013

Well, 2014 is almost upon us. How did that even happen? 2013 was kind of a blur for me. Work was busy, wedding planning kept me really busy, and then there were all those trips for friends’ weddings, the honeymoon, and a whole bunch of other reasons I can’t even remember now sprinkled in the mix….read more »

Unicorn Tears

Guys, my glassware/bar ware habit is getting out of hand. Even after donating like 4 boxes of stuff to Good Will, I am quickly running out of space (read: have already run out of space but am in denial) to store all of the new glasses and bottles I keep buying. My most recent purchase?…read more »

DIY Flavored Butters

Alright. It’s the morning of Christmas Eve. You’re getting ready for your annual holiday party later tonight. The tree is fully decked out, the stockings have been hung, and your gifts are all wrapped and tucked nicely under the tree. You’re running through your mental checklist of things that were supposed to be done by…read more »

DIY Flavored Extracts

Guys. Are y’all as excited about DIY foodie holiday gifts as I am? I don’t know what’s going on with me this year, but I have literally flagged every single DIY food-related article I’ve run across online (damn you, Buzzfeed). Flavored butters, cupcakes in a jar, mulled wine kits, homemade nutella…so cute, so practical, so…read more »

Classic Thumbprint Cookies, Revisited

It’s almost Christmas, which can only mean one thing – time to make a billion cookies. Sugar cookies, gingerbread cookies, peppermint cookies, hot cocoa cookies…so many cookies to choose from, so little time to cram them into my mouth. Nom nom nom, cookie cookie cookie. In my family, the only type of cookie that matters…read more »

Charlene’s Red Velvet Cupcakes

The first time I made red velvet cake was in back in law school, around the time I started this blog. It was my friend Jill’s birthday, and red velvet was her favorite, so I decided to surprise her with a homemade birthday cake. I hadn’t made a lot of non-box mix cakes at that…read more »

Sauteed Garlic Bacon Brussel Sprouts

Can we all just take a minute to process the fact that brussel sprouts grow on stalks? Like, big, thick branches covered with fat little sprout bulbs! Did you know that? I definitely did not. I sort of always assumed that the brussel sprouts I saw in the grocery store just….grew out of the ground that…read more »