Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Pumpkin Spice Cake with Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

You know, I could swear that just last week everyone was talking about their Halloween costumes and making ghoulish treats for their Halloween parties. So, it’s kind of mind-blowing that Thanksgiving is only a week away. I’ve been fighting it for as long as I can, but the upcoming holiday + naked trees outside my…read more »

Garlic Parmesan Pull-Apart Bread

You know what the hardest part of food blogging is? Timing your cooking so that by the time you’re ready to pull out your camera, there’s still enough natural light left to shoot decent photos. If you work during the day, that usually means that by the time you get home and start cooking, you’re…read more »

Omurice (Japanese Omelette Rice)

Dan and I have been eating a lot of cookies lately. Cookies for breakfast, cookies with lunch, cookies in between meals, and cookies for dinner. Who’s surprised? That’s just what happens when we buy jumbo cookies from BJ’s, and then I go on a baking spree. Not that we’re complaining, of course — neither of us…read more »

Strawberry Jam Madeleines

Back in college, I used to bake stuff for all my friends on their birthdays. Really simple things, mainly — cakes from a box with canned frosting, and giant bag-mix cookie cakes were my specialty. If I was feeling really fancy, I’d bust out puff pastry sheets, slice some strawberries, melt chocolate, and make “fruit tarts”….read more »

Snickerdoodles

So, usually I have some kind of back story or anecdote to explain why I’ve made something, but…I got nothin’ this time, y’all. I just really like Snickerdoodles. They’re practically the perfect cookie — crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside, buttery, coated in cinnamon-sugar, and so light/airy that they almost melt in your…read more »

Chicken Pesto Pizza

I’m guest posting again on Milli’s blog today, and I’ve decided to share my recipe for Chicken Pesto Pizza. When I was working at the courthouse, one of my favorite things to get for lunch at the Judge’s Dining Room was the Chicken Pesto Sandwich. Grilled chicken, thick slices of fresh mozzarella and spinach sandwiched…read more »

Chili-Garlic Marinated Chicken

Have you ever gone to a Chinese restaurant, looked at some of the menu items, and thought “who the hell came up with these names???” Sure, the dishes probably sound more delicious in Chinese, and we all know that things get lost in translation…but still. Surely someone could come up with a more appetizing name…read more »

Blackberry Cobbler

There has been an explosion of pumpkin themed posts on food blogs lately, and it’s making me crazy. Kind of like how it makes me crazy to see all the Christmas decorations at the mall when Halloween is barely over. I know, I know…pumpkins in October = completely different scenario. It’s fall. The leaves are…read more »

Octopus Sausages

Aren’t these sausages the cutest things you’ve ever seen??? I see them packed into bentos all the time in the mangas I read, but I never thought they were actually possible to make. So, when I saw a step-by-step recipe for octopus sausages in my new favorite food-themed manga, I knew what my Halloween blog…read more »

General Tso’s Tacos

OK, so my original promise to my friend Peng was that I’d take the General Tso’s chicken I made a couple days ago, wrap it in a flour tortilla with some fried rice and kimchi, and create a “ChiPanda Burrito.” Despite my reservations about the deliciousness of such a thing, I was gonna make it….read more »