Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Whole Roast Duck

For Friendsgiving this weekend I roasted a duck. I’m all about turkey alternatives this time of year (turkey is not my jam), and duck is one of my favorites. Dark meat, crispy skin, melty fat…I love it all. I’ve been dying to roast one myself for years now, but for some reason it seemed more daunting than…read more »

Blueberry Brie Pull Apart Bread

Are you guys suckers for commercials the way that I am? Dan always says that when he sees something ridiculous being advertised on TV, his first thought is “I bet Tina would like that.” Sadly, he’s not wrong…my mind is really susceptible to suggestion (and gimmicks…and jingles), you guys. As a food blogger, my favorite commercials are,…read more »

Pumpkin Chili

Keeping up the theme of “hearty, rib-sticking, warm-you-from-the-inside meals for cold weather“, I’m back today with a recipe for pumpkin chili. Strictly speaking, there’s more than just pumpkin in this chili (ground beef and onions and garlic and tomatoes, for example), but it’s pumpkin season, so the pumpkin takes precedence! To be honest though, if…read more »

Oxtail Osso Buco with Parmesan Polenta & Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Mini Trifles…and a GIVEAWAY!

Happy November, everyone! Can you believe it’s November already? Fall is well and truly upon us. Soon enough, it’ll be Thanksgiving, and then Christmas will be here in a flash, which means it’s definitely time to break out the stretchy pants ASAP. Especially since, holidays aside, the colder weather makes everyone want to bust out their favorite soups, stews, roasts, and…read more »

BLT Deviled Eggs

This weekend I learned that I’ve been making hard-boiled eggs wrong my whole life. Did you know that you’re not supposed to just boil the crap out of eggs for 15 straight minutes? News to me! Apparently, the proper way to do it is to place your raw eggs in a pot with room temperature water,…read more »

Blueberry Breakfast Cake with Lemon Yogurt Glaze

This was originally supposed to be a “Dan in the Kitchen” post, but the man in question decided he would rather watch me bake than actually do any baking himself. Still, he spent enough time hovering over my shoulder during the baking process – “supervising” and “quality checking”, he said – that it pretty much amounted to…read more »

Shoyu Ahi Poke

You may remember that when Dan and I were in Paris last year, we almost exclusively ate bread and cheese for every meal – not because we didn’t have any other options, but because the stuff was so fresh and delicious. In Oahu, we fell back into our single-food-focused ways, only this time our obsession was with poke instead of bread. Like…read more »

Acai Bowls

When we were in the North Shore part of Oahu, we saw acai bowls being sold everywhere. It seemed like every beach we went to and every road we drove on had a food truck or three parked nearby advertising “fresh fruit” and “Acai Bowls”. (Also, shrimp – but that’s another recipe/post for another day.) And every single one of…read more »

Crock Pot Kalua Pork + Hawaii

I’m baaaaaack! From Hawaii AND from my blogging hiatus. I return bearing gifts of pictures and stories and tasty recipes inspired by our trip to paradise. Just so you know, I’m still in denial about being back from the islands, so the next few recipes I post will be Hawaiian or Hawaii-inspired. Deal with it. OK? OK. Alright, let’s…read more »

Easy Veggie Dip

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Did y’all have a good holiday weekend? Dan and I did! To get our weekend started off with a bang, we let ourselves get talked into a midnight 5K in the city with our friends Liz and Scott (Liz…you definitely owe me a trip to the suburbs for this). This led to much…read more »