Just Putzing Around the Kitchen

Fresh Strawberry Pie

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One of my favorite childhood memories is of my parents taking me strawberry picking in Texas. No idea where…Corpus Christi? Houston? Unclear. All I know is that it was one of those places where the strawberry plants were grown stacked on top of each other, so the rows of plants (each plant loaded with ripe berries) towered…read more »

Mushroom Tart

This post is kinda misleading because I did not cook a single meal this week. Yup. It’s true. Zero. Cooking. We ate out 3 out of the 5 days, ordered in another day, and the rest of the time we ate leftovers. The tart you see here was actually last weekend — I just forgot…read more »

Homemade Oreo Cookies

This week has been a blur of cookie baking. Not cake, not pie…just cookies. Thumbprint cookies, key lime pie cookies…and now homemade oreo cookies. Phew!   Why so many cookies, you ask? Because just as I was pondering what to get everyone at the office for Christmas, the good people at HR sent out an…read more »

Almost No-Bake Cheesecake

True or false: I have been dying to get my hands on some mini spring-form pans so that I can make adorable, baby-sized cheesecakes? True. So true! I’m a total sucker for miniaturized versions of regular things. In college, my dorm was filled with all kinds of crap that I bought for the sole reason…read more »

Stuffed Pork Chops with Gravy

Apparently Thursdays are now “pork chop” days, because this is two weeks running that we’ve eaten pork for dinner. What can I say, I’m unimaginative in my eating. Also, I still have a million pork chops in the freezer that need to get eaten. And I just love pork, period. It’s like Anthony Bourdain once…read more »

Baked Italian-Style Breaded Pork Chops

There is way too much food in our freezer. We’ve got a billion packets of bacon, tubs of uneaten ice cream, endless gallon bags stuffed with steaks, chicken breasts, pork chops, salmon filets and tilapia. I think there might even be a container of scallops somewhere in the back. Why? Because we live a block…read more »

Shrimp Carbonara

Dan was feeling under the weather today and had to leave work early. What does one feed to a sick person? Ginger ale and soda crackers? How boring! And so sad. I figured something heartier would perk his immune system up faster. I’ve been reading Closet Cooking a lot lately, and the guy loves his shrimp. He’s…read more »

Crab Cakes

Dan hates grocery shopping with me. He says that no matter what I have written down on my shopping list, and no matter how many times I say that “this is gonna be a real quick trip, I promise!” I always end up meandering down the aisles and walking away with 50 extra things “I…read more »

Apple Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts

This past weekend, in order to celebrate the fact that we now officially own our condo, Dan and I invited some friends over for a housewarming brunch. Dan was in charge of the eggs and bacon, and I tried my hand at doughnuts. Doughnuts are usually fried, right? That’s a problem, because not only do…read more »

Okonomiyaki

In the last two days or so, I’ve become obsessed with a food blog called “Closet Cooking.” It was started by a guy who realized one day that he was eating the same things over and over again, and wanted to spice up his daily dining experiences. So he dove right into the world of…read more »

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Lately Dan and I have been eating a lot of mozzarella sticks, leftover takeout, and cold pizza. My mom’s birthday lunch kind of burned me out on the cooking front, and I haven’t been able to muster the energy to whip up anything blog-worthy. There were the glazed, grilled pork chops last Friday, but…I was…read more »