Bacon Basil Cornbread Muffins

bacon basil cornbread muffins

This started off with such an innocent thought: I haven’t had cornbread in a while… From there my mind wandered to the mound of fresh corn in my fridge. Well I should definitely add some of that. But I can’t JUST add corn. What else… Crispy bacon? Sure. Use the rendered bacon fat in place […]

Charred Corn Salad

charred corn salad

Let’s consider this step one of incorporating real food back into my diet. A week of awesome vacationing/eating in San Diego was directly followed by a week of sickness/sleeping, during which the most solid food I ate was an antibiotic. Yesterday I was able to stand up long enough to leave the house, so I […]

Pickled Vegetables

pickled vegetables

This has been an adventurous week over here. I crossed two, yes TWO, things off my cooking bucket list! Whoa – big things! On Wednesday I cleaned and prepared mussels for the first time. This one I’m almost ashamed to admit. For the amount of mussels I’ve consumed in my life, I feel like I […]

Mango & Jicama Salad

mango & jicama salad

This salad seems entirely appropriate coming off the heels of a serious Breaking Bad addiction in this household. Super serious. Three weeks ago, the hubs innocently suggested we start watching it, probably thinking we’d be able to continue on with life as usual afterward. Oh no. In that time, we blew threw all 4 seasons with […]

Loaded BBQ Chicken Pizza

loaded bbq chicken pizza

There’s always an exception to every rule, isn’t there? Normally, I’m a pizza minimalist. I don’t want too many toppings or much sauce. Sometimes no sauce. Throw some thinly sliced asparagus and pecorino romano on a slab o’ dough with some salt and I’m happy. Well, bake it first please. Then I’m happy. But… BUT! When […]

Pan Seared Cod with Rainbow Chard

rainbow chard

I have some partially completed projects floating around right now: An advertisement that’s finished in my mind, but not on my computer screen. A pile of merely thumbed through magazines sitting next to the new ones that won’t stop arriving. A stack of manuals for a new camera that I made a weak attempt at starting. […]

Mexican Breakfast Hash

mexican breakfast hash

Well this week was… eventful. Or not, depending on how you look at it. I started it off by pulling a muscle in my back, spent the next few days mostly in bed, then topped it all off with a couple of cooking misadventures. Nothing is more discouraging than throwing away food. At least I […]

Bacon Jam Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

bacon jam roasted chicken & vegetables

Sometimes you make something once and know that you’ll never try any other version of it; it’s just too perfect to stray from. Ina Garten’s chicken stock comes to mind. Sure I’ve made variations on it, but this is my base recipe for chicken stock. I’ve seen plenty of chicken stock recipes that look/sound great, […]

Roasted Fennel, Garlic & White Bean Crostini

roasted garlic, fennel & white bean dip

It’s party time people. Swanky part time. We’re talking bow ties, Louboutins, diamonds – the works. Pinkies up. At least this is where my mind wanders to when I hear words like “crostini” and “canapes”. Does this really have to be the case though? Can’t we just eat fancy, without having to be fancy? Maybe even get some elegant […]

Shepherd’s Pie

shepherd

My calendar just informed me that it’s March. Apparently this has been the case for a few days now. It also informed me that there’s this holiday coming up where we all pretend to be Irish for a day, so I guess my recent craving for shepherd’s pie worked out pretty nicely. Any dish where […]