Since I work around food all day, I tend to eat pretty healthy breakfasts. I have become a walking advertisement for that old saying of starting the day off right with a good breakfast. Sadly no more waffles or bagels for breakfast. I find that if I start the day with something quasi-healthy, I can usually go the day without binging on the baked goods that always seem to be hanging around at work. My normal breakfast is a salad (boring I know) but if I had time, I would always make myself a version huevos rancheros. So delicious and so healthy.
Read MoreSo I rarely talk about my day job as a test kitchen cook on here mostly because this is a place where I can try out my own recipes and talk about random things like travel and kitchen design. (I do post a lot of pictures from the test kitchen on Instagram) But there are a couple outstanding recipes that I have tested recently that I want to make sure you all know about.
Read MoreI recently cooked dinner for 25 people. All by myself. I know, I am crazy and I may have lost my mind in thinking I could do it alone. But amazingly I did it and survived - with only one minor slice to my finger.
Read MoreI know I have been posting nothing but salads recently, but that is all I seem to want to eat. Nice crisp, cold salads. This one is no exception. You wouldn't think it, but the combination of tomatoes and watermelon together is pretty amazing. Sweet, tangy perfection. One of these days I will start posting other recipes like pies and hearty fall food, but until then I am getting my fill on fruits and vegetables because this tomato watermelon salad is what I am going to be dreaming about come cold, dreary January.
Read MoreLast week I had the chance to check out a dinner at 18 reasons. 18 reasons is a great organization which has cooking classes and generally supports the food movement happening here in the Bay Area. The reason I went though was to enjoy a feast by two amazing bloggers/cooks/artists - Kimberly Hasselbrink from The Year in Food and Erin Gleeson from The Forest Feast. They both have beautiful blogs and have come out with cookbooks recently. They joined forces in creating a "Vibrant Feast" - 4 courses of fresh, delicious, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes. The menu included an amazing roasted red pepper soup, as well a zucchini pasta dish with green goddess dressing and finished with a perfect summer fruit crisp.
Read MoreI have to admit, I don't really like camping. I am sorry, I know, I know but it is not really my jam. I can go glamping, but camping without running water, electricity or bathrooms isn't really how I like to spend my time off. We did go fake camping last summer and it was amazing but there were fire pits, bathrooms and I brought a well stocked cooler that included watermelon margaritas and artisanal hot dogs. Is that even considered camping? But you know what i do love about camping - s'mores. Ooey goey s'mores. Nothing beats those suckers. But since I am not going to find myself camping anytime soon or in front of a fire pit, I decided I need to be able to get that taste and those flavors all year-long. What is the perfect vehicle for these? Cupcakes. So the next time you want all those delicious camping flavors but can't bring yourself to go camping make these s'mores cupcakes and it will be just like the real thing.
Read MoreYou know what the secret to a delicious salad is? (Haven't you always wanted to know the answer to that burning question?) Adding something sweet. I know that kind of defeats the purpose of a healthy salad, but try it - everything will taste better. Can I point out how popular spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette was in the 90s? Exactly. Now I am not calling for sugar but a little honey in the vinaigrette didn't hurt anyone. What about adding fruit into your salad? Yeah? Neah? I think it is a complete yeah - especially with all of the delicious stone fruit that is coming into season. Combine that with some creamy and dreamy burrata and you are in salad heaven. This stone fruit salad with burrata will make you completely forget that you are actually eating something healthy. I know that is a big claim but try it and I promise you will love it.
Read MoreI am pretty sure that there is no one out there that loves carbs more than me. Pizzas, bagels, bread - basically any kind of carb is totally my jam. But being around food all day long and trying to rein it in a little bit when I am at home, I find myself making salads. The same old boring salad. So in an attempt to kick it up a notch I threw in some raw cauliflower to trick myself into thinking I was eating rice when it was cauliflower. And it worked! Here is my
Read MoreIs it safe to say that summer is upon us? I always consider summer Memorial Day to Labor Day. 3 months of sunshine, outdoor eating and lots of travel. Bring it on. You know what goes well with summer? Ice cream. Loads and loads of ice cream. Sadly eggs and I are not really getting along these days so I can’t have real ice cream. (I know it is horrible) But that is not going to stop me. I decided to recreate one of my favorite frozen treats I used to eat all the time in SF and make it egg free so I can eat it. My secret ingredient, coconut milk. You may think Nutella ice cream is going to taste all hippie dippie with coconut milk, but it might just make you forget any ice cream that came before it. Consider yourself warned.
Read MoreHave you ever have a meal that you couldn't forget? Something you remember long, long after you have eaten it? I recently went to a brunch at my friend Lindsay's apartment and along with the help of her husband, she served the most amazing lemon ricotta pancakes. That was 2 weeks ago and I can't get them out of my head. They were amazing. Plus, the best part was the homemade syrup. Yep, homemade syrup. Incredible. So.... you have two choices, you can read on and find out the recipe (or my version at least) to these pancakes or you can visit Eat With, a global community of food lovers that invites you to dine in homes around the world.. Lindsay is a host with Eat With, as well as my other friend Coreen (both from cooking school). Check them out if you are in the Bay Area or have any plans to visit, I promise they will be meals that you won't forget.
Read MoreOur new house is literally next door to a farmer's market. I am not exaggerating, you want out the front door, walk about 20 steps and you are there. It is amazing. I was wandering around the market on Sunday morning and I noticed that it had basically become summer overnight. There were cherries, sweet corn, zucchini and lots and lots of strawberries. Even a peach or two. Which is amazing don't get me wrong, but where did spring go? I can't believe it is almost June. (I may say this every year, but this year is the worst because moving might be the biggest time suck out there - these past couple of months are a blur) So in one last homage to this past spring which I apparently don't remember, I made this farmer's market spring salad with every grassy, vibrant green vegetable I could find as well as some strawberries. It is like eating your garden minus the dirt.
Read MoreLuke was recently in Abu Dhabi and brought back the most beautiful Iranian dates. He knows me well enough that a) when he travels without me, he must bring me back presents as a form of restitution and b) it always has to be food. So in an effort to make up for the fact he went on an exotic vacation without me, he brought me some beautiful dates. And boy are they yummy. Someone said to me recently that dates are going to be the next hot food. You heard it here first folks. The next hot food. They are great natural sweeteners and might be the best appetizer ever with you stuff them with cheese and wrap them in bacon. But today I am sharing my new favorite way to eat dates - a date milkshake.
Read MoreWe are en route to Mexico for a long weekend and I cannot wait. Since we will be in Mexico and on the beach in swimsuits and all that, I have decided I need to do a cleanse while I am there. One that involved lots and lots of margaritas, preferably with a large bowl of guacamole and chips. Since I have been dreaming about this little getaways for months now, I have decided I should probably get ready for this cleanse by practicing. Practice makes perfect, right? My blood orange margaritas were the perfect way to get me ready. It is all for the sake of cleansing.
Read MoreCalifornia has been in a major drought recently and thankfully over the past couple of weeks we have gotten some serious rain. Although I love when it pours here, because it rarely does (not like it does in Florida) I get a little stir crazy when stuck inside. So last weekend during another downpour I decided to try a cake that I have wanted to experiment with for a while - a lemon olive oil cake. I know olive oil sounds like a weird ingredient to put in a cake but it made the cake light, delicious and moist. Plus the grassy flavor of the oil matched perfectly with the tart sweetness of the Meyer lemons.
Read MoreLast week I got to spend a couple days at Alt Summit Salt Lake City, the mecca of all blogging. It is a three-day whirlwind conference where you get to meet amazing bloggers and brands, as well as hear some incredible speakers, including the Founder of Pinterest, Brit from Brit & Co, as well as Christy Turlington. (I seriously love her. She asked me to take a picture for her and I almost exploded with excitement). All of that is to say that it was amazing and totally exhausting, but feeling inspired to create some new "features" and content for this site. So when I got back to California I was craving some healthy comfort food. For me that is fish tacos. Healthy, tasty, and nutrious. These fish tacos helped me recover from the whirlwind trip and the new-found whiskey habit I picked up there as well(don't ask).
Read MoreLuke was out-of-town this past weekend and when he goes out-of-town it is my chance to make all the food that he hates and refuses to eat. One of the foods that he hates are mushrooms. He has a total and complete aversion to mushrooms for some reason. But I love them. So while he was out of the house, I made a big pot of herbed mushrooms over some creamy polenta.
Read MoreSo I am going to get this recipe in right before the New Year. Right before New Year's resolutions take all of the fun out of eating. Which is exactly what they are going to do to me. (I have been ordered by a medical professional to remove gluten, dairy and eggs for the first 3 months of the year. Ugg! More on that later) I am giving myself until the New Year to listen to that so I am currently eating gluten, eggs and dairy with wild abandon. Bourbon coffee milkshakes is definitely on that list of things to eat before the New Year.
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