The key to extra-juicy rib-eye steaks, according to chef Renee Erickson, of the restaurant formally known as, Boat Street Café in Seattle, is to “baste them with butter while they sear“. That is what I learned in culinary school and why this pan-seared rib eye recipe was a must-make recipe for me when I read […]

Food can be a powerful thing. I’ve said it before and I believe it–food connects us. Sometimes it’s a simple ingredient, a subtle flavor, or just an aroma that can remind us of someone or something special. Food can trigger memories and bring you back to a specific time or a place within seconds. I […]

Winner winner chicken dinner. Can anyone ever have enough chicken recipes? Here is a fantastic one and one that has been on repeat in my house for some time now. But before I tell you why I love this dish so much, I need to offer a little backstory on this popular phrase that everyone […]

Swoon-worthy chocolate chip mochi waffles, as if breakfast couldn’t get any better. The main ingredient in these waffles is a sweet rice flour known as Mochiko, and this is what creates the amazing chewy texture mochi is known for. The other ingredients used in this waffle batter are similar to other standard waffle recipes such […]

Hello fall! There are many things I love about the fall season, the warm days with cool nights, the crisp air, sweaters of any kind, fall vegetables, Thanksgiving, my birthday, and almost anything involving apples. I also adore sangria. So that is how we got to this new fall favorite of mine, hard cider sangria. […]

My love of oats is no secret, if you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m a big overnight oat fan. Oats are a great addition to many things in the baking world, power bars, smoothies, dessert bars, cookies, and of course, muffins. Oats add texture and I’m a big fan of that when it comes […]

Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging chocolate chip cookies are now world-famous and rightly so. Kieffer’s recipe for these insanely delicious cookies first appeared in her cookbook called Vanilla Bean Baking Book. They were later featured in the NY Times, and the rest they say, is history. Kieffer is a self-taught baker and one that I admire very […]

Chicken kreplach soup is a dish my husband has asked me to develop for a while now. Kreplach (pronounced krep-lakh) or “krepel” if singular, is the Yiddish name for the traditional triangular pieces of dough filled with ground meat or chicken, similar to dumplings. Also known as “Jewish wontons“, kreplach, just like Chinese dumplings, can be boiled and served in chicken soup […]

Rice pudding is something my mother loves. Although she never made it from scratch, I have always associated rice pudding with her. My mother did not teach me how to make this classic comfort food, ironically I learned how to make it at my first job out of culinary school. Although hired as a saucier, […]

The Cobb salad is an American classic and one of the first salads I was introduced to as a kid. It was and remains, the perfect salad. A Cobb is a beautiful, bountiful salad representing a symphony of flavors and textures. Eating a Cobb salad is never a chore, but rather a culinary experience. To […]

Every Jewish family has a kugel recipe as well as a strong opinion about it. Kugel is not a required Jewish holiday dish, but trust me, by not required, I mean it’s at every Jewish holiday meal. I have been asked many times over the years what my kugel recipe is…ironically, I had never really […]

In the United States, Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. What it has also come to represent is a long weekend in September that unofficially marks the end of summer. As a kid raised don the East Coast, this meant the last hurrah before the new school year began. […]

The margarita is undoubtedly the most popular tequila cocktail the world over, followed by the Paloma. The Toromha cocktail is a close cousin of the margarita and is believed to have been invented by the Tequila Tezon company. The “Toronha” name comes from “toronja” (the Spanish word for grapefruit) and takes the extra ‘h’ from the […]

There is nothing better than fresh pasta. And despite what many believe, fresh pasta dough it’s not all that difficult to make, you can even make it in a kitchen mixer. Making homemade pasta was what I call a pandemic obsession. Along with homemade sourdough, I spent many hours making home pasta as I found it […]

I remember when smoothie bowls became a thing. And I’ll admit it, I didn’t fully get them at first, but now I do. Smoothie bowls are often confused with açaí bowls, but they are not the same they are completely different in origin. And to clarify, traditional smoothies, made of pureed fruit mixtures (the ones […]