Well kids, welcome to the world of self-isolation in Covid-land. My daughter’s school was canceled as of yesterday because of this insane virus epidemic, and after 8 hours of playing dolls, playdoh, coloring, etc I decided it was time for us to get into the kitchen and do something culinary. My daughter, like most kids, thinks anything with sprinkles in it/on it/near it, is the greatest food ever created. So I channeled my inner child, and remembered those awesome chewy, sprinkle cookies my mom used to get from the local Italian Bakery and recreated a better version of it. I am not going to lie, these might be some of the best cookies I’ve ever made. The texture is a perfect chewy bite and the flavors are perfectly balanced – not too sweet, with nuances of salt and almond extract. My daughter approved immediately and wolfed down 2 cookies before ...

This past week my husband and I have taken to binge watching “The Chef Show” on Netflix. The premise of the show is to follow Korean Chef Roy Choi and actor, turned trained chef, Jon Favreau around both in the kitchen and at various restaurants, cooking and eating foods that inspired the film, “Chef”. Each episode contains a lot of cooking, a lot of eating, and a decent amount of comedy (I must say I have become an even bigger fan of Jon Favreau since watching this)….but the food….the FOOD…my god, the food looks amazing in every episode they make. In one episode, Roy Choi makes a marinated Korean Short Rib (known as Kalbi) and then cooks it at the world Famous Franklin BBQ in Austin Texas. He starts by creating this incredible marinade using 400 ingredients and then smoking the short ribs in one of Franklin’s massive amazing smokers ...

The other night I was talking to my dad on the phone, and inevitably, at some point in our daily conversations food comes up. My dad is a true foodie – he’ll try anything and as a chef, he is the best person to cook for because he enjoys food and has a very broad palate…so asking him what I should cook and feature on the blog is a no brainer. He started talking about a dish my mom used to make, Braciole – which is basically a pinwheel of flattened meat that is stuffed with various ingredients, rolled, seared and then typically braised until cooked. For some reason, the mention of Braciole made me think of a stuffed Chicken, which then made me think of a Ballantine. A Ballantine is a deboned whole chicken, which is then stuffed and typically baked. I have made a Ballantine before (click here ...

In a few weeks I will be participating in my first ever Chili Cook-off! This will be a local event, and I am not really sure what to expect, but when I heard there was a chili cook-off happening, I knew I needed to partake. While the event seems to be pretty unorganized (as I have learned trying to communicate with it’s organizer), and the parameters for the judging haven’t been disclosed I am going in totally blind and just hoping that my Chili stands out from the rest…. I am sure there will be millions of Ground Beef Chilies as well as a few vegetarian Bean Chilies, maybe even a Chicken Chili, but I wanted to go with what I know as “Colorado Chili”. The difference between Colorado Chili and your typical ground beef chili is that the meat used is usually Chuck Meat, cut into cubes and cooked ...

I always find it interesting and amusing how I come up with the idea to cook certain dishes. The other day, I was in the supermarket and I saw these gorgeous, plump, yellow lemons and for some reason my mind said “Chicken Francaise”. I have literally made Chicken Francaise once in my life, and eaten it probably 3 times, but for whatever reason, the sight of these beautiful lemons gave me the inspiration for Chicken Francaise. I guess it’s the mind of a chef, but whatever it may be, the idea was then in my mind and so I give you my version of Chicken Francaise. It’s been a while since I’ve made homemade, pan fried, chicken cutlets, mainly because it’s a laborious process, and lately, my dinners have been all about being quick in the kitchen while my 3 year old runs around asking me 4,000 questions and demanding ...

Well kids, I am preggo again….and this time, it’s with a little boy! While I am incredibly excited for our newest family member to arrive, I have to admit, I am the WORST pregnant person. By the worst, I mean, I just HATE being pregnant. Those women who say they’re “glowing” and feel their best when pregnant, I hate them too. I feel like a 20 ton Orca Whale and I am only 22 weeks pregnant, not to mention, there’s no glowing. I also hate that with pregnancy comes all the rules and restrictions…no alcohol, only 1 cup of coffee a day, no unpasteurized cheeses, but worst of all…..no sushi. Sushi and I are totally in love, and if someone asked me what food I would/could eat every single day for the rest of my life, sushi would be the answer. So while I count down the days until I ...