This post is sponsored by Aiya America, who likes to encourage my love of seasonal baked goods. Because come on, with all of the grinchy, piney, mistletoey color around this time of the year, who wouldn't love a little green in their Christmas dessert? This winter, can we take some time to celebrate the fact...
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Slow Cooker Jamaican Jerk Chicken Chili with Plantain Chips
Consider this my SOS call.
20 Minute Sweet & Sticky Caribbean Shrimp
I'm in complete and utter denial that we've returned to this time of year. Not because of the holidays (I happen to like those), but because I need to smother myself in 68 layers of sweater material to somewhat-comfortably waddle my way to the mailbox. We're talking the type of outfits that would rival Randy's from...
Crispy Cranberry-Herb Butter Butterflied Turkey with Roasted Vegetables
See all of those glorious blackened bits? I bet you can't make this turkey and not pick off some of those morsels to eat them before serving. Go on and try-- call it an impossible exercise in self-restraint. Just like with any "blackened" recipe, the charred bits on this Crispy Cranberry-Herb Butter Butterflied Turkey with Roasted Vegetables are the...
Spider Web S'more Cheesecake Brownies
For about 315 straight days every year, you could call me a Halloween costume visionary. From pop culture to punny to straight up scary costumes, I'm a veritable goldmine of ideas. "How ever will I choose?" I ask myself, but of course I never write down my favorites, because that would be the smart thing to do, and I'd...
Southwestern Chicken Cobb Salad with Jalapeño Buttermilk Ranch
There are two types of salads in the world, you know. Some are simple, light, and healthy. They're sort that are loaded up with greens and drizzled with a light vinaigrette; the sort that leaves you the tiniest bit hungry, but in a good way; the sort that you eat at the end of the...
Jamaican Jerk Pork Chops with Curry-Spiced Sweet Potatoes and Mango Salsa
I'm not nearly the only one who snuck off with the cordless phone as a child and dialed in with high hopes for my future, enticed by the woman on TV who insisted in her (faux-) Carribbean accent that I "Call Now For A Free Reading!" Free was an interesting choice of words, of course, as...
Rainbow Sherbet Smoothies
Every time I sat at the bench at the entrance of Sunnyside Farms, that fat, old black dog would waddle over and plop down in front of me, resting his back against my leg, looking up at my ice cream cone impatiently. Sunnyside Farms was my absolute favorite place as a kid, although to us it was...
Umami Bomb Mushroom Burgers
Ah, umami. Prounced like the catcall ("ooh mami"), but much more likely to get single men results. I don't think any of my friends have ever responded favorably to shouts on the street-- I know I haven't-- but an explosion of savory flavor in the kitchen? Well, that can really woo a woman. Unsolicited dating advice courtesy of...
Smoky Shrimp Pasta Salad with Chipotle-Honey Vinaigrette
This Smoky Shrimp Pasta Salad with Chipotle Dressing is about to make a lot of people reaaaal popular this summer.
4 Must-Make Salsas
Can we have a moment of silence for all of the snack aisle salsas that'll get tossed from the refrigerator shelves to the trash bins right after people have a taste of these aptly named, homemade, Must-Make Salsas?
Loaded Nacho Bombs
Nachos are pretty much the quintessential football food. They're tortilla chips piled high with seasoned ground beef and refried beans, blanketed in melted cheese and salsa, and topped with sour cream-- what's not to love about that, right? Besides the fact that the toppings nearly never wind up evenly distributed, of course. And how the chips...
Southwestern Chicken and Sweet Potato Skillet
Have you been keeping up with things around here? If so, you already know that James and I moved in together last month, and so far it's been a meltdown-free experience so I'm going to label it a success. As I write this, I'm sitting on our nicely made bed with our new sheets, comforter, pillows,...
Sweet Chili Crab Dip
Sure, I sometimes like to go all out, but I much more often prefer some demi-cheeked fanciness. Bringing out the nice wine glasses with the takeout Chinese food, the nail polish stickers that make it look like you went to the salon recently, nibbling on Texas caviar, you know, that kind of stuff. It's really all about enjoying...
Chorizo, Caramelized Onion, and Poblano Sausage Rolls with Creamy Cilantro Dip
I have an almost impressive ability to polish off whole trays of pigs in a blanket in seconds flat. It's not at all uncommon to catch me lingering by the appetizer spread at a party, eradicating the bite-sized cocktail sausages before anyone else gets an opportunity to enjoy them. I try to be discreet. I try to have...
Spicy Garlic Crunch Chicken
I went through a bit of a recipe slump recently where I'd think of recipes, write up the ingredients I thought I'd need and their approximate amounts, and then minutes before going to the grocery store, I'd completely change my mind and decide that I didn't want to make those dishes anymore. And then I'd...
One Pot Penne Alla Vodka with Sausage
All logical reasons considered, I should NOT like Penne Alla Vodka. I've only recently come around to tomato-based sauces (and still approach them with caution), and the vodka-- well, for all of the reasons I've ever imbibed, "Vodka is delicious" has never been one of them. Yet here I am, eating a bowl full of...
Jalapeno Pinto Bean "Hummus"
If you asked me to describe hummus, I'd tell you that it was a creamy dip made mainly of chickpeas and tahini. Yet here I am, calling this pinto bean and jalapeno-packed dip by that name, even though it has neither chickpeas nor tahini in it. What gives? Well, flavor and texture-wise, Jalapeno Pinto Bean...
Easy Vegetable Enchilada Skillet
In an unexpected twist of events that would shock and appall my former 5-year-old self, I have grown to love vegetables. I am like a kid in a candy store in the produce section during the warmer-weather months. Aside from the massive (and I do mean massive) amounts of cheese in my fridge, there are...
Sofritas Tofu Burrito Bowls
As a lover of bacon, pulled pork, and burgers, a lot of people find it surprising when I say that I also adore tofu. Or maybe I should say I adore good tofu. Tofu gets a bad wrap from the many people who don't know how to properly prepare the wiggly soybean curd, leaving a lot of people to think...
Mexican Stuffed Peppers (Chorizo-Stuffed Poblanos)
Do you want to know the absolute worst part of being a food blogger? I hope you said yes; I'm going to assume you said yes. The WORST part of food blogging is that you almost never have the time to make a recipe more than once or twice. Think about it-- you spend all...
How To Tell If Your Avocado Is Ripe
I know I'm not the only one who spends 25 minutes hovering over the avocado bin at the grocery store every time I've got a recipe in mind that requires some of that green goodness. "Is this one too soft?" I wonder. "Too green?" "It looks good now, but how will it look in a...
Baked Chicken Chimichangas with Monterey Jack Cheese Sauce
Yesterday I cried at Starbucks. Not like a little whimper, I'm talking full on sob-crying with little pools of tears collecting on the lid of my coffee. It was not my finest moment, guys. Not my finest moment at all. I'm pretty sure James was contemplating running for the hills and never looking back.
Garlic Lemon Chicken Stir Fry
I just came back from my lunch break, and according to my car it is 75 degrees out right now. I can believe it, because I actually felt the need to turn the air conditioning on. Then I remembered that my air conditioning is still broken because I always convince myself not to spend the...
Boozy Raspberry Hot Chocolate
I've never been a huge fan of hot chocolate, but I also never realized that real hot chocolate doesn't come from a powder packet. In real hot chocolate, you actually melt chocolate and add milk and cream, which probably should be obvious but I never even considered it. It tastes like liquid happiness. Or at least...
Pasta Greco
I've apologized once before for keeping a recipe from you for a week. I don't even know how to properly apologize for this one-- I've been keeping this from you for months now. Of all things to keep from you, why Pasta Greco? I have no idea. This is my go-to recipe. It is so delicious, and...
Planter's Punch
I want to tell you about the sunshine we've had lately, but I already did. I want to tell you how amazing a Jamaican cocktail can make you feel on a beautiful day, but I already did. The Dark N' Stormy is an awesome drink that I just can't get enough of, but this time,...
Dark 'N Stormy Cocktail
It's a beautiful day out in New Jersey, which is shocking to see and write after what has seemed like a century of dreariness. The skies are blue, the sun is shining, and it seems only right to celebrate the amazing weather with a cocktail. The perfect drink for such an occasion? The Dark 'N...