Our weekend will likely involve a lot of packing and stacking boxes. But I hope to break for at least one of these festive recipes. ¡Salud! 1. Chilaquiles with Poached Eggs 2. Guacamole 3. Corn, Tomatoes, and Black Bean Salad 4. Tequila Lime Chicken 5. Sangria 6. Key Lime Cupcakes

(Thank you all SO much for your sweet comments on yesterday’s post!) Want to know how confident I was that Nick would get into CMU? I baked this decadent and celebration-worthy dessert before he received confirmation of his acceptance. Thankfully, he got the good news at 3:30pm, just as I finished spreading peanut butter frosting [...]

Meatballs are easy to make and easy to freeze (after preparing and before baking). We especially like this version with ground turkey, ginger, garlic, and cilantro. Serve over a bed of fried rice or quinoa with a drizzle of lime sesame sauce for a simple weeknight meal. Asian Turkey Meatballs (Print Recipe) Makes 12 meatballs. [...]

So continues the ending quest to satisfy my sweet tooth with treats that don’t involve cups of sugar, sticks of butter, and scoops of ice cream. How about chewy granola bars with almonds, pecans, oats, sesame seeds, dried cherries, and dark chocolate chips? Combine all of the above, then heat honey, coconut oil, salt, vanilla [...]

If you’re on Pinterest, then I suspect you’ve seen a version of this recipe. Bubble up enchiladas. Bubble up pizza. Bubble up chicken pot pie. The approach is the same, and so easy. Combine and cook a filling of your choice, i.e. ground turkey with onions, black beans, corn, enchilada sauce, and tomato sauce. Then [...]

This simple dish is very similar to one of our favorites: roasted butternut squash orzo, which also includes spinach and cranberries. Serve it as an accompaniment to pork tenderloin or mustard-baked chicken, or on its own in a big bowl. Protein-rich quinoa, roasted sweet potatoes, tart cranberries, a splash of balsamic vinegar, and raw spinach [...]

Meet our new favorite pizza. Swap tomato sauce for spicy chili sauce. Replace pepperoni and mushrooms with chicken, carrots, and bean sprouts. Sprinkle with cilantro and basil. And finish with a handful of crushed peanuts. Bright, fresh, flavorful. Just in time for Spring. Thai Chicken Pizza (Print Recipe) Makes 1 rectangular pizza or 2 round [...]

Happy birthday today to my very wonderful mother! She received her gifts from us last weekend: seasons 1 and 2 of Downton Abbey and baked chocolate doughnuts with a buttermilk glaze. Lucky lady, right? Mom’s early birthday celebration was the perfect excuse to break in my new doughnut pan. I considered apple cider doughnuts, blueberry [...]

Our friends, Mike and Kayley, visited earlier this month. They live in Arlington, Virginia, and so a trip to middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania was certainly a change of pace. But Nick and I proved that although we may live closer to cow pastures than to a Crate and Barrel, and we may be parents to an almost-six-month-old [...]

Some girls collect shoes, I collect kitchen gadgets and cookbooks. And Nick is well aware of my culinary interests. Yes, he buys me fancy jewelry for special occasions, but he also spoils me with gifts like this beautiful Emile Henry tagine. Tagines are ideal for cold-weather cooking, and so we pulled it off the hutch [...]