Grain-Free Dark Chocolate Chunk and Blackberry Blondies

I’m not a baker. It’s not my thing. I don’t like to measure or follow instructions. When I’m not developing recipes, you won’t find me with a measuring cup in hand or a baking scale under foot (is that not how baking scales work? Weird). It’s cumbersome to have to be so meticulous. I come from a long line of people who write recipes with the precise measurements of “just put some soy sauce” or “use a few glugs of oil”. I was raised inside of a wild and free kitchen culture. So, as you can imagine,  I don’t like to feel the weight of science on my shoulders as we anticipate, with bated breath, to see if gluten-free brownies are going to rise. Baking is one thing, and gluten-free baking is a whole different more complicated (and sometimes frustrating) animal. You know what I’m talking about, right? Maybe you recently went gluten-free and you decided to google a recipe for bread. You are met with approximately five hundred different types of special order flours–there are many things on this list you didn’t know could even be made into a flour: Chestnuts. Sorghum. Teff. Eye of Newt. Xanthan Gum. Crickets. Unicorn Shoulder. In short, it ain’t always easy. I see you. I hear you. We are one.  […]

Baked Apples with Whipped Peanut Butter Cream

You guys! IT’S FALL!! Sure, I’m still wearing a tank top, but there is actual rain water predicted to fall from these Bay Area skies this weekend. Did you hear that?! RAIN! Temps are going to drop, I am going to stop perpetually sweating in all my nooks and crannies, and it will be seasonally appropriate to break out my well loved galoshes. […]

Turmeric Cauliflower Tabbouleh Salad With Veggies, Herbs & Peaches {Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Paleo, Vegan}

What do you say we sneak in one more late summer recipe to close out the season? You know, just a bookend before the PUMPKINPOCALYPSE explodes in full swing and our internet eyeballs feel the harsh sting of cinnamon and cloves on everything. I’m totally not mad at fall, you guys. In fact, I welcome the cooler weather and the shift in energy that comes with autumn. I like to watch the leaves turn. I get excited when the first rain hits and the dusty golden hills get their first drink of water. I like the feeling of baking my fist pie. I enjoy taking a fork to that pie while watching Netflix and asking my husband to light the first fire of the season. All of these things feel cozy. Give me a sweater and some thick socks and a thermos full of hot toddy. I’m in.  […]

Daikon And Carrot Noodle Salad With Sesame Ginger Dressing

I haven’t sat down to write in this space for three months.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve come here. I’ve flipped the lid of my laptop. I’ve stared blankly into the screen. I’ve opened up a fresh document and wrote over a thousand emotional words about the hollow exhaustion I feel on this lengthy health journey–plus, just all the feelings.

Feelings about shootings,  infuriatingly flippant rape convictions and all of the tirelessly troubling news that seemed to hit over and over again during the summer. The 2016 political climate and how IDONTUNDERSTANDWHATISHAPPENING.  I wrote about why I wasn’t writing. I just wrote all the words that came up. The word vomit. Out of my finger tips. Finger vomit? Feelings vomit? Finger feelings? I wrote those.

How do I say all the things I need to say? How vulnerable is too vulnerable? Do I even have anything important to say? I’ve been silent for too long. Do I even remember how to blog?  This is a food blog, should I even talk about rape here? So many important things are going on, not to mention the crippling exhaustion I’ve faced these last months struggling with my own health. Should I let them know that sometimes, even though I’m strong, I cry and sincerely fear that I will never be healthy again? Should I really just write about salad? Look, here’s a nice salad. Surely I can’t come back from not saying any words, and being silently overwhelmed with emotions, just to jump back in like nothing ever happened and make you guys a salad!! […]