Spaghetti Squash Pesto Pasta With Chard & Sun Dried Tomatoes {Gluten-Free, Paleo & Vegan Option}

Have you ever tried to recreate a food memory? We all have them, right? Things that were simmering or baking during significant moments in our lives. Certain dishes that remind us of someone or something special. They can also go the other way on you… for example, I will most likely never again put a Sun Chip in my mouth — Thank you windy road to the beach for all the memories #nope.
When I was making this dish, I wanted to recreate what I ordered on my first date with my husband. The smell of pesto always brings me back to that evening. I wore a denim skirt that in hindsight was gloriously too short. He wore a button down that looked just like the checkered table cloths at the Italian restaurant. He was nervous. He wiped his mouth incessantly with his napkin. We joked. We laughed. Our waitress was totally drunk and boisterously exclaimed “You’re such a beautiful couple! When’s the wedding?!” Perfect for a first date. After the date, I asked him if he wanted to come over and meet my cat, Gunther. Smooth, right?  I made out with his face. The rest is history. Some might consider Gunther our Yenta (Fiddler On The Roof reference, anyone? )  Classic love story, right? Totally.  […]

Spinach & Pepita Pesto {Gluten-Free, Vegan & Paleo Option}

I came to my computer this morning with every intention of writing you a fantastic post on pesto. Fast forward thirty minutes… I am staring semi-blankly at my computer screen a step away from drooling. I look down and a big-ugly-flying bug has committed suicide in my smoothie. Is this an omen? Yikes. At least my Monday is going slightly better than Mr. Ugly Bug’s. I could be face down somewhere  in a liquid vat of coconut milk and greens. Rough.
I message my husband on G-chat. I complain that the hamster in my brain refuses to jog. The wheel is not turning. I need some pesto inspiration. I ask him for some thoughtful words on pesto. He responds with a factual “It’s green”. This is going well. I ask him if he has anymore slightly less literal thoughts on the subject, to which he confesses “No idea. I barely understand it.” His hamster is tired too. I get it. Pesto can be kind of mysterious. I’m gonna help you all demystify it. […]

Roasted Eggplant & Basil Spread

Every now and then I find myself in a stalemate with a veggie (this week it was an eggplant). We pause, we lock eyes… we just kind of stare at each other. I grumble and look quizzically at it as if it’s going to speak to me. It’s as if I am Michelangelo and this vegetable is my marble. Maybe it will tell me what it wants to be. Nope. It’s not talking. We’ve got ourselves a strong and silent type.  At this point I get all ponderous and morose over why I decided to purchase an eggplant in the first place. I consider letting it live out its final days on the counter top right next to my sad little banana graveyard, but just don’t feel right about it. Plus, let’s be honest…. I’m hungry. Life is hard. […]

How To Make Grape Jelly From Grape Juice

When a neighbor calls and asks you to help harvest her vineyard in exchange for grapes… you go.  At least, I totally go. I’m usually not one to turn down fresh produce. You know this. I’ve discussed my produce sluttery. I will work for food. Period.
It’s only later when you’re staring at a very large container full of harvested grapes that you think, “huh…what now?!” Like anything fresh, grapes have a shelf life, and you need to get on it kind of quickly before they ripen themselves to death, fermenting and exploding all over each other. Time to roll up yer sleeves…
Fast forward. It’s a Saturday night. I have an eye twitch. I’ve been washing and de-stemming grapes for over an hour. My fingers are purple. I have chosen to watch the movie Stepmom while taking on this project. Uh oh, here come the waterworks. Tears mix with my grape stained hands as I wipe away sobs. Susan Sarandon didn’t have to make that extremely sentimental magicians cape for her son, did she? Whoa. Ugh. So. MUCH. Crying. My husband calls me from a bar on his business trip. I have to explain to him that I am fine, but have just made the incredibly  misguided decision to make grape jelly while watching a highly sentimental film. Nothing to worry about here (totally worry). […]