Crispy Old Bay French Fries With Sweet Onion Cashew Dip

It’s pouring rain outside. My lawn has liquefied into a swampy and unfriendly puddle. My grandmother (one of my absolute favorite humans on this earth) has been in the hospital for days. It’s Monday. I have a 101 degree fever…again. Life is happening. It’s swift and rough and sometimes lovely despite its discomfort. There have been moments through the uncertainty and sadness that have felt light and necessary. Being able to hug my mom. Telling jokes in a hospital room with my family–and feeling the blanketed weight of our situation lift in between the breath of laughter. Holding my grandmother’s soft hand as she falls asleep and mumbles bits and pieces of her Watercress Soup recipe. Hanging out with my cousins and meeting their sweet puppy Moose. But, if we’re honest, I’d really like to crank some sappy ballads, turn on the fireplace, hide under a blanket and sing at the top of my lungs. Does anyone else process emotion this way? Also, french fries with crispy edges and something good to dip them in.  Ballads and fries. All day.  […]

Lemon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I’m continuing on with my crusade to make your Valentines Day one for the culinary books! I’m sure you’ve seen my Perfect Pan Seared Filet Mignon and my deliciously decadent Creamy Goat Cheese & Lobster Mashed Potatoes– but, what about veggies? We’ve all been to a steakhouse and then received a beautiful plate of steak, a baked potato and the saddest pile of wilted green beans or sweaty, droopy-looking carrots. It’s depressing. Let’s stop the madness and make a simple and delicious vegetable side dish that doesn’t make you feel like crying.  There’s no crying in vegetables! That’s a famous movie quote, right? Something like that. Just imagine I’m Tom Hanks. […]

Creamy Goat Cheese & Lobster Mashed Potatoes

What happens when you put buttery roasted lobster into a cream sauce and then pour that cream sauce over a bed of goat cheese laced mashed potatoes? This. This is what happens. This, and also a lot of orgasmic eating noises. Loud ones. The kind that would make you uncomfortable if you accidentally video taped yourself eating. A lot of MMMMMMMMMMYYYYGAHHHHHWWWW and YES–YES YESSSSSSSSSSSS. It’s food porn, and it’s starting you. Whoops, we just made a lobster laced sex tape. Kinda like Paris Hilton that one time, but we’re wearing all of our clothes and moaning something fierce over goat cheese. […]

Ghee Roasted Carrots With Mint Basil Sauce

Do you remember grade school fire drills? The alarm would sound. Momentary chaos ensued as the teacher tried to collect all thirty of us students — we were wiry, strong-willed things, with no intention of being collected or corralled or told what to do. Stern words would follow. Maybe a whistle would be blown. Eventually, we would all march out to the blacktop and line up in a line, facing the school, pretending to watch it burn down in horror. Yeah, we were dramatic. The moments after the drill were usually filled with a broken yet stern sort of disappointment from our teacher. We’d be reminded that the fire could have been real. We should take things more seriously. We’d be reminded that if we were ever to catch fire, God forbid, we were to STOP. DROP. AND ROLL. These words are very firmly implanted in my brain. For as much as I dislike being told what to do, and as much as I disliked the monotony of fire drills, I’m not opposed to keeping pertinent information in my brain that might save my life if I spontaneously burst into flame. I like having basic survival skills. […]