Creamy Crab Croquettes

Many times I choose a recipe simply because I think it’ll be a challenge. You could think of it almost as an invitation to fail, because failure means I learned something. Spoiler alert: I did not fail. This recipe was oh-so-delicous. So delicious that my significant other became homesick. It reminded him too much of food served at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco. It was the best compliment he could’ve given me. The recipe of course is for Creamy Crab Croquettes stolen from Beyond the Plate. We couldn’t decide which way was better–fresh out of the fryer or straight out

Creamy Pork Stew

I am not a big fan of pork. By that I mean pork chops, because YOU KNOW I love ham and am having a not-so-secret affair with bacon. But pork chops? Hard. Pass. BUT, since I’m always in the pursuit of new recipes, and diving into foods that I would normally say “No, thank you” too, I decided to give this Creamy Pork Stew a try aaaaaaaand…. I think I just found *THE* winter soup recipe of the year. Really. And it’s strange because one of my favorite parts of this was the pork. It was all juicy and tender

Maple Oatmeal Scones

I’ve had quite a scornful relationship with scones. In my childhood, my family would always by them at the State Fair, cost a small fortune, and usually consisted of generic jam stuffed into big hunk of dry bread like substance. Everybody praised them as being awesome while I would mistakenly give them a try (again) and finding myself hacking up crumbs that got stuck in my throat. Yuck. But then I got to thinking. I like tea. Scones are supposed to go great with tea. Maybe I was eating the wrong scones at the wrong time. Maaaaybe, if I added

Chocolate Pound Cake

from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan This ain’t your grandmother’s pound cake. Or maybe it is if she’s French and uses chocolate. And if it IS your grandma’s recipe? You are one lucky grandchild. This pound cake isn’t so much a cake as it is some really good bread that happens to taste like chocolate. It’s not make-you-sick sweet, and it barely registers as dessert… but it satisfies my sweet tooth. I particularly like slicing into this while enjoying a cup of black tea! The two go perfectly together. Will I make this again? Absolutely! As a matter of fact,

Tatte – A Restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts

Tatte – at least I believe that’s the name of the restaurant – was my saving grace in Boston. It gave me food that felt homemade and full of carbs. Warm, delicious and simple without any millennial hipster vibes thrown in. Tatte came into my life like a beacon of hope–it was the place I ran to after the disaster that was Pressed. It thrived on good ol’ fashioned breakfasts and pastries and made me drool as soon as I stepped inside. Please note, I was famished when I made my way in here so this cafe will probably get

Ray’s Pizza – A Restaurant in New York City, New York

One thing that was a must-do in New York City for me and my BAE, was get pizza, which is my other BAE. Clearly, the Before Anything Else idea encompasses lots of areas of my life leaving me with an inability to make decisions. But pizza? It was a must. And would you believe we had a hard time trying to find pizza in New York? Some places were closed, some were jam-packed to the point where the place would be closed by the time our turn came at the register, and some places just had bad health food ratings

Punitions

from Paris Sweets by Dorie Greenspan Punitions, or “Punishments” in English, is a butter cookie which lends itself well to different topping. According to Dorie Greenspan and her research, this cookie gained i’s name through grandmothers wheedling children by telling them to take their punishment and giving them a cookie. Cute, eh? That was SO not my childhood. And like any sane person on hearing the title of the cookie, my boyfriend said, “Are you sure you want to make those? They sound… ominous.” But I went THERE. I made them. And you know what? They tasted like hella good

Ground Bison Taco Salad

My man has a heritage straight out of Mexico. So anytime I make a recipe that is strongly influenced by flavors from south of the border, he gets pretty hyped. So you kinda know that when I said I was making ground bison taco salad, that he got pumped. And the recipe used brought the FLAVOR with cumin, paprika, chili powder, and some good old fashioned salt and pepper. It also was great to switch things up and use bison, which proved to be fun to try but really, you could make this with ground beef and be golden. But

Almond Orange Panna Cotta

I felt so elegant whipping up this Panna Cotta. That is until I screwed up one of the steps and then hastily tried to readjust the amount of gelatin that ended up in the pot, but whatevs. It sounds posh. I made Panna Cotta. AND it was an almond orange flavor. So there. This was quite the delicate little treat. You got the undercurrents of orange and almond, rather than having it be in your face. The texture was a wee bit thicker than pudding. I felt like someone with too much money and not enough good sense to get

Pressed – a Restaurant in Boston, Massachusetts.

I was famished when I walked into Pressed. I had been up at six am, skipped breakfast, got stuck in traffic, rattled around on a duck boat tour and by eleven o’ clock, walking around Boston, I was ready to start eating my own hand off, because I needed food ASAP. Visions of bacon and French toast were dancing in my head. It was going to be delicious and full of calories. The BEST kind of brunch, you know? My aunt said she knew the perfect place! And off we went to Pressed. Spoiler alert: It was not the perfect