Food + Wine

Birthday Cake Batter Blondies

This is a very simple recipe.

Why?

Because you’re taking a very big shortcut to get to it.

Why?

Because you can, and you deserve a little extra time in your day for you.

I love baking things from scratch. I have a huge catalog of yummy scratch-made goodies on here. And I also am not above using a boxed mix to get things started sometimes. You won’t find me using a boxed mix as it was intended to be used… I won’t make a plain yellow cake out of a yellow cake boxed mix, but I will absolutely ‘doctor’ it up to use as the foundation for something fun and different.

Continue Reading

March 31, 2025 by
Food + Wine

Penne with Tarragon Chicken and Caramelized Onions… and her on-the-fly origin story

If you’re reading this and have forgotten who and what this is, you’re not wrong in your feelings. I have been troubleshooting this baby for years now, so you and I may be strangers by this point.

Which, if you think about it, is really quite exciting. We get to know each other all over again!

I’m pumped.

I can’t promise a schedule, but I can promise I now have access to this space again, so you should be seeing me a liiittle bit more now. Unless I did all of this wrong and I’m again talking to a dusty, cobwebbed corner of the interwebs.

Super pumped.

Sometimes recipes start with an idea – a theme or occasion that calls for something new and special. And sometimes recipes start with a busy day slash week slash month and a very impromptu decision to place my phone on my counter in the middle of it for you to see how I create something.

I didn’t prepare for the video one bit, but I doubt any of you are surprised at that info nugget.
I also trimmed my hair after watching it back because video is the most honest mirror.

Continue Reading

March 16, 2025 by
Food + Wine

Sheet Pan Chicken with Potatoes and Cabbage

Hellooo, life! Goodness, it’s been full. I haven’t been living under a rock, but I have been extremely busy – like many of you, I’m sure 😉 . And I’ve been very fortunate to be publishing a lot of memoir and essays these days, which has taken up the majority of any ‘free time’ I have! I also accidentally rescued a Rottweiler over a month ago who is my big, giant 3 year old baby. I’m still creating and producing things in my kitchen everyday… I’m just left without the time and space to document and share it all.

But yesterday I was high on Sudafed after I let my guard down and made out with my husband and the head cold I forgot he had. So. I guess I found some extra time and energy to bring you something!

Incidentally, I was also up all night from said Sudafed, so I’m not sure if the trade-off makes much sense. But I’m here 😉

Continue Reading

October 1, 2024 by
Food + Wine

Complete Pancake Mix and a Complete Me

A large part of me loves, no, needs my food to be as homemade as possible. No additives, unnecessary sodium or pretend ingredients. My body does not know what to do with fake food.

My body does not know what to do with fake anything, and maybe that’s the real issue. And remembering who I used to be, and knowing who I am now, that’s a whole lot to wrap my brain around.

Continue Reading

April 5, 2024 by
Food + Wine

Peasant Bread

I’d like to think I would win any sort of contest that required me to eat bread. Is there somewhere out there where my bread dedication would be heralded and maybe I’d become mayor of a Bread town where they only pay me in bread and my house is also made of bread that magically never goes stale yet keeps me warm in the winter and cool in the summer?
Can I use it for healing powers?
Can I fight crime?

^^All things that go through my head when it’s bread eating time, which is every single morning in my life. If we go out to lunch or dinner, you and me… and you see me ordering things like salads or meats and veggies instead of sandwiches, please know that it is solely because I have already consumed my – and your – bread quota for the day.

The thing about me and bread is that I like to control the bread that I’m eating as much as possible. Bread means so much to me, that I will not allow an inferior product to enter my world. And I’m not saying I will only consume the bread that I, myself, have made… I’m only saying that while I love bread…

I do not love just any bread for the sake of being bread.

Continue Reading

January 31, 2024 by
Uncategorized

The Truth About The Truth

I’ve fielded a lot of people’s questions regarding the reaction I’ve received from publishing my article, How to Accidentally Break Up a Family. I’ve also gotten an incredible response from so many people that has brought a whole new life to my story. The afterglow of it all has been solid proof that telling the truth and sharing it with others is such a great connector… and that being so personal and vulnerable and painfully honest is what universally makes us all human.

And with all of that being said and true, there’s also a sharp side to telling your story. Making any sort of great change in life has never been easy. Talking or writing about something that involves other people will always bring some colorful flare to the party. And while I didn’t write anything To anyone, or At anyone, I fully accept that my little pebble I’ve tossed will continue to ripple the water for as long as what I have to say remains relevant.

I know that as many people I’ve had reach out to share their stories with me, or tell me how much mine meant to them, there are a lot of people who are scared to reach out and connect… or reconnect.

My story isn’t an easy one to digest. Just like me, it has a lot of bumps and twists and crags that ultimately created a beautiful love story. It’s also caused some people to vanish. But I know that every little thing that left me has shown me such a meaningful gift and taught me such a special lesson. If something is so tattered and fragile to be picked up by the slightest bit of breeze, then it wasn’t built to last. And the people who are still in my life are the ones who have built a home there. Being given the gift to see precisely who is sturdy in my life is something I would never trade for any amount of painful reality it was to watch someone leave.

I wrote a tiny little something about the reality of what happens after you make the kind of decision that I did.
It’s a 4 minute read on medium.com, titled The Truth About The Truth.

…

As for tonight… we’re having an Emmy’s party with more chicken wings than we should eat and I will choose all the hottest of hot sauces because while I am really good at learning to stay away from some painful things in my life… I am absolutely terrible at others.

Head on over to medium.com to read the cute little The Truth About The Truth, and if you haven’t read it yet, settle into your cozies and read the biggun’ : How to Accidentally Break Up a Family.

Sending you a lot of love.
Thanks for reading, y’all x

January 15, 2024 by