I feel like I’m emerging from a coma. This week our family was hit particularly hard by a nasty little cold virus. I feel a bit like I’m whining since I know several families with young ones have recently battled stomach bugs and the flu virus, which are WAY worse, but this cold virus threw us for a loop, including making my toddler wake up … Continue reading Individual Chicken Pot Pies
In the years since I met my Hong Kong-born husband, I’ve tried to make a Chinese dinner at home to celebrate the Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year. I’ve been fairly successful at my attempts, but fall off on making Chinese food the rest of the year, often relying on take out or delivery to satisfy our cravings. However, with my New Year’s resolution … Continue reading Honey Cashew Chicken
Flavored salts are a great way to punch up the flavor of a dish. I mostly use them as a finishing salt, but will also use them in a dish as well, particularly sprinkled on veggies or meat before roasting. Kosher salt works well for these recipes because the cost is economical and the salt is flaky and course, but you can also use fleur … Continue reading Flavored Salts
Each year after Thanksgiving, I always look forward to making turkey and wild rice soup with the left over carcass and turkey meat. And this year was no exception, although I was looking to change it up this time around. Inspired by the curried roasted veggies that our friend brought to Thanksgiving dinner, I wanted to give a curried spin to this soup. With the … Continue reading Coconut Curry Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
I love a good, chunky cranberry sauce and think it pairs perfectly with turkey, and is a lovely addition to a turkey sandwich. However, a little goes a long way with cranberries and inevitably, every year, we have too much sauce left over. I was originally determined to not make cranberry sauce this year, but to buy a small jar or container of it instead. However, … Continue reading Cranberry Sauce with Dried Cherries
Making your own chicken stock is one of the easiest things you can do in the kitchen, resulting in a versatile, high-reward product. Some recipes suggest boiling a whole chicken or using chicken meat to make the stock, but that seems wasteful to me. So, I always use chicken carcasses or bones for my stock, and with the addition of vegetables, my stock is always … Continue reading Roasted Chicken Stock
A few months back, I borrowed a copy of Ina Garten’s “Make It Ahead” from our local library to get some ideas for entertaining that can be made ahead with little fuss right before serving. Overall, she had some recipes that looked great, but I only found a few recipes that fit what I was looking for. One of those recipes was for a Truffled … Continue reading Truffled Chicken Liver Mousse
We recently hosted our neighbors over for a late summer dinner on our back patio. Since they have two boys, I wanted to do a menu of finger foods that were easy to snack on as we chatted. The menu worked perfectly and everyone was free to just help themselves to whatever they wanted and it was so easy to put together. And dessert was … Continue reading Menu – Grilled Chicken Skewers, Pepperoni Sauce, Cherry Tomato Mozzarella Bites, S’mores Bar
Our good friend, Sarah, just recently gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, her second child. Having two kids under two is quite an adjustment so I put together a welcome home bag to last them a couple meals and added an easy dinner they could use in the future. I baked a batch of scones and added a jar of sour cherry jam for … Continue reading Moroccan Chicken Stew
Half Pint Garden 