When good appliances go bad…
A few weeks ago I opened my freezer and found blue gel running down packages and pooling on the bottom. I hoped that it was an ice pack, but sadly it was coming from my ice cream maker. It looks like the weak spot is where the bowl snaps into the back of the mixer to...
Guest blogger & Roasted Red Pepper Artichoke Dip
Today I'm introducing a new contributor, my cousin Kelsey. I've added some information about her to the About page. Kelsey's a talented cook who's been writing about food related issues in school and for the Iowa State Daily. I've invited her to share some of her...
Restaurant reservations
Today a friend shared a post, via Kottke, from Mark Pastore talking about why he doesn't use OpenTable at his restaurant. Personally, I prefer to call and talk to a restaurant directly because, as Pastore points out, that's part of the experience. That doesn't mean I...
Roasted Duck
So I've finally cooked a protein that I've always wanted to work with - duck! Thanks to Hungry Mouse roasting a whole duck was super easy and tasty. I did follow his suggestion and cooked up the liver with a little butter, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and ate it on...
Hibiscus Lime Syrup
A few months ago I posted about my Sodastream and my love affair with sparkling water. Most of the time I drink straight up sparkling water, a affect I picked up during my travels that most of my friends still don't understand. However, I occasionally like to drink...
Toasted Marshmallow Ice Cream
Last year I ate at Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery and fell in love with his Toasted Marshmallow shake (along with the tasty burgers and fries). I've had the chance to eat there several times over the last year. That's why when my sister found out that Spike...
Proof – Des Moines
Just ate lunch at Proof for the first time and must say that I'm impressed. I had the scallops with tabbouleh and it was outstanding. Four sea scallops seared to perfection with a heavy hand on pepper. The tabbouleh seemed to be a mix of bulghur and red quinoa with...
Asparagus and Cod Soup
Sometimes great meals come out of cooking with what you have laying around. Lacking any ideas for dinner, I looked through my frig and saw that I had some asparagus and spring onions that needed to cooked before they went bad. I looked around to see what else I might...
Sour Cherry Syrup
One of my favorite warm weather treats is a cold Italian soda. Originally, I paid for them in coffee shops and restaurants. Recently, however, I procured a Sodastream for myself to make carbonated water. With this new gadget, I have been making sparkling water and...
Single-serving Cherry Pies
My parents have been planting fruit trees on our property since my sister and I were young, in the hopes that we could all enjoy fresh cherries, peaches, plums, and apples from our own trees. Unfortunately, nature and luck haven't been on our side. Between stray...
Tomato & Red Lentil Soup
Apologies for being absent for a couple of weeks. My sister graduated from American University last weekend, so I was traveling and before that I was trying to wrap up some work projects and turn in my last assignment for my Spring semester. This meal is something...
Dark Chocolate Cupcakes
Well you might have noticed that I've been a little cupcake crazy lately. I didn't plan on jumping on a trendy bandwagon here, but single serving sized cakes are just so convenient and useful for portion control (if you have any self-control). This recipe is an...