Sarmen (Pork Cabbage Rolls)

The holidays were hard. Really hard. And the new year feels bittersweet. On one hand, I’m looking forward to putting a painful year behind me. On the other hand, this will be a new year without my dad. 2015. A year that he’ll never see a day of. I’m moving into this new year without resolutions, but with purpose. I want to live fully and love deeply, like he did. Like he would want us to do. I’m going to focus on health and wellness, to get out and move around more. If I've learned anything in the last year, it’s that these bodies are the only ones we have, and they can break. Our bodies can betray us. The worst thing we can do with a working, healthy body is to take it for granted. 

The last few  months I’ve grappled with whether or not I want to continue blogging. My priorities just feel different now. Writing about the joy of a good cookie when my heart is breaking feels fake. But I also don't want this to be a sad place that brings you down with each new post. So, I’m still figuring it out. Figuring out how I want to use this space and the time and effort I put into this blog.

Coconut Macadamia Biscotti | Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014

It’s cookie swap time! This is my 3rd year participating in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. The first year I made my ma’s recipe for the most amazing maple waffle cookies, and last year I made insanely good peppermint mocha icebox cookies. And this year? 

This has been a really tough year for me, with lots of tears and heartache. I almost wasn’t able to participate in the swap this year due to my recent posting hiatus, but luckily the head gals in charge have super big, warm, fuzzy hearts! Participating in this event seriously gave me the motivation I needed to get in the holiday spirit and start recipe planning and blogging again! So, I wanted my cookie to be all about the big, warm, fuzzy, heart-shaped part of my life, which is… 

Fancy Tuna Melts from Sheet Pan Suppers

Do you follow the blog Dunk & Crumble? If not, you should! Molly’s writing is cute and personable, and her recipes are always fun and approachable. And she and I are the same age, we both live in Seattle, and we both got married this October. #soulmates. And guess what? She wrote a cookbook (so, I guess this is where our paths diverge) which is every bit as cute, fun, and approachable as her blog! I can already tell you this book going to be a weeknight staple in my house! 

Sheet Pan Suppers is full of dinners, desserts, sandwiches, appetizers, and brunch things, all made on a trusty sheet pan! Her sheet pan style makes things simple and easy, even for some serious show-stoppers, like lemony fish baked on top of crispy potatoes, a pork tenderloin recipe with squash, apples, and onions that looks amazing for fall, a giant sheet pan-sized dutch baby with meyer lemon sugar, and a thin chocolate chip cake rolled with cannoli filling that I’m dying to make. She also has a lot of recipes for quick weeknight meals or weekend lunches, like these Fancy Tuna Melts.

Date & Chorizo Kale Salad

We don’t usually have salad at our Thanksgiving feast, do you? I’ve always felt like, who wants to fill their plates and bellies with lettuce when there are already too many other good things to get through?

But this year, I’m throwing this salad option out there for you, just in case you want a dose of something green and leafy. And it’s kale, so really, no worries about that whole lettuce issue I mentioned above.

Mini Cranberry Tarts

My mom has such a generous heart. Mel’s kitchen has always been open-invite, for any meal, any holiday, any time of year. If you need a place to eat at Thanksgiving, she’ll never turn you away, and you’ll always leave happy, with a full belly.

This year’s Thanksgiving will be no different in that regard. In fact, we’ll have a very full house. There will be one very important person missing this year, but we’re hoping to fill our hearts (and my mom’s home) as much as possible by surrounding ourselves with friends. Lots of friends. Like… around 20 people.

Pumpkin Cream Pie

I’m back… and with PIE!

A lot has happened around here in the last couple of months, and I struggled a little with how I wanted to come back, and what I wanted to say. In the wake of so much sadness (my dad passing) and so much joy (my wedding), I just couldn’t seem to put pen to paper (or…fingers to keyboard) about food.

A Moment

Hey friends, you may have noticed some silence around here.

My dad—one of the funniest, coolest, most vibrant and charming troublemakers I've ever met—passed away two weeks ago.  

Things may continue to be quieter around here while I’ll take a moment to figure out how, for the first time in my 29 years, to live in a world that he isn’t in…while simultaneously putting final touches on Evan and my wedding, which is just 4 weeks away.

I’ll be back when the inspiration strikes, maybe in a week, maybe post honey-moon. But in the meantime, I wanted to let you know I’m not going anywhere, and I hope you’ll stick around too!

XO