• Walnut-basil pesto

    If you’ve never had homemade pesto, you really need to try it. It is so much better than store-bought, and it is super fast and easy with a food processor. (I don’t think it works quite as well with a blender, but you can use one if that’s all you have) You will need a […]

  • Pork fajitas with mango

    I know. I’ve been posting a lot of fat and/or sugar bombs recently. That’s partly because it’s what we’ve been eating, and partly because I wasn’t sure you really wanted to see my spaghetti with meat sauce recipe (it involves a jar of Ragu. But I’ll tell you if you really want to know). So […]

  • Baking techniques

    I was reading a post on this NY Times food blog yesterday and it talks about a technique called mise en place. What that means is having having everything measured and ready to go before you start baking or cooking something. Um, I don’t really do that. I do make sure I have all the […]

  • Fried chicken, take 2

    After I made the other fried chicken, my mom told me I was a silly goose for not making my great-grandmother’s version. Yes, she actually said “silly goose.” And I had no idea my great-grandmother had a fried chicken recipe. This one is also easy, although I made a mistake by not replacing the oil […]

  • Watermelon sorbet (no ice cream maker required)

    I have been thinking about making watermelon sorbet for a long time. Then a girl at work was talking about how she wants to get an ice cream maker. And I read this article in the New York Times about egg-free ice cream (which I wish I had read before the vanilla bean incident last […]

  • Vanilla bean ice cream

    I know it is kind of weird to dislike ANY ice cream, but I kind of hate French vanilla. I don’t mind generic “vanilla” that looks white, I just don’t like the flavor of the more yellow French vanilla. I do usually like vanilla bean though. So when I needed some ice cream to go […]

  • Fried chicken

    In honor of my husband’s birthday, I decided to face one of my cooking fears and break out the Fry Daddy. Yes, it’s time for some fried chicken. Since I only had a vague idea of how to make fried chicken, I turned to (who else?) Paula Deen. Unfortunately, her recipe seems to have been […]

  • Macaroni and cheese

    Macaroni and cheese may be the world’s most perfect food. Or at least the most perfect food item that doesn’t contain sugar. Kraft mac&cheese will work in a pinch, but homemade is soooo much better. And while I do enjoy the occasional Gruyere-fontina-cheddar-and-cavatappi (with or without bacon), sometimes you really just want elbow macaroni with […]

  • Ridiculously easy chicken tacos

    You are going to need some very special skills to make these chicken tacos. Namely: the ability to open a jar (or find a cute boy to do it for you) and the ability to push a button. So, those without opposable thumbs, sorry. Seriously, these are so easy to make it is almost embarrassing. […]

  • Smith Island cake

    As some of you may know, the official dessert of Maryland is the Smith Island cake. The original is a yellow cake with chocolate icing and has somewhere from six to 12 thin layers. But I took a peek at the Original Smith Island Cake Co. and it appears they make all types of cake […]