Creamy Lime in the Coconut Ice Cream

I have a life long love/hate relationship with coconut. Love the flavor, hate the texture. So, little pieces of shredded coconut inside foods or covering the outside of a cake? Nope, not for me. The result of this has been that I spent a lot of time avoiding coconut flavored foods and pretty much kept my coconut consumption to pina coladas.

Memorial Day Recipe Ideas

Are you ready for the unofficial start of summer with Memorial Day weekend? Yes, the day itself is significant but, let's face it, it's also a time when friends and family gather to spend time together and start enjoying the summery weather. And that means food. So here are some of my favorite ideas this year for sides, mains, desserts and, of course, cocktails. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Chocolate Covered Almond Butter Cookies

My peanut butter obsession means that's usually the jar I reach for when there's cookie baking to be done. And since it's been raining non stop for so long that I've actually lost track, there has definitely been cookie baking. But I decided it was time to show the almond butter some love as well.

Ghee Roasted White and Sweet Potato Salad

For some reason, 2018 is running by super fast for me. Half the things I was supposed to get to in the first quarter of the year are still untouched. And then suddenly I look up and it's two weeks to the start of long summer weekends, beach openings and grilling season. Not that those things are anything to complain about.

Honeydew Melon Mojitos

I've always enjoyed a cool, refreshing mojito in hot weather. It's icy and minty and not too strong. Despite the 2 ounces of rum, it's topped off with club soda which makes a great slow sipper. Can't you just picture a tray of them on the porch in summer?

Bagel Breakfast Bar with Labneh and Za'atar Cream Cheese

When Sunday brunch is at my house, I like to to serve a bagel feast. I mean, who doesn't like bagels?Not only is it popular but it's easy to put together and involves more shopping than actual cooking.

Ramp and Gruyere Cheese Tart

Do you suffer from ramp insanity? These wild onions appear for a short time in the spring and our local farmer's markets actually tweet out alerts. That's how ramp crazy we are. They smell and taste like a cross between garlic and onions with an extra touch of something green and wild and wonderful. Clearly I'm a a sufferer.

Cobb Salad Nachos

This recipe got started recently as I was staring at the menu of one of my favorite local dives and trying to decide between nachos and Cobb salad. Normally this is an easy decision for me since Cobb salad is one of my favorites. But I had Cinco de Mayo nachos on the brain.

Falafel and Egg Breakfast Sandwich

I have a serious affection for a good, loaded breakfast sandwich. What's not to love about all the delicious breakfast things stacked between two pieces of delicious bread? But what exactly constitutes breakfast things is open to interpretation and variation.

Milk Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies

When you love peanut butter as much as I do, you have a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. And, in my case, my ultimate favorite is from my friend Jennie, who writes the blog, One Sweet Mess. So, when I was working on my recipe for tahini cookies, my other favorite thing (I have a lot of favorite things), I started out with her base.

Honey Tahini Overnight Oats

Let's just say that it's a good thing I don't live with anybody who expects a hot breakfast because they would be very disappointed. Most days, I'm happy I've found time to pour milk into my cereal instead of just grabbing handfuls of it dry as I rush around. Needless to say, hot oatmeal is not a thing that happens around here without significant pre-planning. Overnight oats, though, are in regular rotation because all I have to do in the morning is grab them out of the fridge.

Tamari Roasted Vegetable Platter

One of my favorite ways to serve side dish vegetables to company is just to grill or roast a big platter of them and put them in the middle of the table for people to help themselves. I also think it's a fun appetizer with cocktails instead of the more expected cheese and dips.

Pear Dutch Babies with Honey Labneh Cream

Let's talk about how much there is to love about Dutch baby pancakes. The puff, the flavorings and, my personal favorite, the fact that they cook in the oven and I don't have to stand over a griddle flipping batches of pancakes.

Spinach and Feta Turnovers (Bourekas)

Puff pastry and frozen spinach are a couple of items that can usually be found in the back of my freezer somewhere. They're both useful to have around for all kinds of recipe options but, sadly, my freezer is underutilized. I keep nuts and vodka in there but tend to forget to look to it for food ideas. That needs to change.

Crunchy Peanut Butter Pretzel Balls

Oh, has it been a minute since I expressed my undying love of peanut butter? Rest assured my obsession has not waned. And while I fully admit that my preferred method of eating peanut butter is with a spoon, right out of the jar, sometimes I feel compelled to actually make stuff with it.

Quick Pickled Vegetables

At any given time, I've either had no pickles in my fridge or I've had an overly large array of them in various shapes and styles. Why? Because I never know which one I will like. Too sweet, too sour, too soft, too crunchy. And so they accumulate until I get frustrated and get rid of all of them leaving me with no pickles when I feel like having a pickle.

Cheesy Meatball Casserole

Another week and another make-ahead dinner prepped, portioned and stored in the fridge for use during the week. I'm so weirdly proud of myself when I actually do these.

Roasted Parmesan Sugar Snap Peas

I was on a hunt the other day for some fresh spring peas (I'm pretending it's not still freezing outside) but none of my local grocery stores had them. What I did find was fresh sugar snap peas. Those wouldn't work for the recipe I had in mind but I figured I'd come up with something so I grabbed them.

Tex-Mex Potato and Beef Burritos

One of my goals is to get better about weekly meal prep and make-ahead freezer meals. I've always found that the prep work on a Sunday is totally worth the ease and convenience of having ready made meals and prepped vegetables during the hectic week. Now I just have to get better about doing it on a regular basis.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Air Fried Doughnuts

See these hot, fluffy doughnuts, oozing with jelly and dripping with peanut butter glaze? Fresh from the fryer! Oh, wait, I meant the air fryer. Yup. These beauties are an air fryer masterpiece.

Chicken Sausage with Creamy Polenta and Onion Gravy

Let's talk about quick and easy weeknight dinners because it's a subject that comes up often around here. It's actually most likely to come up at about 6:00 pm when I look up from my computer screen and realize that I haven't planned anything for dinner.

Currant Scones

It snows, it warms up, it snows, it warms up. All month long. Rinse and repeat. I know it's just winter's last hurrah before exiting for the year but I'm a little over it. Yesterday was another inclement weather day so I did the only logical thing - I baked.

Banana Cream Pie

For those people who know me well, the only surprising part about me baking a banana cream pie is that it's the first time I've ever done it. And surprising because it is literally my favorite dessert of all time.

French Onion Patty Melts

One of my cooking mottos would have to be French onion all the things! Why? Because the combination of beef, Gruyere cheese and caramelized onions is awesome. Sure, it's great in soup but it's just as great minus the soup. Patty melts are already awesome so giving them the French onion twist just makes them even more so.

Cheddar Soda Bread

Every year I bake some kind of soda bread around St. Patrick's Day and every year I ask myself why I don't bake it more often. It's easy to make and so completely delicious. And it lends itself to lots of variations.

Cornmeal Onion Fritters

I usually enjoy adapting recipes to be a little healthier and that often means employing my oven or air fryer instead of the deep fryer. But, sometimes there's just no really good substitute for the original, like a crispy onion fritter. And, let's face it, sometimes we need a good, crispy onion fritter.

Angel Hair with Fava Beans and Gremolata Pangrattato

Despite days of rain and gloom, the temperature is actually warming up quite a bit here. I think the groundhog said 6 more weeks of winter but that's just a rodent with a bad attitude. I'm predicting an early spring. And even if the sun is not quite cooperating now, I'm willing it to with spring-like foods.

Air Fried Doughnut Puffs

I've been having fun testing recipes in my air fryer so it was only a matter of time before I tried something sweet. Doughnuts are such great deep fried treats so I obviously had to see how they would do without the oil.

Cheesy Meatloaf Sliders with Pickled Red Onion

Meatloaf is one of those recipes that I love as much the next day, as a leftover, as I do freshly made for dinner. It's one of my favorite comfort foods when served fresh with mashed potatoes and gravy (diners do this dish SO well) but it's equally amazing as a sandwich the next day.

Buttered Bourbon Pop-Tail

Do you and your friends love seeing all the Oscar nominated movies before the awards are handed out? It's definitely movie watching time around here and the planning of a festive group Oscar watching party. It's so much more fun to watch with other people.

Individual Red Lentil Pot Pies

There are just some culinary terms that make me extra happy and pot pie is one of them. The image of creamy filling encased in pastry is enough to make me hungry. It's also an incredibly versatile dish since both the crust and the filling can be varied so much.

Apple Puff Tart with Tahini Caramel

Not all Valentine's Day desserts have to contain chocolate. Especially if you suspect a box of your favorite chocolate truffles is being purchased for you because somebody knows how much you love them. So, on the assumption that somebody knows what's good for them and is purchasing said truffles, I think it's safe to move away from the chocolate. There should still be caramel, though.

Ground Beef Stroganoff

Sunday was cold and rainy and I was feeling run down from a long week. Normally I make a big pot of soup when I feel like that but I was more in the mood for something rich and hearty. Or, at least, rich tasting.

Sparkling Red Currant Cosmopolitan

I am obsessed with fresh currants and probably mores so because of how hard they are to find. In New York I typically find them in the winter at specialty gourmet stores but sometimes larger farmer's markets will have them. One thing is sure and that's that, if I see them, I'm buying them.

Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake

Most of the time, I am not a fancy dessert maker. I like to create recipes that are easy, quick and delicious. But sometimes you have to make an effort and Valentine's Day is the perfect occasion for an extra fancy chocolate cake.

Triple Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

It's almost time for the sweetest holiday of the year. And yes, it's wonderful if you have a romantic partner but I believe in spreading the love to friends and family. Thanks to Parks and Recreation, so many of my friends now host "galentines" celebrations and I'm happy to share the friend love with sweet treats.

Cheesy Beef and Potato Casserole

Every time I make a casserole I ask myself why I don't make them more often. They can be prepped ahead of time, come together using just one or two pans and they usually make enough for lots of leftovers. Those are all words that interest me when I'm busy and can realize, with relief, that dinner is already in the fridge, just waiting for me to reheat it.

Burger Au Poivre

One of my favorite restaurant splurges is steak au poivre which is typically a filet mignon served with a creamy peppercorn sauce. The steak is great, of course, but it's the sauce that makes me crave that dish. So, why not just make the sauce?

Chocolate Chip Tahini Cake

This weekend I was going through my pantry and thinking about doing some cold weather, stay-at-home-day baking. There's something so comforting about winter baking not to mention, I really wanted something sweet.

Baked Cauliflower Rice and Bacon Arancini

Where should I begin? The arancini part, the cauliflower rice part or the fact that this recipe serves four but I ate most of it by myself for dinner last night?

Winter Squash Soup with Sage

I hope you all are not getting sick of soup recipes because the temperatures and wind chill around here are below zero and that means I'm eating soup. My big soup pot pretty much lives on top of the stove lately because it's a stay inside, eat all the soup and watch Netflix kind of month.

Braised Short Ribs

So...brrrr. Those of us in the north east are enjoying (no, not really) single digit temperatures and the pleasures of potential frostbite whenever we take the dog for a walk. Mind you, I'm not really complaining that much because my apartment is heated and cozy. Just maybe getting a little claustrophobic in here.

Black Bean Soup

Happy New Year, friends! I hope you had an opportunity to take some time off around the holidays. I took most of last week off which, for me, meant catching up on sleep, catching up on some personal stuff that I wanted crossed off my list and playing around in the kitchen.

End of Year Round-Up 2017

Happy holidays friends! I'm taking a little break this week, by which I mean I'll be working on finishing loose ends, catching up on paperwork and doing lots of planning for 2018. Yeah, I know, but I have a hard time letting go completely. Regardless, it's a peaceful week around here and I'm getting some much needed rest.

Raspberry Champagne Cocktail (and Apartment Tour)

Happy holidays, friends! I'll have an end of the year recap for you next week but this cocktail is my last recipe for 2017. Clearly it needed to be a festive one. Drink it at Christmas, on New Year's Eve or every night in between so that we can properly close out this year and get a fresh, if slightly hung over, start on the new one.

Smoky Beer Battered Cauliflower

In between batches of holiday cookies, I thought I would take a quick veggie break and indulge my love of cauliflower. I'll eat it pretty much every way there is but I have to admit that my mother's crispy breaded and fried cauliflower was and still is my favorite. So, so good but maybe not so good for me if I'm trying to minimize the cookie damage.

Gingerbread Shortbread Cookies

Wait, is it gingerbread or shortbread? What did you make us here, Anita? Well, the answer is a combination of both. Since it's mid-December, I'm definitely feeling the gingerbread vibe. But I have a soft spot in my heart for shortbread. I found a bunch of recipes for ginger shortbread and even some packaged versions from cookie companies I really like. But they taste like ginger, not gingerbread. I needed a better marriage of the two.

How to Build a Dessert Treat Board

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is the visits and get-togethers with friends. There's just something about that whole time between Thanksgiving and New Year that's perfect for gathering. And it's the time of year when I find myself creating a lot of cheese boards and various fun appetizers but somehow I get stuck thinking dessert has to be more formal. Why? I love eating lots of little tid-bits so why should the end of the meal not be as fun as the start?

Cheesy White and Sweet Potato Latkes

Hannukah is about a week away so my mind has been drifting to classic holiday favorites like latkes and doughnuts. It's a celebration of oil, after all. But you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate fried potato pancakes anymore than you need to be Christian to eat Christmas cookies.

Honey Apple Gingerbread Cake

I'm normally a fan of easy desserts and I stay away from anything that looks too fussy or elaborate. I want you all to actually try making my recipes so I keep it simple. But the holidays deserve at least a little bit of a fuss. And it's hard not to want to wow your guests. Best of all is when I can create a wow looking dish that's actually not hard to make.