Even as my taste buds have matured, I'm still not much of a salad person. I'll eat one if I have to, but rarely will I crave a salad. However I have found that nuts (and cheese) make the salad eating experience much more pleasant. If you can ensure that you have a nut (particularly a candied nut) in each bite to disguise the lettuce, salad...

I've seen Coca Cola used to make roasts and meat glazes, but when I saw this recipe for pulled pork sandwiches that used Dr. Pepper I was definitely sold on trying it out. This dish reminded me of home so much. Dr. Pepper is quintessentially Texan, and even though we really don't eat pulled pork barbecue back home, we haven't had anything...

I've gotten pretty lucky since I started baking regularly that I haven't had too many failures, much less compete failures in the kitchen. That all changed on Valentine's Day when I attempted to make red velvet whoopie pies. I'd been looking forward to making these ever since Dustin bought me a whoopie pie pan for Christmas, and since red velvet...

Every Valentine's Day back in Houston, we ate out at Barry's Pizza. They had a great Valentine's Day special, which included two salads, a heart shaped pizza for two, and a brownie a la mode. Pretty amazing, right? We decided to spend this Valentine's day at home and cook up our own version of a heart shaped pizza. We usually just buy a...

Happy Valentine's Day! Part of Dustin's Valentine's Day gift was supposed to be what I thought would be a cute and thoughtful take on the Valentine's classic, chocolate covered strawberries. I pulled the stems, cut the strawberries in half and cut the tops to have two bumps, turning the strawberry halves into hearts. I thought it would be...

Loud, trendy, and sexy. Strong cocktails with a large price tag. Artisan food with a hip, refined atmosphere. When you step inside Pearl, nestled comfortably in downtown Bellevue, you'll be greeted by a skimpily dressed maitre d' and ushered past a lively, overflowing bar back into the dining area with booths and long tables with dim light and...

The cookie and cream cheesecake bars were a big hit here in our apartment. Oreos have to be one of my favorite flavors to add to cheesecake. Dustin said it might have been the best cheesecake he's had and that it was definitely better than the Oreo cheesecake we used to eat at the Chocolate Bar in Houston (which is an enormous compliment). We...

When I found the risotto recipe on Creative Culinary, I also stumbled upon this recipe for smoked chicken with a cheddar beer sauce. We just grilled up some chicken and topped with the sauce for a fun twist on a basic and easy chicken dinner. It was really good served with a side of caramelized onions and green chile mashed potatoes.

I love the creamy mashed potatoes my Grandma makes, and they are a really simple side dish. Each time I've made them I have to ask my mom exactly what she does because it seems no matter how hard I try, I can't remember what to do even though the steps are ridiculously simple. Now I will have my own written record to look back upon when I want...

Try saying that five times fast! I love the alliteration, but that's probably just the English nerd in me. These blondies are inspired by a dessert that Dustin's Bubbe used to make him when he was a kid. We've made it before using a chocolate chip cookie mix, baked into bars with butterscotch chips folded in. I wanted to make this treat again...