As mentioned previously, I'm binging on gingerbread this holiday season. I want to eat so much gingerbread this month that I'm sick of it and don't end up craving it for the rest of the year. I believe I am well on my way to my goal with this cake. I made this to serve as dessert to our guests after our Tex-Mex baked pasta. I've been reminiscing...

Sugar cookies have a special place in my heart. Not just any sugar cookie though. Not sugar cookies from Pillsbury or sugar cookies purchased from the grocery store. I'm talking about homemade, rolled out sugar cookies cut into fun shapes. To me these cookies will forever be known as "Grandpa Cookies." I used to make sugar cookies with my...

Baked pastas are the best kinds of dishes to serve when you have company. You can prepare the dish before the guests arrive, then just pop it in the oven when they arrive. You can still have a nice meal without having to cook while your guest are there and without having to perfectly time finishing the meal to coincide with their arrival, which...

A few weeks ago we went into this really cool bar in Seattle called Brave Horse Tavern to watch the Texans play on Sunday (2011 AFC South Champions, baby!). As a special that morning they were serving steak and eggs. But the eggs weren't just any old eggs. They were scrambled eggs with creamed spinach. That description right there was almost...

I have been craving gingerbread so badly. I want it in all forms— cookie, cake, doughnut, anything with gingerbread— you name it, I want it. But I've been putting it off. Until now. Gingerbread is not a traditional Christmas thing for me. Apparently I am the only one in my family who really cares for it. My mom says she doesn't know where I...

Chick-Fil-A makes an amazing Peppermint Chocolate Chip Milkshake during the holiday season. For the last couple of years, Dustin and I have gotten exactly one (so we don't expand our waistlines too much) sometime during the month to satisfy our craving. Since we no longer live near a Chick-Fil-A (the nearest one is in Boise, ID according to the...

I know grits are a staple of the Southern diet, but I'm not so sure being from Houston qualifies me for being a Southerner. I'd never had grits until about a year ago when we ate at Burning Pear where I had delicious smoked pork chop with a side of poblano cheese grits. They were so good. I loved the velvety, creamy, cheesy texture. They were...

It's Erin's birthday, and you know what that means. Booze. Lots of it. All kidding aside, I wanted to treat Erin to one nice birthday celebration drink, so I grabbed the cake vodka (should be in any man's liquor cabinet) and whipped up a sweet drink. With all of these sweet (read girly) drinks, the most important aspect is not the flavor,...

Let's face it. Over the next few weeks we will be stuffing our faces with lots of holiday cookies. I thought Bonnie should be able to join in on the Christmas fun, so I decided to bake her some puppy gingerbread cookies as yummy treats for her to snack on while we indulge. Plus she's supposed to be having a playdate with one of her friends, so I...

Next time I want butternut squash in a dish, I swear I'm using canned. At least until we get better knifes. A good knife set will definitely be on our wedding registry. What we currently have is not working for me. It took me 40 minutes to peel and cut the squash we bought to make this pasta from How Sweet Eats. I was not a happy camper by the...