Lychee Longan Pie

For Chinese New Year, my cousin had the genius idea of making a Lychee Longan Pie. As far as Chinese desserts go, canned lychee and longan are better than most in my opinion. You just open the can and eat the fruit, but it’s way better than that red bean nonsense that passes for dessert…

Amaretto Coffee Cupcakes

I know that cupcakes have been all the rage lately, but I have to admit I haven’t been swept up by the craze. I just can’t get super excited about paying $6 for a single cupcake at some shop dedicated solely to the art of the cupcake. With $6 worth of ingredients, I could make…

A.O.C. Restaurant Review

Gold Dig #24 A.O.C. is one of Suzanne Goin’s restaurants to regularly make Jonathan Gold’s 101 Best Restaurants list (Lucques is another, which I haven’t made it to yet, but it’s on my list to make it to their Sunday Supper!). A.O.C. has a beautiful courtyard patio with big doors into the restaurant and bar, vines creeping up the surrounding…

Mexican Hot Chocolate Pot de Creme

My family decided to do Iron Chef Christmas – special ingredient: Cinnamon (go here to check out the fierce competition)! Each dish would be judged on flavor, presentation, and creativity. Cinnamon immediately made me think of Mexican hot chocolate, which I adore for its dark spicy sweetness. But just making Mexican hot chocolate seemed boring,…

Gooey Cinnamon Squares

Cookbook Club – Smitten Kitchen Bonus Recipe Anthony made the Gooey Cinnamon Squares when we used The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook for our Cookbook Club (see all the dishes here). They were fantastic, so when my family decided that the special ingredient for our Iron Chef Christmas was cinnamon, I knew I had a good place…

Boozy Sundae Bar

So I go visit my parents for the holidays. The night I arrive, we are sitting around chatting after dinner, and we get onto the topic of ice cream (not surprising if you know me at all). I comment that Baileys is really good on vanilla ice cream. My dad responds that Amaretto is great…

Turkey, Mashed Cauliflower, Gravy, Butterscotch Pudding

Cookbook Club – Thanksgiving For November’s Cookbook Club, we decided to do a Friendsgiving celebration. Instead of specifying a cookbook, we left it open to give everyone a chance to test run the recipes they planned to make for Thanksgiving. I had planned to make mashed cauliflower and gravy, but ended up also making turkey,…

Sunday Supper

A group of our food-loving friends got together for a Sunday Supper potluck, and it was quite the fall feast. Warming comfort food was abundant and wine was flowing! I made jook (go here for my Guessipe), which is a hearty soup made with turkey and rice, then dressed to taste by the eater. This…

Pineapple Cream Pie

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I love pie. Not only is it one of my favorite desserts to eat (ok yes, one of my favorite breakfasts as well), but pie also tends to be one of the baked goods most forgiving of improvisation. That fits well with my Guessipe style of cooking. One…

MoCh4 Cookies

These are the best cookies I’ve ever had. Bold statement, I know. But seriously, they’re awesome – a hit at every party I’ve brought them to. People are always asking me for the recipe. So here it is! I even gave them a clever name. What the heck is MoCh4? These cookies have Chocolate Chips,…

Polenta Budino with Plum Marmaletta

Sheana texts me one afternoon to say that she has clipped a recipe for Polenta Budino with Plum Marmaletta from her Bon Appetit magazine, and would I like to come over to make some with her. I dunno what a Budino is, and I guess I betta learn about a Marmaletta. But she mentions something…

Swedish Chocolate Balls

One of my best friends is Swedish. She taught me how to make these awesome chocolate balls, which are a common Swedish dessert. They have a great texture from the oats, and a flavor from the dark cocoa that makes them rich but not overly sweet. I added a bit of strong coffee, which gives…