Pistachio-Crusted Lemon Bars

Cookbook Club – Sababa We used Adeena Sussman’s Sababa: Fresh, Sunny Flavors from My Israeli Kitchen as our April cookbook. Sababa means “everything is awesome” in Hebrew, and is the spirit Sussman uses in her Israel-inspired recipes. We did indeed have a sunny afternoon meal – go to my Cookbook Club site to experience the…

Mom’s Corn Muffins

I was invited to a Sunday Supper-themed potluck, where the main courses were going to be pot roast and roasted chicken. As I was pondering what side dish I could bring, I remembered my Mom’s Corn Muffins, a holiday gathering favorite. As I was making them, it occurred to me that I had never documented…

Orange Blueberry Cake

My friends gave me a ton of oranges from their tree. When we couldn’t bear the thought of eating another orange, I had a thought – if lemon cake is good, why not orange cake? I also had some blueberries from the local community garden. My first Orange Blueberry Cake was entirely consumed in one…

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes

I wanted to make a St. Patrick’s Day dessert, and my neighbor had just given me a bunch of limes from her tree. So I decided to make Key Lime Pie Cupcakes. To get that familiar key lime pie flavor I used sweetened condensed milk instead of sugar in both the cupcake batter and the…

Pandan Pie

Today is my favorite day of the year… Pi(e) Day! A few weeks ago, I had a pandan latte at a Vietnamese coffee shop. It was heavenly. Pandan is a leaf used commonly in Southeast Asian cuisine, and the best way I can describe its flavor is like an herbaceous vanilla. One of my friends…

Chewy Fudge Brownies

Cookbook Club – Texture Over Taste February’s cookbook was Texture Over Taste by Joshua Weissman. Weissman divided the recipes into 6 texture chapters – Crunchy, Chewy, Aerated, Creamy, Fluid, and Fatty. To explore all the textures we experienced, go to my Cookbook Club site. For now – my dish! When it comes to brownies, some…

Greek Lemon Soup

Cookbook Club – The Silver Palate Cookbook Happy new year of Cookbook Club! Our first event of 2024 used the American classic Silver Palate cookbook series – The Silver Palate Cookbook, The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, and The New Basics. To see our full first feast of the year, check out my Cookbook Club site. For…

Asian Beef Balls

When my family goes to dim sum, we never get the steamed beef balls – they tend to be bland and a bit mushy. But I had a big package of ground beef and needed something to bring to a football party, so I decided to try making my own better beef balls. A bunch…

Key Lime Cake

I had a big container of sour cream, I had key limes, and I had a dinner party I needed to bring a dessert to. It was an intimate dinner party for 4, so I thought there would be leftovers of this Key Lime Cake, but I ended up having to make another one the…

Passion Fruit Butter

In my family, close family friends are “aunts” and “uncles”, and my Aunt Chaz was as much family as any of my blood relatives. This Guessipe is in memory of her. She was Hawaiian, and one of her secret recipes was lilikoi (Hawaiian passion fruit) butter. I have never been able to find or make…

Cheesy Garlic Jalapeno Frittata

In preparation for going out of town, I was using up everything I could from my fridge. That led to this Cheesy Garlic Jalapeno Frittata, which my boyfriend could not stop talking about. I usually have these ingredients (you can use any mix of cheeses you want, but I’ve noted one of my fav combos…

Kids Menu Katsudon

Katsudon is one of my favorite Japanese dishes – rice topped with deep-fried pork cutlet, egg, and onion simmered in a savory sweet sauce. It’s super simple to make, except for the deep-fried pork cutlet. One weeknight I was super craving katsudon, but had neither the ingredients nor the energy to deep-fry a pork cutlet….