Thank you, Barilla®, for this unforgettable experience and for sponsoring this post. Thoughts, photos and recipe are my own. There have been moments in my blogging career when I’ve looked around me, taken note of what I’m doing, who I’m with and what I’m eating and thought, “This is REALLY cool.”  This week, I had a BIG one of those Read More

I’m obsessed with peaches right now, of course, because how can you not be at the end of Summer? And this is my favorite way to eat them! I don’t like to go all the way sweet, as you know, so I came up with the perfect combo of sweet, salty and spicy for this recipe. Have you guys tried Read More

If you know me, you know I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but, that does not mean I don’t love dessert! Confused? What I mean is, I don’t like anything tooooo sweet. When I order dessert, I always go for dark chocolate, coffee, rich and bitter flavors. So when creating this recipe with Turkey Hill Dairy, I thought Read More

When I think of foods from my childhood, two things come to mind. Pasta, because my dad is Italian and cooked it all the time, and crab. I grew up going to Virginia every summer to my family’s cabin where we would catch crabs, steam them and eat them on the porch. It’s still one of my most favorite meals! Read More

This salad is perfect for the end of Spring/Beginning of Summer. Asparagus is still in season and cherry tomatoes are popping up at farmer’s markets all over. The combination of slightly charred asparagus and sweet, juicy tomatoes is really delicious and then top it off with Parmesan and fresh basil? Perfection! Also, can we just appreciate how really, really ridiculously Read More

Carbonara purists will hate me for this one but, it’s really hard for me to care when the pasta is this delicious! This is the type of recipe that I don’t make very often but when I do, I get super excited for it. It’s rich and indulgent, and the best part? It’s really easy to make. Traditional carbonara consists Read More

It’s spring! I am so beyond excited that it’s finally spring and we can put stupid winter behind us. No offense winter, but after the holidays, you’re just not fun anymore. By the time spring rolls around, I’m always so over dreary, gray Chicago that all want to see are pretty things. I need flowers, green grass, colorful dresses, and Read More

This is HANDS DOWN my favorite dish. Literally, if I were on death row and I had to choose my last meal, this would definitely be it. I would want it to be this specific recipe though, because this is the ultimate recipe for linguine with clams. I don’t actually plan on being on death row ever in my life Read More

This chicken is SO JUICY, you’ll freak. This recipe makes 6 drumsticks and it would be totally understandable (and acceptable) if you decide to eat them all yourself. I love making chicken drumsticks not only because they are delicious, but they’re also so inexpensive! The price makes these a total no-brainer and the flavor will make these a staple in Read More

I used to hate cooking chicken breasts. It seemed impossible to have them turn out anything but dry without marinating them for a long time. So, what about when dinner is supposed to be on the table and I forgot to marinate the chicken? Enter, the casual brine. I call it the casual brine because it only takes 20 minutes Read More