Chef Choices

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream has layers of moist cake, strawberry buttercream, and fresh strawberries. It’s a perfect summer dessert, but it can also be prepared during the off-season using frozen strawberries. If you’ve been seeking a homemade strawberry cake recipe, you’re going to love this one! If there’s any time of the year to enjoy strawberries, it’s right now. Maybe I’m craving them because I’ve had no success growing strawberries in the garden. I was so excited about the prospect of fresh strawberries that I bought not one but two plants! So far, they have yielded me 4-5 berries in total, and I must say, they were some tasty strawberries. This moist, delicious layer cake is full of flavor. I adapted a recipe from Sweetapolita (one of my many blog crushes) and co...

    This vegan chili recipe creates a savory, hearty meal full of healthy veggies and two types of beans. Make this Tex-Mex meal for dinner tonight! This meatless chili is our new favorite make-ahead dinner. In addition to recipes like my Mexican Tortilla Casserole and Slow Cooker Kalua Pork, I love preparing stews to reheat throughout the week or freeze into individual portions. Stews are especially perfect for winter! Meatless dishes are all the rage right now, and this one is an absolute favorite of mine. I use just a few simple techniques that add a ton of flavor. Once you try a spoonful of this mouthwatering meal, you may never return to beef chili recipes again! But if you do want a good beef chili recipe, you will love my Cincinnati Chili. Other go-to meatless dishes I love that ...

  Apple Cider Sangria is a beautiful cocktail that’s perfect for fall. Serve this seasonal crowd-pleaser at your next holiday party!  Orange juice, and cinnamon complement this seasonal cocktail, without overpowering the apple cider. Fresh apples and pears offer that signature sangria fruitiness. Frozen cranberries add color and keep your fall sangria chilled!  We’ve still got some time until the holidays, but it’s hard not to start considering all of the possibilities for party recipes. My favorite seasonal ingredients are appearing everywhere! When I recently got my hands on some apple cider, I immediately knew I wanted to make a cocktail. I also happened to have apples, pears, and oranges in my possession. The answer was obviously apple cider sangria. My goal with this...

This classic yellow cake recipe is soft, buttery, and moist, with a delicate crumb, and just the right amount of sweetness. Its simple vanilla flavor is perfect for showcasing your favorite frosting or enjoying it on its own. Best of all? This cake is made entirely from scratch. So here’s the thing about yellow cake mix, and box mixes in general. I’m not going to fault anyone for using or even loving them. We all like what we like, and some people really love their cake mix. It’s chemically engineered in a food science lab to be incredibly soft and to rise perfectly every time. Mom used it when I was a kid, and I liked it just fine (however, as a young adult I considered myself Team Pie until I started making cakes from scratch). My grandma used it as the base for her “famous” choco...

    This almond milk recipe is easier to make than you might think. Make your own creamy, flavorful, dairy substitute with just almonds and water!  I’ve been trying to cut back on milk. I drink quite a bit of coffee and tea, and muesli is one of my guilty pleasures. I feel like the cumulative effect on my body isn’t a heathy one.  To offset this, I’ve recently been alternating between milk and non-dairy alternatives. One of my favorites is soy milk, because it has the added protein (and there’s something about the flavor I like). I still like making that, but I’m more into making homemade nut milks. Why, you may ask? While I don’t mind the taste of store-bought milks, I’ve never been wowed by any of the packaged nut milks. In my opinion, they have a weird mouthfeel and aftertaste. Homema...

  This spring mix salad features crisp greens with feta cheese, blood oranges, fresh mint and crunchy pistachios. Make this recipe for an easy brunch salad!   My love of cheese is eternal, and feta is no exception. The creamy texture and briny saltiness of a good quality feta can enhance so many recipes, especially salads. For this mixed greens salad, feta adds a perfect balance of flavor, texture and color. Spring Mix Salad Ingredient Notes Feta cheese: I always purchase blocks of feta packed in brine as opposed to pre-crumbled feta. As with any cheese, it will taste more flavorful if you wait until the last moment to crumble it. The brine also helps the feta retain moisture, resulting in a cheese that’s both creamy and firm as opposed to slightly dried out. Blood oranges: Because they...