Tag: Recipes

Elevate Your Snack Game with Homemade Chips

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I’m that weird person who loves to spend time in the kitchen making food and trying new recipes. Life has been so busy the last few weeks that cooking dinner has turned into whatever I can cook quickly and get ready the fastest, instead of my usual hour-long recipes. Cooking dinner at night has turned into my quiet time, and it’s usually my favorite part of the day.

Over the weekend, I wanted to find time to cook something and have a little “me time”. I stumbled upon the episode of Meghan Markle’s show on Netflix which she makes potato chips from scratch. It’s been years since I made them myself, and I forgot how easy they are to make. Before I knew it, I was in my kitchen going through the cabinets, and I had everything I needed to make some. Making chips at home might feel over‑the‑top but it’s exactly the kind of thing that takes a regular evening and turns it into something just a little bit special. And if you’re anything like me? You want that snack moment to feel elevated, but still totally doable. After I made a batch for us to enjoy, I made some more to give away to some friends as a special little treat. This is a great idea for get-togethers when you aren’t the best cook but don’t want to show up empty handed.

Here is the recipe I used

  • russet potatoes (skin‑on)
  • salt
  • vinegar powder (I didn’t have any and went without)
  • oil
  • pot
  • Slice the potatoes thin (You can use a fancy gadget but I just used a knife)
  • Soak the slices in cold/ice water for ~30 minutes
  • Rinse, pat dry, allow a bit of air‑drying on paper towels for ~5 minutes
  • Heat oil in a heavy‑bottomed pot (Dutch oven works well) to ~325 °F. Fry the potato slices in a single layer (about 12‑16 slices at a time) for ~2‑3 minutes per batch until golden and crisp. Don’t overcrowd.
  • Use a spider or slotted spoon to remove the chips, drain on paper towels.
  • While still warm, toss quickly in a large bowl with the salt + vinegar powder + herbs (if using) so the seasoning clings.
  • Enjoy!

Welcoming Borromini to the neighborhood!

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After spending my teens and twenties fully obsessed with shows like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl, I always dreamed of that glamorous city life — you know, hopping from art gallery openings to the buzziest restaurant of the moment, preferably in heels I couldn’t actually walk in. I feel like I had that dream become a reality when Jake and I were talking about what restaurant to make a reservation at for our one year wedding anniversary. We settled on Parc because it’s one of our favorites, and it’s turned into our go-to for celebrations. The next day, Jake texted me that there was one opening available at the just opened Borromini restaurant in Rittenhouse Square. While Philly is not like New York City, it’s still a city with an amazing food scene. Jake and I are both foodies, and we love trying new places and trying new things. So when a reservation was available at a restaurant with a very known long wait list – I knew we had to jump on it.

I loved the vibe right away. From the moment I stepped through the doors, I could tell a lot of time and money went into transforming this space. The space is massive (it occupies two floors in what used to be a Barnes & Noble) and yet somehow still cozy. With the vaulted ceilings, mosaic tilework, rustic oak beams, exposed brick, and these soft warm lights that make you feel like you’re somewhere you should be dressed up but also comfy. It has that fancy restaurant vibe, but also a place I would be comfortable going to grab dinner after work. The best way to sum it up is that it was built for Philly because we like nice things, but we are also down-to-earth.

I’ve heard complaints that the restaurant was too loud, but I didn’t find it hard to have a conversation. If anything, it added to the positive energy with people being excited to be there. The resturant just opened, but it already had that this is the place to be and gather. The waitstaff is also very friendly; we bonded over the Eagles loss, and they are very knowledgeable about the menu. The waitstaff are attentive but don’t hover and don’t rush you through the meal. Since we were celebrating our wedding anniversary, the restaurant was kind enough to surprise us with glasses of prosecco with our desert that came out with candles. It’s that little extra touch that goes a long way!

It’s a small menu, but you can tell that each item has been perfected and is selected to pair well with other dishes. We started with the Caprese and the focaccia while looking over the menu. It was hard to choose one because everything sounded so GOOD! I went with the spaghetti al pomodoro, and Jake ordered the 100-layer lasagna.

We already decided we need to come back again during the week when we wanted to get a drink after work. The aperol spritz was refreshing, and the Pomodoro Martini was heaven in a glass.

If I had to describe the food, I’d say that it’s fresh – not overly seasoned, just fresh ingredients to highlight the already delicious dishes. You could taste the fresh tomatoes in the spaghetti al pomodoro, and the lasagna was light and fluffy unlike traditional lasagnas.

Borromini is a great addition to the neighborhood, and I’m excited to come back again! We are already planning the next time we can stop by the bar and grab a drink and enjoy the restaurant vibes!

My Christmas Cookie Tradition

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Baking around Christmas is my favorite tradition! There’s just something magical about making batches of cookies and making the whole house smell like a gingerbread house. Over the years, I started to pack up cookies and give them to friends and family. What began as a few cookies in a plastic ziplock bag, has turned into a very large production that takes hours of baking and taking over the dining room to turn it into a cookie assembly and distribution center.

This year is busier than most and I was thinking of not baking this year or at least not going as big as I usually did. Until people started asking when the cookies were coming and making sure their Snickerdoodle cookies would be included this year. I realized that one long (very long) night on my end where I’m up until the early morning baking, is a small price to pay for the joy when someone receives a cookie package.

If you have a small budget or are looking to spread Christmas cheer to your friends or coworkers, maybe a cookie package is the right gift for you. Below is my list of cookies and sweets that make the list every year. This year I’m being kind to my body and breaking up the baking in two days so be sure to plan ahead! I like to get cute boxes and packaging at Homegoods or TJ Maxx to make the cookie packages a little more special. Or if you want to keep it simple, I have put cookies in a ziplock bag with a cute holiday cocktail napkin.

Cookies and Sweets

  • Chocolate Chip Cookies
  • Peanut Butter Cookies with Hershey Kisses
  • Sugar Cookies with sprinkles
  • Snickerdoodle Cookies
  • Gingerbread Cookies
  • Pretzels dipped in chocolate with sprinkles
  • Grinch themed Hershey Kisses

Happy baking!

How I Plan Our Weekly Meals

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In the past I would spend hours on Pinterest looking up cute work outfit inspo and now I’m looking at new recipes instead. From ways to style a pink skirt to ways to cook shrimp. Truthfully, it’s been a fun new hobby to start right now especially since I get to enjoy all of my hard work with a tasty meal! When I first started cooking dinner, I realized I needed a lot of things I didn’t have. Pre-quarantine during the week, the last thing I wanted to do was cook after a long work day. Now I look forward to it all day!

My routine right now is looking up recipes and seeing what we already have on hand while I meal plan on Sundays. I’ll search ingredients on Pinterest so we can find new ways to cook what we have. I’m also getting so much inspiration from people sharing their cooking on Instagram! From there I make a grocery list of things to get on my grocery run on Mondays. Since we don’t have a car, it’s hard to do a big grocery run at one time because we have to carry everything home. With the 30 minute walk it can be annoying to go to the store every week but I do enjoy getting fresh produce and groceries to use. When we were house hunting I wanted to make sure that we were close to a grocery store and while Trader Joe’s is a hike, it’s doable. Luckily we have two grocery stores near us. When the big food stores were out of everything luckily our stores were well stocked.

One afternoon I did some pinning on Pinterest and made a list of pantry necessities. For too long I’ve relied on Trader Joe’s frozen foods for all of my meals! We needed a lot of cooking basics and now that our kitchen is well stocked, cooking is a lot easier to do than I thought.

Now when I meal plan on Sundays, I like to look up recipes to make my grocery list and see what I already have on hand. A new thing I have been doing is taking screenshots of recipes that I see on Pinterest or Instagram and saving them to an album on my phone. I love how I can keep everything in one place and can easily pull up a recipe on my phone. It makes meal planning so easy and fun to keep track of new recipes to try!