Honey Gingerbread (for colored dough)

Gingerbread houses are way more fun when you give the dough some color, but it is tough to do that with the dark brown gingerbread cookie dough you traditionally use. I substitute honey and granulated white sugar for the molasses and brown sugar in this recipe so you have a lighter gingerbread that you can add food coloring to. For the roof (or anything else … Continue reading Honey Gingerbread (for colored dough)

Caprese Gnocchi

We literally eat this almost every week. It’s fast, yummy, and nutritious. And as a bonus, our kids love it and will eat an entire bowl! Ingredients 16 oz Potato Gnocchi 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes (halved) 8 oz fresh Mozzarella Pearls Fresh Basil, chopped Garlic Powder Olive Oil Balsamic Reduction or Glaze Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese Black Pepper Direction Cook the gnocchi according to the … Continue reading Caprese Gnocchi

Fresh fettuccine egg pasta

I avoided making fresh pasta for way too long. It looked too hard and required kitchen gadgets that were way too expensive. And then I went to Rome and took a pasta-making class at Pastificio Faini. It changed my life! Or at least my life in the kitchen. Suddenly, making fresh pasta became as easy as buying it from the store, and I didn’t need … Continue reading Fresh fettuccine egg pasta

Continue reading Fresh fettuccine egg pasta

Amatriciana sauce

Seriously, keep this simple and take your time. I’ve seen so many recipes for this sauce online that overcomplicate it. What makes Amatriciana sauce so delicious is its simplicity–don’t cover up the taste of the guanciale and cheese with garlic, onions, basil, or parsley. Splurge on quality meat, cheese and tomatoes and forget the rest. This it the perfect sauce to let slowly simmer on … Continue reading Amatriciana sauce

Finding the best gelato in Rome

  So. Much. Gelato. 10 days and five-ish new pounds later, I’ve successfully ate my way through Italy. We ate more pizza, pasta, and pastries than I can even recall, but Italian gelato was definitely a food highlight of the trip for me! I’ve loved gelato ever since discovering it in Germany about 20 years ago. It’s so amazingly good when done right. I love … Continue reading Finding the best gelato in Rome

Better Burgers on the Traeger

There almost nothing I like more than cooking out on my Traeger in our backyard. I use it nearly year-round and swear that it can make anything I cook taste 10x better. With one big exception. The first few times I tried cooking any meat I wanted seared and cooked quickly at a high temperature–think steaks, hamburgers, etc–I was sooo disappointed. My steaks turned out … Continue reading Better Burgers on the Traeger