Chewy Ginger Cookies

Fall is one of my favorite seasons both from a culinary standpoint and otherwise.  The crisp days, the warm colors, and the spicy flavors evoke an overall warmth that makes me truly enjoy this season.  It's been years since we've had a true fall in New York, and so far the weather this year has been perfect.

Incredible Olive Oil and Whole Wheat Pumpkin Bread

This pumpkin bread is like crack....no it's worse than crack because I can say no to crack but I can't refuse a slice of this delicious dessert.  I developed this recipe by making a bunch of changes to a basic recipe I found, and the result was that I ended up eating about 1/2 of it in one sitting.  Don't judge.  If it helps you/me feel less guilty then I'll mention that it uses olive oil instead of butter and half of the flour is whole wheat.

AMAZING S'mores Ice Cream

I saw a recipe for toasted marshmallow ice cream and I thought it would be amazing to go that extra step and turn it into a S'mores flavored treat.  The result is a creamy ice cream with the smoky flavor of toasted marshmallows, the crunch of crispy graham crackers, and a smooth ribbon of rich chocolate fudge.  I made this the other day with my friend Monika as my sous chef, and we watched some shark week while the ice cream was churning.  The perfect end to a day.  Thanks Monika!

My favorite thing to make!

Whenever anyone hears you're a chef they automatically ask you "what's your favorite thing to make?"  Read this post for the answer... (or just look at the above picture ;-)

How to Make Greek Yogurt

My absolute favorite thing to have for breakfast is plain yogurt with some fresh fruit and granola.  I usually buy plain yogurt and sometimes as a treat, I'll buy Greek yogurt.  Greek yogurt is thicker than normal yogurt, but it's also way more expensive.  I decided I was going to take matters into my own hands and make my own Greek yogurt.  It's significantly cheaper (just the cost of milk), you don't need a fancy machine, you can control what's in it, and I don't know why but I am very excited to be making my own yogurt.

One of my Favorite Sandwiches

In high school I used to make myself this sandwich all of the time.  It is sweet, salty, crunchy, tangy, and delicious.  It's also super simple and makes a great spread for brunch.

Basic Tomato-Basil Sauce

One great way to always be able to whip up an impressive meal last minute is to have a stash of basic tomato sauce handy.  This way you can jazz it up to make different dishes but you've already done half the work ahead of time.