*I received product in exchange for my honest opinions.* It’s summertime. Your family is at home. The bickering, stomping, and cage matches between your kiddos are driving you bonkers. I know it, friend. I know. You need recipes that are (1) easy to pull together, (2) they can eat without too much intervention, and (3)…
breakfast
Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
My flaky Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing deliver on their promise of flaky layers. These rolls have that familiar flavor (and aroma) we all know and love even though they are prepared with a small twist. Cream Cheese Icing sweetens the deal, but is totally optional. You can make these the night before you…
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins w/Cream Cheese Glaze
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins are a sublime way to usher in Summer. A punchy, citrusy cake-like batter is flecked with lemon zest and crunchy poppy seeds. Their Cream Cheese Drizzle compliments their zingy flavor while, at the same time, giving them a creamy finish. They’re easy to make, while at the same time they’re freezer-friendly…
Cheesy Grits with Garlic
I love how interested you are in my life! After posting about my accomplishments in this post a couple of weeks ago, a few of you asked for more details on the TV show I auditioned for. While I won’t name names (mainly because their attorneys are bigger than mine) I’ll give you most of…
Mint Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
Disclaimer: I truly have no idea in which recipe category this Mint Chocolate Chip Banana Bread belongs. It started out as a breakfast bread. I mean, it is banana bread, after all. But, then, slowly, unwittingly, it morphed into a dessert. The mint chocolate and ganache and a liberal sprinkling of candy canes kind of…
Quesitos (Puerto Rican Cream Cheese-Filled Pastries)
My Quesitos are pastries that are the result of years of recipe development. I toiled many hours in the kitchen to get them just right. Because the filling is quite simple to make, the issue was mainly with the dough. I was just never happy with them. But, as always, perseverance paid off, and the…
Mallorcas- Puerto Rican Breakfast Sweet Rolls
This is a revamp of my Mallorcas recipe, which I first posted in January 2017. The recipe is still the same as before, I just updated the earlier ghastly pictures. Enjoy! Guess what the hardest thing about being bi-racial is? It’s having more than one amazing cuisine to love. I kid. There are much…
Pastelillos de Guayaba (Guava Turnovers)
I swear I almost choked to death the first time I had Pastelillos de Guayaba (pahs-tay-LEE-yos de gwa-YA-bah). Bakeries in Puerto Rico and NYC love to douse these guava turnovers with an obscene amount of powdered sugar. You’re bound to inhale it and choke. It’s so amazing. And it’s worth choking on because the taste-reward…
Puff Pastry Dough from Scratch
My most stressful class in culinary school was Classical Pastries. Chef Jan Bandula was the instructor and he was also a Certified Master Pastry Chef. And he was European. Failure was not an option in any of his courses. But Chef Bandula also wanted us to win. He never made us feel like idiots if…
Zucchini Bread- Easy and Freezer-Friendly
My children humble me on an almost daily basis. Case in point: my son told me this past weekend, “I really love zucchini.” Me, being the humble person I am, thought, “Well, clearly I’m an amazing mother. He loves vegetables and has a love of healthy food. He takes after me.” Come to find out,…
