Spinach Spring Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

The next time you decide to have salad on your lunch or dinner menu, consider thinking beyond ranch as a dressing option. There is a whole world of delicious vinaigrette flavors just waiting for the opportunity to be paired with your farm fresh mixed greens. This vinaigrette has become my second favorite alternative to ranch [...]

A Celebration of Strawberry Proportions

The email notification on my iPhone buzzed like it has done nearly 1,000 times before. Except, this particular message was different from the others. It was from an editor at Fine Cooking Magazine interested in including my Balsamic Strawberry Shortcake photo for their Best of Blogs section on FineCooking.com. I squealed like a teenage girl [...]

Chocolate Pancakes

Are these pancakes for breakfast or for dessert?  How about both?  Hard to decide isn’t it? The idea of making chocolate pancakes was actually inspired by an outlet shopping trip just outside of the Pittsburgh area.  I was sifting through a kitchen gadget store looking for anything I haven’t purchased yet when Brent found a [...]

Grilled Angel Food Cake with Balsamic Strawberries

This was my dessert for my Impromptu Dinner Party. When life speeds past you at 100 miles per hour, it’s always good to remember to stop and savor the season’s best flavors.  Like balsamic strawberries with the tender, light and airy texture of grilled angel food cake.  The heat from the grill creates an intense, [...]

Impromptu Dinner Party: Brent & Ty Take Over

After returning home from a wonderful trip in Toronto, the last thing I wanted to do was eat in yet another restaurant.  I craved a home cooked meal and the comfort of relaxing in the backyard, without the annoyance of servers asking us if we were American based on what we ordered.  While trying to [...]

Herb Goat Cheese and Balsamic Tomato Crostini

While I was exercising, I started to brainstorm new appetizer recipe ideas for an upcoming dinner party.  Wow, what a surprise…I was thinking about food while I was EXCERCISING (aka. inducing pain). I needed something that was simple and easy to make.  The favors needed to be bold and appetizing, while being universal enough for [...]