Growing up, there was really only one restaurant in town: The Rustic Oak. Sure, we had fast food places – McDonald’s, Arby’s, Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips – but The Oak was the only spot for a **good** meal.
The two things I remember most about The Oak was the massive fireplace that was always roaring (and the stacked wood outside the front door to keep it going) and their soup and salad bar. The salad bar wasn’t anything fancy – tan tubs of iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, olives, bacon bits that could crack your teeth, and croutons nestled in ice under a brightly lit sneeze guard – but as a kid, unlimited anything was exciting. If you saw me and my parents at the Rustic Oak in the 80s, we were probably celebrating something.
Photo from the New Haven Register
I don’t remember eating out much growing up, unless we were on vacation. And even then, when we would go to the Jersey Shore every year, we’d stay in an efficiency hotel room, equipped with a small kitchenette, where my mother would cook dinner for us after the beach a few nights during our week-long stay. The hotel hallway would smell like fried chicken cutlets all night.
This is the kitchen where my parents insisted on cooking dinner a few nights a week while we were on vacation. Photo from The Pan American Hotel.
Most of my restaurant meals were Happy Meals picked up from the drive thru after church on Saturday nights. My treat with my babysitter while my parents went out for the night. And when we did go out! Man, did those nights feel luxurious. It’s probably what led to my obsession with restaurants and food and eating out today.
I LOVE EATING AT RESTAURANTS.
Like, really love it. I would eat out every single night if I could. And it’s not because I don’t like to cook – because I do – but I just like having someone cook for me even more. I love reading menus and eating. I love to eat. My Insta feed is filled with deliciously plated foods and fancy cocktails, with the occasional sweater-wearing dachshund mixed in.
In what could only be described as a cruel twist of fate, I am raising a child who does NOT like to eat out. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE??
To be clear: Little Mister likes restaurant food, but he wants to eat it at home (the place where – after you eat your meal – no one cleans up after you and does the dishes and offers you dessert).
Every weekend when Mr. KK and I are ready to leave the house and relax with an adult beverage and a meal cooked by someone who is not Yours Truly, the negotiating begins.
“Where are we going?”
“What kind of food is it?”
“What else is there to do there?”
“Is anyone else coming with us?”
“Can I watch a movie while I’m there?”
After a long week, I don’t want to see the inside of my kitchen – for cooking or for eating. Instead, let’s enjoy each other’s company, take our time easing into the weekend, enjoy some delicious food, and revel in the fact that we don’t need to clean up!
(Also, if parents say we’re going out to eat, WE’RE GOING OUT TO EAT!)
I think my last post brought the mood around here down to near depression level, so I thought we’d lighten things up.
Let’s talk about pizza.
Oh, delicious, cheesy, salty, crispy pizza. I don’t think a more perfect food exists. (Prove me wrong)
Living in Connecticut means being able to enjoy the best pizza any time you desire.
My perfect pie looks like this:
It’s a mozz, bacon and black olive pie. Perfectly thin and crispy, salty from the bacon and olives, gooey from the cheese. Well done but not burnt. Minimal bubbles. If given the time and elastic waist pants, I could probably eat the entire thing myself. (Seriously, just look at that pizza! If your mouth isn’t watering you are made of stone!)
New Haven pizza is the only pizza, in my opinion. You’ve got the big 3: Pepe’s, Sally’s and Modern (my personal favorite). But then, as you slowly move away from Wooster and State Streets, you still are surrounded by amazing pizza joints. Olde World (our Friday night go-to). Fuoco. Ernie’s.
Non-New Haven pizza? You have no place here.
Square pizza? Um, no.
Deep dish pizza? Why is it so thick?
Chicago-style pizza? Is this a cake?
Pizza is good hot, warm, or cold out of the fridge. And while you could eat it any day of the week, I feel like Fridays are the traditional pizza night.
Much to Mr. KK’s dismay, I am a knife and fork girl when it comes to pizza. At least the first two slices. Then, once the pizza is at it’s optimal stand-up-on-its-own temperature, I’ll pick it up. I’ll leave you guessing if I fold oversized piece in half.
And, sure, I could call it pizza like everyone else. But I prefer to call it by it’s proper name: Ahbeetz!
For my birthday this year, Mr. KK and I indulged in a long weekend in Nantucket.
“The best gift you could give me is to let me plan this entire trip,” I told Mr. KK.
Nantucket had been on my bucket list of trips for a decade, mostly thanks to me reading (and re-reading, and listening to) Elin Hildebrand novels. From the pages of her books, I fell in love with the island of Nantucket, and I just knew I would feel right at home when I finally got there.
I planned this trip for almost a full year. And by this, I mean I researched, read blogs, followed restaurant Instagram accounts and referencing Elin’s “The Blue Book” she put together in her book The Hotel Nantucket.
Me and Elin Hildebrand at her book signing, just a few days before I headed to Nantucket!
Planning 3 Days in Nantucket
I planned our trip for the third week in June, before the summer crowds but when it was warm enough that we could have a beach day. My list of places I wanted to go, restaurants I wanted to eat at and things to see was so long, I may as well should have been planning a month-long sojourn.
The excitement I felt seeing that lighthouse from the ferry (after reading about it in so many books) was incredible. NOTE: Elin Hildebrand’s “Swan Song” in my bag!
The Best Hotel in Nantucket
If you’ve ever looked at hotels in Nantucket, you know that it can cost a small fortune for lodging. I knew we wanted to be close to town so we could walk everywhere, and while I was willing to splurge a bit, I wasn’t White Elephant splurging.
I booked a room at The Salt Hotel in June of 2023 for the following year. When I went to share the website with a friend, the website no longer existed and redirected to a hotel called The Brant. After a quick panic attack I found that the hotel was under new management and had a new name. And after a quick phone call I discovered that they did indeed have our room reservation for the following June. PHEW.
I cannot even begin to describe how amazing The Brant Hotel is. First, it’s an easy walk from the ferry (even dragging a rolling suitcase). Second, it’s an easy walk from the hotel to Jetties Beach. Third, it’s a quick walk to town. Basically, the location is perfect.
Everything was new. They had just built this gorgeous barn that served as a front desk/bar/breakfast/gathering place. Just the craftmanship of the building, and the attention to detail was pure Nantucket. They had copper gutters!
The Brant’s signature color was orange (my favorite!) so it felt like a perfect match! They had these cute bikes you could use, however I didn’t think riding around on cobblestone streets was the best way to reintroduce my body to a bike after 25 years.
We arrived around 10am from our ferry – way before check in time – and not only was our room ready, they upgraded us! The hotel wasn’t very busy, so we had the opportunity to spend a bit of time chatting with the staff and enjoying the beautiful quad area with lounge chairs, corn hole and fire pit.
After our stay, I noticed that The Brant started to get quite popular, even winning a Michelin Key! It is likely out of our price range now, but I’m so happy we had a chance to stay with them when they were just starting out. The staff was superb.
Day 1 in Nantucket
Because we arrived so early, we had a full day ahead of us. Once we were checked into the hotel, we changed into bathing suits and borrowed chairs from the hotel and walked the 3/4 of a mile down to Jetties Beach. It was a beautiful, sunny day, but a little windy.
We spent a few hours on the beach then headed up to The Sandbar for lunch. The Sandbar is the quintessential beach bar. I loved everything about this place – from the retro 1970s logo to the frosé to the amazing spicy swordfish sandwich. They had me at homemade potato chips. Seriously, I could have gone here every day of our trip. There is just something about hanging out in a cover up, skin salty from the sea air, sand on your feet, drinking the day away.
The drink menu at The Sandbar
Three cocktails and one t-shirt later, we were on our way back to the hotel to relax on the comfy lounge chairs. I think I even took a quick nap in the sun, it was glorious.
Dinner our first night was at the coveted Nautilus. We had eaten at the Nautilus in Boston, but knew we had to try and snag a table at the one in Nantucket. We luckily had an 8:30 reservation. Before dinner we did a little cocktail hopping, first at or, The Whale on their beautiful back patio. Then we scored two bar seats in the dark and cozy Pearl, where I had the most delicious martini called the Ooh Mami Tini, which was made with vodka, fine sherry, umami bitters, olive brine and blue cheese olives. FANTASTIC.
Our cocktails at The Pearl. Check out my fancy coupe glass for my martini.
We arrived at Nautilus starving, only to find they were running behind and our table wasn’t ready. We grabbed (another) drink while we waited, which turned out to be about 45 minutes (!) – did I mention how hungry we were?
Nautilus has one of those menus where everything sounds amazing, and you usually just start ordering and dishes just start appearing at the table. We ate many delicious things, but the stand out dish for us were the Romano beans. Sounds silly, but these beans were prepared in a sauce that was so tasty, here we are 5 months later and Mr. KK and still talk about them. They were that good. We ate them so fast we didn’t even get a picture of them! But I did get a photo of the blue crab fried rice, which was also delicious.
Day 2 in Nantucket
Well, Day 1 was pretty damn near perfect, it was going to be hard to top it on Day 2. We woke up to sunshine and blue skies, and still talking about those Romano beans (seriously, so delicious!). We grabbed a quick breakfast at the barn (did I mention that they offer a complimentary continental breakfast that is actually good?) and we hopped on a bus to ‘Sconset to do the Bluff Walk.
Nantucket has a pretty robust bus system that can take you all over the island that is free during the summer months. The ride out to ‘Sconset was about 30 minutes. From drop off it was a short walk over to the start of the Bluff Walk, which is a path that runs a few miles along the ocean and basically in the backyards of waterfront homes. You are literally walking behind houses and waving to people on their back porches. They are, of course, used to people all up in their privacy, as it comes with living along the bluff. We walked all the way to the Sankaty Head Lighthouse in the blazing sun, but it felt good exercising and working off those Romano beans and 27 cocktails.
Us, sweating along the Bluff Walk.
After we got back, showered and cooled off, we headed to Cisco Brewers. There’s a convenient free shuttle right from town that was a 5 minute walk from our hotel. If you go to Nantucket, a visit to Cisco is a must. The place has a vibe. If you don’t drink beer, there’s no need to worry, because they also have wine (and frosé!) and Triple 8 distillery with mixed cocktails. Plus, multiple food trucks. There is literally something for everyone. The place was jamming on a late Friday afternoon; the crowd was bachelorette parties, locals, Chads after their rounds of golf, tourists, couples, and everyone in between. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so once we secured our first drink (beer for Mr. KK and – you guessed it! – frosé for me), we shared a lobster roll from one of the food trucks. There was live music and OH MY GOODNESS the people watching. That was probably my favorite part.
That night, we had reservations at Dune (which I just now learned has permanently closed, which is so unfortunate because the food was delicious!). We were able to walk to dinner (again, GREAT hotel location) and we were ready to eat! We shared a few appetizers, and I ordered the chicken and Mr. KK ordered the pork tenderloin. Once again, everything was delicious, and the presentation was beautiful. We were seated inside, but it looked like the restaurant had a pretty lively patio as well.
Food coma!
Day 3 in Nantucket
We woke up excited for the day, but also with a little sadness that this was our last full day. We grabbed iced coffees in town and walked to breakfast at Island Kitchen, which was a decent walk to mid-island. We sat outside and enjoyed a few bloodies.
We also walked back to burn off our breakfast burrito and avocado toast, and then spent the day wandering the cobblestone streets, popping into stores, and being tourists. Mr. KK bought more souvenirs for himself on this trip than he has on every other trip we’ve gone on together over the last 25 years.
My favorite photo from our trip. If you don’t see hydrangeas did you even go to Nantucket?
We were booked on The Endeavor sail boat that afternoon, for a two-hour tour of the harbor. The day was overcast for the most part, but when we sailed out we say some hints of a blue sky. We enjoyed relaxing on the boat as we cruised around Nantucket, dodging yachts and ferries.
Us, chilling on The Endeavor. I’ve never met a boat I didn’t like. If there’s a sailing excursion where I am, I will be on that boat.
We had some time to kill, so we headed back to Jetties Beach for buck-a-shuck oysters from 3-5pm. Talk about a good deal!
Our last dinner was at The Proprietors Bar and Table, or “Props” as the locals call it. The restaurant is in what looks like an old house, and we were seated upstairs. We had a delicious meal (once again) and were talking about how we wish we could just teleport back to the hotel, when the waitress came over to see if we wanted dessert. We said no, and then she reminded me that we were there celebrating my birthday, and I had to have dessert. “I’ll bring you a dessert!” she told me.
Dessert came with a candle, and Mr. KK captured the moment for me.
The dessert was…fine. I’m not a big dessert person, and none of the desserts were really jumping out at me to begin with. We ate a few bites, took this momentous photos, and then both threw in the towel. The biggest surprise was when the bill came. The birthday dessert that the waitress insisted I have and that she “bring me”, was charged to us for $20! No dessert is worth $20, especially one I didn’t really want in the first place.
Day 4 in Nantucket
We were on the 12:30 ferry home, so we had enough time to head out for one last delicious meal on island before heading back to reality.
We chose to eat at Black Eyed Susans and it was delicious! We sat at the counter and were mesmerized watching the cook handle the volume of breakfast orders. With full bellies we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and check out.
We were going to miss The Brant so much! I’m not bougie but I can slip into that lifestyle like it was my job.
I give our Nantucket weekend 10/10 stars. Each thing we did or experienced was so much better than I had imagined it would be. It’s the kind of place you visit once, and you never want to leave…or you can’t wait to come back.
It’s easy to see how so many people come for a short period of time and never end up leaving. I can’t wait to plan a second trip and come back.
How much protein do you need to eat to lose weight?
What foods have the most protein?
Are you getting enough protein?
Eat more protein!
Protein for President!
(too soon on that last one?)
Over the last year, I have been working with nutritionists to help balance my food intake, manage my weight, and counteract the M word. In the last few months, I have been tasked with focusing on eating more protein, in order to meet a certain goal each day. I’ll tell you, some days, I don’t want to even look at more protein. But I have learned a few things.
My Personal 10 Thoughts About Protein
Eggs do not have a lot of protein. So if that’s what you’re hoping to get all your protein from, you will be very disappointed. Or, you will be eating 20 eggs a day and likely have other issues.
It takes advanced math skills to balance the amount of protein you need without going overboard on fat and carbohydrates. Be ready to spend half of the day doing calculations.
If you are a vegetarian, good luck!
I hope you like cottage cheese.
Start drinking bone broth. Not chicken broth, but BONE broth. It’s the same, but more expensive, and like double the grams of protein in a cup.
Buy Greek yogurt in bulk.
Factor in nuts! Then see how how much fat are in nuts and cut your nut intake in half. Realize you are short your protein goal. Repeat.
Eat meat. Then more meat, topped with meat and with a side of meat. Fish also works.
Meal plan. Plan your whole day’s meals out ahead of time. This helps to eliminate you crying in front of the fridge when your dinner is ready and getting cold, and you realize that you still need 20 grams of protein in your meal.
Eat beans. But make sure you won’t be in public, or that you work from home.
So am I getting the 120+ grams of protein I should be eating in a day? Sometimes.
Luckily, I eat meat and fish. And yogurt. And cottage cheese. And bone broth.
Do I make my protein goal every day? Nope. Can I easily go overboard on my carb and fat goals? Yep. Because carbs and fats are delicious.
That statement could not be more true:
Some days I find myself not meeting my macro nutrient goals, but I’m not hungry. And the number one rule is DO NOT eat if you’re not hungry. So on those days, I miss my goals. When I find a magic combination of breakfast/lunch/dinner, I do a little dance, and then I tend to try and replicate that.
Tips for Eating Enough Protein
I’m not an expert, but this is what I’m trying:
Find a protein-rich breakfast that works for you, and eat a variation of that.
Have something high in protein that you can snack on. Last week, I made a batch of turkey meatballs and when I needed a little boost or addition to a meal, I snacked on 2-3 of those. Or beef jerky.
Make one recipe each week that you can quickly and easily grab as a meal. For me, I make a soup each week that I have for lunch. Something with – you guessed it – meat and vegetables of some sort.
Try a new recipe each week. I bought the Macros Made Easy cookbook, and I’m trying 1-2 things from this each week. This week it’s the Sunday Quiche (makes an easy breakfast!) and the Blackened Chicken Caesar Cobb Salad, which packs a hefty 42 grams of protein in a serving!
Do your best. Make conscious choices (yogurt is better than potato chips, that sort of thing).
If you’ve been to our house, and you read that headline, you’re likely thinking: “But KK, you have a HUGE garden in your yard, why would you join a farm share?”
Great question! Mr. KK asked me the same thing.
First, while yes, we do have a big garden, the offerings in that garden are a little limited. Though we did branch out a bit this year. This year’s crop list included:
Tomatoes (a variety)
Cucumbers
Zucchini (which did not do as well as they usually do)
Yellow Squash (which we had coming out of our ears)
Eggplant (one of my least favorite vegetables to cook with or eat)
String Beans (which did surprisingly well)
Yellow Peppers (which took their sweet time turning ripening – we harvested unripened peppers in November)
While that is a hefty list, it should be noted that the upkeep of the garden become difficult during a busy summer. I would have to be a full-time farmer to keep the weeds at bay. And since I have a day job, weeding was relegated to the weekends (the ones we weren’t away or busy) and it was like hacking through a jungle.
Also? I wanted some variety and the chance to incorporate new vegetables in our daily routine.
We joined a CSA from a farm one town over on the recommendation of a friend. It was only about 10 minutes from our house and I selected a Saturday pick up (Wednesday was also available). I have driven to this CSA every week since early June, and I still need GPS to get there. I have such a mental block on the directions to this farm; that, plus GPS takes me 5 different ways each time I go. This is the last week of the CSA and I still get get myself there without satellite help.
What we got in our CSA
The offerings in the CSA varied a bit week to week, but you could tell the farm had an abundance of certain crops. On pick up day, you are allowed to switch out one item from your box with any goodies on the table.
Early in the season we enjoyed:
Strawberries
Lettuces (also includes: 5 pounds of sand)
Greens (of the leafy variety)
We then transitioned into:
String beans (Little Mister’s favorite vegetable)
Corn
Beets (Mr. KK loves them but boy are they a pain to cook)
Zucchini (this took the place of our zucchini which had some weird disease)
Eggplant (SO.MUCH.EGGPLANT.)
Cabbage
Turnips
Tomatoes
Arugula
As we entered fall:
More Mystery Greens
Apples (this renewed Little Mister’s love of apples so for that I’m grateful)
Broccoli rabe
Spaghetti Squash
Butternut Squash
Honeynut Squash
What did we do with all this produce?
We only signed up for a half share, which was plenty of vegetables. If I did the math it equated to about $19.50 on vegetables each week, which is close to what I would spend at the grocery store. Between our garden and this farm share, I didn’t have to substitute too much from the store.
Some weeks we ate everything. Other weeks, the timing was just off and we were left with vegetables that we weren’t able to cook. I traveled for a bit in October and those weeks we didn’t get through everything.
We ate a lot of salads after salad spinning the sand out of the lettuce five times (no exaggeration). The arugula was so peppery and fresh, I’m ruined for all other arugulas. We ate lots of corn, which was sweet and delicious most weeks.
I used the greens in soups. It was October, light chill in the air, a lazy Sunday spent in front of the stove.
These were the greens in question. I made two different soups with them.
First, I made Italian Wedding Soup.
Classic Italian Wedding
I loosely followed this recipe for the basics, but used my own personal recipe for the meatballs.
This soup was so good, I ate it every day for lunch for a week!
Not only did I use the next installment of my mystery greens for this soup, I also diced up the butternut squash from the share as well.
Ina’s Minestrone
We had eggplant coming out of our ears
Between our garden – which had 2 varieties of eggplant – and the eggplant from the share (which I traded out when I could because how much eggplant could two people eat?) we were deep in eggplant. We used some, but it was so much. I brought eggplant as a hostess gift when we visited friends. I gave some to both mothers. And we still had a ton leftover.
I mentioned earlier, eggplant is not one of my favorite foods. But the one way I DO like eggplant, is when it’s fried!
I made a ridiculous amount of fried eggplant this summer. We ate it stacked with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella as a light dinner. I made eggplant parmesan not once, but twice this year (that is 2 more times than I have made eggplant parm in the last 20 years). I still have fried eggplant in our freezer.
If you meet 10 people and ask them about their eggplant parm recipe, you will likely get 10 different recipes (most handed down from Nonna’s and the hills of Italy). I like my eggplant crispy, so I used a mix of panko and Italian breadcrumbs to bread mine. For someone who doesn’t make eggplant, my eggplant was on point.
Our eggplant stacks were delicious! Those are yellow tomatoes from our garden, too!
Will we do a CSA farm share again?
I think the answer is yes. I liked getting some new veggies (and mystery greens), loved having fresh arugula and lettuces, Little Mister is eating apples again (and has declared he will only eat FARM apples which I find hilarious), and I think I ended up saving money (a little bit?) at the grocery store. Little Mister enjoyed coming and picking out the flavored honey sticks that they sold and playing on the playground.
Next year, however, I am going to work on memorizing how to actually get to the farm.
This post is always meant to be one you can “read” with mindless scrolling through photos to experience our Thanksgiving. For those keeping track at home, the day started at 6:30am and ended at 10pm when the last guest left. A full day of food, laughs and drinks.
This photo diary includes recipes from our Thanksgiving meal! So here we go!
Today started before the sun came up. This is me, Black Friday shopping and simultaneously planning out the day’s timeline while lying in bed.
If you look closely you can see the reflection of the phone in my glasses.
I shared this tip last year, but here it is again. Your 2 best friends on Thanksgiving Day are: chicken stock and your phone – the alarms on your phone that is. I plan my whole day out and set alarms to keep me honest.
Next, you should be sure to taste taste everything to see if it needs more salt, or more bourbon.
Crazy hair, no makeup and full-on prep mode. Taste-testing the punch at 10:39am.
Our first step in making Thanksgiving a little easier (besides my phone alarm trick) was to make a punch ahead of time so we could eliminate the need for Mr KK to make 1,000,000 drinks before he could get a sip of his own cocktail. This punch was a crowd pleaser! Highly recommend – here’s the recipe for Bourbon Rosemary punch.
Aren’t they beautiful?
When we prep for hosting, I’m usually in charge of the inside of the house – which includes watching the dogs and entertaining Little Mister – while Mr. KK handles the outside. Yesterday was a little over 50 degrees, so we were able to set up our patio heater and chairs on our new deck in case anyone wanted to get some fresh air.
Mr. KK in his signature party day move: blowing leaves.Two minutes before everyone arrived…let’s hope this all goes well! (Little did I know the fried turkey fiasco that was to follow!)
No one wanted to enjoy the deck…but we found 5 minutes to take a breather out there.
Let’s talk turkey…and everything else!
We did 2 turkeys again this year: a full turkey in the fryer (house in still intact) and a turkey breast in the oven. Both turkeys came out amazingly juicy! My mother-in-law preps the turkeys, and my father-in-law drives the birds over the morning of Thanksgiving and enjoys a drink with Mr. KK (and me!). Our turkey breast had a garlic and herb marinade and the fryer turkey had a rub on it.
Everyone makes jokes about my mother-in-laws breasts (we are nothing if not inappropriate) as part of tradition.
Another punch for me!
Thanksgiving Menu 2022
Appetizers
Butternut Squash Soup Shooters with Creme Fresh. I used this recipe for the soup and it was delicious. The sage and ginger really added a depth of flavor.
Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Rugelach
Every Christmas I make cinnamon and sugar rugelach, but this is a savory take on one of my favorite cookies. I used this savory rugelach recipe, but substituted gruyere for the cheddar, and candied pecans for the candied walnuts, just to put my own spin on it.
Interestingly, I found the recipe in a magazine – yes, a paper magazine – and I didn’t even look it up. Well, if you click on the recipe link, you’ll see that this recipe only got 1.5 stars from 2 reviewers. From personal experience, this recipe got 5 stars across the board from our family! Perhaps it was the subtle changes I made (nuttier cheese vs boring cheddar). But I highly recommend. Plus, you make it with pre made pie dough so it’s super easy.
Getting ready to cut and roll the rugelach.Here they are! The can brown quite a bit on the bottom when the sugar from the pecans oozes out, but that just adds flavor!
The last appetizer I made was the Spicy Whipped Fetafrom this blog post. Somehow, I didn’t get a pick of it, but it was also really good; I served it with baby naans.
Soup Course
Our cousin (cousin in law?) made a delicious, light soup. I’m going from memory, but it was a veal stock with chicken and mortadella meatballs, with escarole and ditallini. It was the perfect first course!
Main Meal
The turkeys were the real stars of the show, and TBH, I don’t even really love turkey. But I loved picking off the crispy skin and dark meat that fell off the fried turkey!
That is one nice looking breast (well, two actually).Dueling carvers! And a very messy kitchen!
This is happiest Mr. KK looked after an hour of stress when the new turkey fryer pan set up DID NOT WORK and he put the turkey in the oil and it barely covered the turkey. This was after the oil wasn’t hot enough and we had to heat it for another half hour. This was all going on while we were serving up the soup course, so thankfully no one heard all the swearing going on in the front yard. But it all worked out and we ended up with one golden brown bird. The best part about the fried turkey is that a 16 pound bird cooks in about 45 minutes!
For sides, we had stuffing (made with sourdough, apples, pancetta and apricots), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, dressing and Ina’s Cacio e Pepe Asparagus.
All assembled, it looked like this:
Little Mister was not a fan of any of the food we were serving (aren’t 8 year olds fun??) but he agreed to try some foods (which was a win). Here is his plate, which could easy be called “Deconstructed Thanksgiving” and be served in a Michelin Star restaurant for $50.
After he finished “eating” the plate looked the exact same except a small piece of turkey was gone (he gave turkey a “Maybe”), the tip of the asparagus was missing (10 minutes of chewing with a weird look on his face) and all of the sweet potatoes were gone (“this tastes like pumpkin pie filling”).
Dessert
Pecan pie, pumpkin pie and cheesecake!
I am done fighting with WordPress and why it keeps adding this photo upside down. I have tried to fix this about 4 times. You get the idea.
I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving with loved ones!
8:04am…time to start changing this house into Christmas!
I could eat an entire meal made of up appetizers. I love everything appetizers have to offer: small dishes, cute sauces, finger foods and you can eat them without putting down your cocktail.
I have a few app favorites – but my one achilles heel is a warm and bubbly spinach and artichoke dip.
HEAVEN.
The proper (read: best) way to enjoy spinach and artichoke dip is on crispy sea salt pita chips or toasted naan. If you put that in front of me at a party, I would never leave the table, I don’t care who showed up at the door.
But I can’t just make a casserole dish of spinach and artichoke dip and eat it for dinner. (Grown ups don’t do that, do they?). So instead, I looked for another way to enjoy the flavors of the dip that I love that would be an acceptable – and healthier? – option. And guess what? I found one! This vegetarian dinner (I’m looking at YOU, Meatless Monday!) is made with spaghetti squash instead of using crackers or breads as the dip vessel.
NOTE: despite what you might think from 2 spaghetti squash posts in one month, I am not being paid by the National Spaghetti Squash Council to bring awareness to the squash. It just so happens that the old spaghetti squash is not only tasty, it’s versatile!
Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Basically, you can take your favorite spinach and artichoke dip, and at the end when everything is being mixed together, you add in the cooked spaghetti squash until blended. Then put the mixture back into the hollowed out squash shells and bake like you would a dip until everything is hot and melty.
Check out that delicious, toasty and melty spinach and artichoke stuffed squash!
First, cut the spaghetti squash in half the long way (BE CAREFUL!) and scoop out the seeds.
Then drizzle the squash insides with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place them face down on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake until soft. Let cool until you can handle them, and then scoop out all the string flesh into a bowl.
Meanwhile, make your favorite spinach and artichoke dip. I feel like everyone had a recipe for this dish that they love. I tend to mix and match. a few different recipes. This night, I cooked down the onions in oil and butter until they were soft, and then I mixed in the cream cheese and cheeses, then folded in fresh spinach and chopped artichoke hearts.
Next, add in the cooked spaghetti squash flesh. (Is there a better word for flesh? Because I’m starting to feel a little like Hannibal Lecter over here).
Once mixed, divide the mixture between the spaghetti squash shells and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until everything looks melted and slightly browned.
Enjoy the right from the shells with a nice side salad or veggie.
I hope you try this as a weeknight meal. I actually made this recipe on a Sunday, stuffed the shells, and then baked them 2 days later. It really saved me time of cooking and prep on a busy school night.
Happy Sunday! If you’re Italian, you may have a traditional Sunday dinner in your family where everyone gathers together to eat delicious pasta! There is nothing better than a hot bowl of pasta on chilly fall day. Since I’m still doing my kickboxing challenge, we’ll be having “fasta” (fake pasta) tonight. And the family will not be coming over because no one wants to eat an impasta (see what I did there?).
Actually, this dish is delicious – I made it last week and it was so good it’s having a repeat performance. It’s shrimp and tomatoes and garlic over spaghetti squash. If you’re not familiar with spaghetti squash, when you cook it you can can shred the flesh with a fork and it turns into these long strands that resemble – you guessed it – spaghetti.
I made this dish up, so there’s no formal recipe, but I’ll do my best to add some measurements and directions. Even Mr. KK liked it!
Shrimp and Tomato Spaghetti “Fasta”
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 small spaghetti squash About 14-16 uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined (I like the 16-20 per pound or when I’m feeling fancy the 13-15 per pound) 1 pint of grape tomatoes, halved (red, yellow, whatever you like) 3 cloves of garlic, sliced Chicken stock Olive oil Salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise (be careful!) and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle some olive oil inside both halves of the spaghetti squash and season with salt and pepper. Place the squash flesh side down on the baking sheet and cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, until a knife slides easily into the skin and the squash is fully cooked. Let cool.
While squash is cooling, place shrimp on a foil-lined baking sheet and toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Arrange in a single layer and set aside.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the tomatoes and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Toss the tomatoes around the pan until they are coated in the oil. Sauté until the tomatoes skin starts to wrinkle up a bit, abound 6-8 mins. Add about 3/4 cup of chicken broth and reduce heat to low. Allow the tomatoes and garlic to simmer in the chicken broth until the tomatoes soften and the stock starts to reduce just a bit (you don’t want it to reduce too much, this will be your “sauce” for the dish).
Pop the pan with the shrimp in the 375-degree oven and cook for about 7-8 minutes, or until the shrimp is pink and cooked through.
When spaghetti squash is cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrape the flesh into long strands. Fill two bowls with spaghetti squash, then divide the tomato mixture into the two bowls and place the shrimp on top.
It’s surprisingly simple to make, and honestly really, great. The more garlic the better!
I don’t know about you, but I will often fall into a cooking rut, and I end up making the same things week after week for me and Mr. KK. Little Mister – who gets his own dinner each night and I can only blame myself for starting this habit – also eats the same thing week after week, but only because he literally only eats 5 dinner items.
I LOVE to cook. And when I’m not on a super-restrictive, no-fun diet, I love to eat. My instagram feed is filled with recipes, famous chefs cooking amazing foods and restaurants sharing the night’s specials. And while I am so inspired by this each day, we end up eating the same old salmon with a vegetable and side of rice. BORING.
I tend to find myself with more time to be in the kitchen cooking in the colder months. All year long I save recipes, with the hopes that one day they will see the light of day and make it onto our plates and into our stomachs.
I am challenging myself to make at least 5 new recipes this winter that made me salivate and I have saved.
Some are appetizers, some are main courses, and there’s even a dessert (lord help Mr. KK and my baking mishaps).
If I’m able to make one of these during November, I will post it!
I never jumped on the TikTok feta craze, but I do appreciate the salty, soft cheese.
This recipe seems super simple, so it shouldn’t be difficult to pull this one off this winter. Hmm…perhaps a Thanksgiving appetizer?
The combo of the salty cheese and spicy honey is a home run in my book. And any appetizer you can make in the food processor gets extra points. I’d definitely go for the naan bread for dippers.
As you know, Ina is my cooking guru girl crush. But when it comes to books, it’s Elin Hildebrand. Elin writes fiction books – mostly set on the island of Nantucket – that are the perfect beach read. Or, if you’re like me, they are the perfect read for when you don’t have anything to read and you want to travel to ACK vicariously through her characters. In fact, Nantucket IS a character in her novels, it is brought to life so vividly.
In one of her books, Here’s To Us, one of the characters is a chef, who was known for his Clams Casino Dip. Being from Connecticut, I am no stranger to Clams Casino as a concept, as it is my favorite pizza from one of the famous New Haven pizza joints for which Connecticut is known. To have that pizza in dip form is just luxurious.
We eat with our eyes first, so it’s very likely that I fell in love with the cute shape of this pasta, which is called Nodi Marini. Seriously, how cute are they?
This pasta dish is a combination of Amatriciana and Carbonara, so spicy plus creamy. All in one dish? I’m in!
I’m sure this dish would be just as delicious with any shape pasta, however, why would you want to make it with any other kind? Nodi Marini means “sailor’s knots” and that’s exactly what they look like.
I imagine in true kk fashion I would add about 3 tons of grated cheese to the top of this pasta dish.
You didn’t think I was going to have a recipe list and NOT include my gal pal, Ina, did you??
I am horrible at baking, so I feel things might be ok in the kitchen if I’m following one of her recipes. Also, this one is tagged “good for a beginner” so there’s the confidence I need.
Sour cream coffee cake reminds me of my childhood, and my grandmother, who would always make a coffee cake for Sunday dinners and holidays. I’m not a big dessert eater, but I am a sucker for cinnamon and sugar.
Back in March, I returned to in-person kickboxing at the ILoveKickboxing Studio. It was time to get back on the big red mat and kick it in person and be held accountable.
Since then, I’ve been going rather erratically, because life sometimes gets in the way. Happy hour sometimes gets in the way, too. And patio cocktails.
Anywho, way back in February of 2020 I joined a 21-day challenge at the studio. We weighed in, had a meal plan and had to commit to going to class at least 3x a week. The challenge started around Presidents’ Day and lasted until the first week of March. And we all know what happened the second week of March 2020…
Surprisingly, I was able to keep at that healthier meal plan and working out at home (the studio did Facebook Live kickboxing classes). This was before we adopted Bruno, our high-maintenance puppy, who cannot be left unattended. This was also when the Little Mister had no daycare and was sleeping until 10am everyday. I found myself with more free time. I ended up losing over 20 pounds during 2020, which I felt was a win during a time when all I wanted to do was eat my weight in brie.
Apparently those 20 pounds really missed me over the last 2 years because they slowly started coming back.
Now, the kickboxing studio is doing another 21-Day Challenge called “Fit 2 Feast” where you start on November 1 and end right before Thanksgiving. I personally refer to this challenge as “Starve Yourself Before You Stuff Yo’Self”.
Let’s be real: this is the HARDEST time of year to try and be healthier. There are parties and dinners and Christmas cookies and fires and wine and cheese and cocktails and parties and wine.
This time around, however, they have upped the game a bit. Not only is it eating healthier (and likely a lot less food) but also removing bad foods and toxins from your life. No eggs. No dairy. No processed sugar. No alcohol. No tasty carbs like pasta. Did I mention no alcohol? So…no fun?
Despite all of that, I am dedicated to making this work! I bought tons of healthy foods, I have gone to kickboxing 3 times this week so far and I have been drinking lots of water. And, since this is a competition to lose the most % body fat, I was sure to eat a delicious steak, potato and wine dinner Sunday night before my 6:45am weigh in on Monday morning. All’s fair in love, war and scales.
Being someone who loves food, flavor and cooking, I had to ensure that I was eating dinners that tasted good.
I’d like to share with you my “Baked Mexican Sweet Potatoes” which are delicious (even Mr. KK loves them) and meet the strict food requirements of this challenge.
Baked Mexican Sweet Potatoes
This recipe is entirely made up by me to follow the rules of my challenge. Please, by all means, inject all the fat and flavor you’d like in your own version (like cheese and sour cream).
I swear there’s a sweet potato under there.
First, I baked 2 sweet potatoes until they were soft inside. I actually cheated and microwaved them until they were soft, then popped them into a 450 degree oven for 20 mins for the skin to crisp (it’s just faster).
While they were in the over, I browned a pound of ground turkey in a little bit of olive oil, breaking it up into small pieces. Once browned, I added a little bit of salt (sorry, had to be done), some garlic powder and a healthy dose of chili powder. I mixed it all together, added about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup water and reduced the heat to let it simmer until some of the liquid evaporated.
How to prepare:
Split open the sweet potatoes and then mash them up a bit in their skins. Top with:
6 oz of your taco turkey
1/2 cup rinsed black beans
Slices of fresh jalapeno
Lots of fresh salsa (not the Tostitos kind, but the fresh kind sold refrigerated near the vegetables)
1/2 of avocado
And that’s it. It is actually really delicious and filling!
Poor Mr. KK has to deal with me trying to blog every day while I am hungry and denying myself potato chips and ice cream. Rough month for him.
Life of kk 