Posts

That’s the time when milk shake parlours sprang up all over town and people of all ages dropped by for a quick relief from the heat and humidity that’s almost always present in Kerala. Amma and I have shared countless number of sharjah shakes in these parlours during our almost-everyday town visits, leaving with a full stomach and numb tongues. Ah, the good old days. As if having a Sharjah shake almost every time we stepped out of the house wasn’t enough, we used to make it at home too....

This St Germain cocktail is a lovely sparkling cocktail. It’s light, a little bit sweet, floral, and bubbly, and it’s also super simple to make! For another sparkling cocktail, see my Aperol spritz, cranberry champagne cocktail or this kir royale. To make my St Germain cocktail, you’ll add chilled St Germain to a martini glass or champagne flute. Top with sparkling wine (like Champagne or Prosecco), and then squeeze in the juice from an orange wedge....

How to Make a Dutch Baby Pancake A Dutch Baby pancake is a large pancake that’s baked in a skillet inside a hot oven. The sides of the pancake rise tall above the edges of the pan while the center remains tender and eggy. They can be served sweet or savory. This apple version is sweet, but if you are on the lookout for a savory version, we have this savory Dutch baby with a serious amount of ham and cheese baked in....

I love these easy chicken sandwiches — they are full of flavor and are loosely inspired by a Vietnamese Bánh mì sandwich. They usually include some kind of protein, a delicious mayo spread and lots of pickled vegetables. In this case, we used warm shredded chicken for the protein. Whenever we need shredded chicken we go straight to our Tender and Flavorful Shredded Chicken Recipe — it takes about 1 hour and makes the best shredded chicken....

It’s here! My new cookbook, Love & Lemons Every Day, is out TODAY!! I’m so excited to be sitting here writing this post, because the process of making this book was a long one! About 3 years ago, I set out with SO many ideas that I wanted to pack into this book. Over time, I kept adding more and more… and more. I’d think – “Ooh, this section would be helpful,” or “Oh I’d like to have that information on hand,” and “Let’s add MORE dinner recipes,” etc, etc....

It’s holiday baking season! I can’t think of a better way to kick it off than with these jam thumbprint cookies. Of course I’m biased, but I think this could be the best thumbprint cookie recipe out there. The cookies have a delicious melt-in-your-mouth texture and warm, buttery flavor. They’re rich and delicate, with a pop of brightness from the melty jam. As an added bonus, they’re super easy to make!...

Happy Saturday! I’m so excited to share this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe today because I just realized something: for as much as I love to bake cookies, this blog is seriously lacking recipes to show for it. Then, I realized why – the camera can hardly snap a photo before Jack reaches his hand into the frame, and they all disappear. Waiting for me to arrange warm cookies nicely on a plate is not something this guy I’m with usually has the patience for....

This apple crumble pie recipe was the first pie that Jack and I made together. Even though we spent countless Thanksgivings together in Austin, we never baked pie. We’d either stay home and skip it, opting for a simple crumble or crisp instead, or we’d be head to a Friendsgiving, where someone else would supply the pie that year. But this year, we finally decided to take on the challenge!...

I promise next week… back to the recipes. Today is the last day of our trip, and I just have one last while-traveling travel post… Last week, Jack and I celebrated our third anniversary in Amsterdam. At dinner, I surprised him with this little detour I had planned to Barcelona for the last leg of our trip. I love a good surprise … and Jack is so oblivious to everything, which makes these things incredibly easy to pull off....

Australians love their banana bread and banana cake. It’s a staple in all coffee shops – thick slabs of banana bread served toasted with salted butter. Ah, bliss. The moment I had my first taste of this banana cake made by a colleague, I decided I not only want the recipe, but I want the book it came in as well. I asked her to bring it in the next day so I could jot down the recipe, and ordered it online the same day from Book Depository....

How to Make BLT Rice Paper Rolls We can’t step into our local Vietnamese restaurant without ordering the summer rolls. We just love them. So light, so fresh and absolutely delicious. One night after eating entirely too many summer rolls, we got to thinking about what else you could roll up in a rice paper wrapper. Not too much time had to pass before we came to the conclusion that bacon, lettuce and tomato would be perfect....

When life gives you blueberries, make blueberry cobbler! With a golden biscuit topping and jammy fruit filling, it’s just as delicious as blueberry pie, but it’s much simpler to make. I love this blueberry cobbler recipe because it puts the fresh fruit front and center. I only sweeten it lightly, letting the berries’ natural sweetness shine, and I skew heavy on the ratio of fruit to topping. This blueberry cobbler recipe features a thin layer of golden, buttery biscuits with lots of juicy blueberries bubbling underneath....

Gulab jamuns. The quintessential dessert that’s present at pretty much every party, wedding, festival, and Indian buffet is a rich Indian sweet that’s made with reduced milk solids (mawa) made into balls, fried, and then dunked in rose-flavoured thick sugar syrup. Because of the very reason that it’s so popular, there are also many different methods to prepare gulab jamuns, including blasphemous shortcuts like using bread to make the jamun balls before soaking them in sugar syrup....

A breakfast casserole is the best way to feed a crowd first thing in the morning. Just ask my mom! She’s been making her famous breakfast casserole recipe on Easter and Christmas morning for as long as I can remember. The rest of my family loves it because it’s hearty and flavorful, packed with potatoes, veggies, eggs, and cheese. My mom loves it because it’s easy to make and—even better—make ahead....

Earlier this fall, I started making a list of my potential Thanksgiving blog recipes. One of the items on that list was called “Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe TBD.” As every other recipe got named, resolved, tested, and put in the works, “Roasted Brussels Sprouts Recipe TBD” remained on the list just like that. I love love love Brussels sprouts at this time of year, but I just couldn’t settle on one idea or flavor combination....

Stuffed shells are such a classic recipe, and this version features perfectly cooked pasta shells stuffed with a creamy mixture of cheese, mushrooms, spinach, and bell pepper. The shells bake on top of a bed of marinara sauce until the cheese is bubbling. If you love veggie pasta recipes, see our veggie spaghetti. Or, for more stuffed shells recipes, see our sausage stuffed shells or these buffalo chicken stuffed shells!...

Put down those tortillas, this year is the year of collard green wraps! Ok, I’m totally kidding. I could never give up tortillas, and I wouldn’t expect you to either. But in the spirit of all things lighter and brighter, we’re wrapping things up in leafy greens… In order to make collard green wraps exciting, a punchy, flavorful filling is a must. I had these pretty red carrots, which made me think of this Harissa Carrot Hummus recipe I had recently seen from Aida Mollenkamp....

If you, like me, have seen every episode of Sex and the City, you have to learn how to make a Cosmopolitan cocktail, or Cosmo for short. This tart, refreshing vodka drink is a hallmark of the show, and when you watch Carrie and friends sip enough of them, you can’t help but want to try one. Below, I’m sharing my go-to Cosmopolitan recipe, which is perfect for dinner parties, girls’ nights, and binge watching the Sex and the City reboot (who else is tuning in for season 2 this week?...

Everyone raves about Italian pasta and pizza, but if you ask me, polenta deserves just as much love. A north Italian porridge made of coarsely ground cornmeal, polenta is wonderfully creamy, with a lightly sweet, buttery corn flavor. Unlike oat porridge, it’s not a traditional breakfast food. Though I do eat it for breakfast on occasion (see page 49 of Love and Lemons Every Day!), I most often enjoy this smooth, savory porridge for dinner....