Nani’s Ginger Cake

To round off the week, I’m sharing one of my grandma’s many cake recipes. This was probably one of my favorite cakes growing up and oft requested as my birthday cake. I have neglected to make it until recently, when I was browsing recipes and realized that I hadn’t tasted this moist and flavorful cake…

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The King’s Zesty Sloppy Joes

After I discovered Sriracha in college, I was determined to increase the heat of my meals as often as possible. For those of you who don’t know what produces the heat one feels after eating a chili pepper, here’s a little science lesson. Capsaicin is the chemical compound that produces a burning sensation in the…

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Chicago-Style Deep Dish Pizza

Spring break my sophomore year of undergrad, my good friend, Lauren, whose dorm room was down the hallway from mine, invited me to vacation at her parents house in a suburb of Chicago with her. Aside from playing with her giant Newfie, one of my favorite memories is the dinner we had at Lou Malnoti’s Pizzeria….

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Kitchen Substitutions

We’ve all been there. You’re in the middle of a recipe and you realize that you’re out of a particular ingredient. Just a little while ago, I was making cookies and realized that I didn’t have brown sugar. Rather than panic, I turned to a quick and simple substitution. In fact, there are a number…

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Mom’s Sweet & Sour Salad Dressing

About a year ago my classmates and I had one of our famous potlucks. On this occasion I had decided to make my mom’s Spinach Salad with Sweet & Sour Dressing. It’s always been one of my favorite salads, but the dressing blew my friends away. Now, if we don’t have a jar of this…

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Chicken al Mattone

After a long and arduous hiatus, full of studying for the MCAT and, well, still more MCAT studying, I’m back with a stockpile of photos and recipes I have been trying to share with you all. I came across this recipe in an issue of Bon Appetit, as I was waiting in the checkout line of the…

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Mom’s Chicken Pot Non-Pie

A warm, hearty meal is quintessential for the bleak midwinter. When I think of comfort food, chicken pot pie is one dish that tends to comes to mind. There are many variations of this savory pie with a variety of vegetables for the filling and crusts of all shapes and sizes to be filled. However,…

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Muenster-ously Delicious

There is nothing better on a cold day (yes, occasionally these do exist in Southern California) than a grilled cheese sandwich and a warm bowl of soup. If you’re looking for the perfect cheese, I have just the thing. No, not the run of the mill individually wrapped slices of American cheese. Don’t get me wrong,…

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Sriracha Chicken Tikka Masala

One of the great things about having a diverse group of friends is the plethora of new flavors and dishes that I have had the opportunity to dev experienced. One of my close friends that I met in graduate school has introduced me to the flavors of India. Her father loves to cook and I’ve…

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Spicy Mac ‘n’ Cheese

My senior year of college, my roommate and I fell in love with a delicious, fiery, vibrant red condiment: Sriracha. This sauce became a staple in our kitchen. We put it on everything. No, literally, we didn’t eat anything without drizzling some liquid fire first: spaghetti and meatballs, pizza and soup. One of my personal…

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Chicken Taco Soup

As fall rolls in and the leaves begin to change to hues of orange, yellow and red, the cold weather is not far behind. Though Southern California does not get remotely as cold as the years I spent in the Midwest, the relative change still entices residents of The Golden State to dawn boots and…

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Mom’s Enchilada Casserole

Having recently graduated, I decided that it’s time to get back to sharing my love of cooking! I figured what better way to get back into the swing of things than with one of my favorite recipes. When you’ve had an exhausting full day of work, usually the last thing you want to do is…

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