Before I share recipes on the blog I like to do lots of testing and experimenting, and since I got a new air fryer I have been doing just that.After lots of trials with a variety of dishes, I’m excited to share my first air fryer recipe today: air fryer corned beef and cabbage spring rolls for St. Patrick’s Day! Corned beef and cabbage always reminds me of my as-Irish-as-they-come grandpa, a dish my as-Italian-as-they-come grandma would make for him on St. Patrick’s Day (it was a lot of meatballs and lasagna the other 364 days a year and he didn’t complain!). This version has a modern twist, and I think would be quite fun to make as an appetizer to enjoy on St. Patrick’s Day while sipping your favorite Irish beer. The ingredients get rolled up in a spring roll wrapper (wonton wrappers would work well too!) and crisped up quickly in the air fryer. Serve it was a good grainy mustard for dipping! Get the recipe below: read more

Avert your eyes if you’re on a diet! I’m combining two delicious ideas today – spinach artichoke dip and garlic knots – into one super-savory snack!  I made these comfort food bites using a warm spinach artichoke dip filling stuffed instead fresh pizza dough. Serve them with some of the extra spinach artichoke dip on the side for dipping, because go big or go home, right? I’m going to be cooking up a batch for these for a fun weekend snack to have in front of the fireplace, see the recipe below! read more

Have I mentioned how much I love cheese? I like really really really love cheese. So when my friends at Martha Stewart Living challenged me to create a tasty Fall-inspired recipe Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese I was on board.  Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese is made with milk from grass-fed cows that are raised on small, family-run Irish dairy farms, and that milk makes their cheeses so flavorful and creamy. I particularly love the Dubliner Cheese because of the balanced sweet and nutty flavors – similar to a cheddar in texture but with the bite of parmesan. Are you hungry yet? read more

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Shaw’s Supermarket. All opinions, images, and content are my own.

I love to serve a giant, overflowing, themed grazing board when I entertain friends and family. But these days, “entertaining” obviously looks quite different. If we have gathered at all in the past few months, it’s been in very small groups with lots of considerations for safety and social distancing. I’m always up for the challenge of getting creative with gatherings though, no matter how small or different they may be from what we’re accustomed to. My friends at Shaw’s Supermarkets shared some of their exclusive Open Nature® line with me, and it felt like the perfect opportunity to rethink my large-scale grazing boards for our new normal. read more

I didn’t plan to write a whole post about these tasty little snacks, but I enjoyed them so much that had to save the idea to reference again! I whipped up these little crostini for a warm, sunny happy hour this weekend and they were delightfully delicious. Here’s how to make them: toast a baguette (I used Italian bread since that’s what I had on hand) until the bread pieces are just lightly golden brown. Spread a healthy portion of herbed goat cheese or Boursin cheese on the warm bread and top them with a few torn pieces of salty prosciutto, slices of sweet summer peaches, and a couple of fresh basil leaves. I gave them a dash of black pepper on top and started gobbling them up immediately! Sometimes simple is best, and these tasty bites made with fresh summer ingredients were certainly the case. Yum! read more

Have you noticed recently how so many people are cooking from scratch more now that everyone is at home? We have tried our hand at fresh bread, roasting chickens, and tons of baked goods. Part of it is that we’re looking for something to do at home on the weekends (cooking with kids is usually a pretty fun, if not messy, activity). But another big part of it is out of necessity! We place our grocery store order online and it’s a bit like playing roulette to see what exactly will be in the bags when we arrive for curbside pick-up. My recent order was missing an out of stock item that I was craving: tortilla chips to dunk in my favorite Heluva Good! Dips, so I decided to try and make my own. read more

I need to admit something: I’m not actually throwing an Oscars viewing party. I used to have a few of my work friends over to watch the Academy Awards back when I was young and fun and didn’t mind staying up late on a Sunday night. These days, it would be a certified miracle if I didn’t fall asleep on the couch before they announced Best Picture. The good news is, I’m an entertaining blogger! Which means I get to throw fake parties a week before any actual holiday or event in order to share my fun ideas for hosting your own celebration! So, I put together some ideas for a Hollywood-inspired, black tie grazing board to get ready for some awards show viewing this weekend. I won’t be sharing this with any Oscars night party guests, but I will certainly be making a mini-version for myself because I need to fuel up on snacks while I’m judging the red carpet from my cozy spot on the couch. read more

Please note: This post was created in collaboration with Chase Freedom Unlimited. All opinions, images and content are my own.

This month’s progress on my “be a better baker challenge” in collaboration with my friends at Chase Freedom Unlimited is starting to take an autumnal spin! I shared in my last post in this series that one of my biggest takeaways on this goal journey is finding the motivation and inspiration to just bake. I tried to be more purposeful this month about seeking inspiration in new places to get that motivational charge. read more