I have been in a salad state of mind for the last few weeks. I haven’t been home much to have access to my little grill and I just can’t bring myself to heat up the house with a hot stove or oven. This is why I have been making mostly no cook salads for dinner like this Seven Layer Salad I made today for dinner. This Seven Layer Salad is a salad I used to have to make when I worked in the deli of a local grocery store. This was one of the most popular recipes we sold…
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Continue ReadingI had an idea for this Asian Inspired Pasta Salad for a few weeks now and I spent some time sorting out the recipe in my head before actually creating it. I knew I wanted this pasta salad to be slightly sweet and have super crunchy vegetables, but I wasn’t sure about the rest. I didn’t decide all the ingredients for this recipe until I was actually in the store. I spotted the creamy poppy seed dressing that I used in this and built the rest of the pasta salad around it. I also had the idea to add mini…
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Continue ReadingThe funny story about this Tomato Pasta is that I found the recipe in an old cookbook and decided to make it for my boyfriend at the time. I can’t remember the name of the cookbook now, but the recipe was so good that for years after we broke up, my ex would mention this pasta to me any time I ran into him. I made some changes to the recipe from the original one that I found in the cookbook back then. I think this version of Tomato Pasta is the best one because it uses such simple ingredients…
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Continue ReadingI love making these Cheesy Grilled Chicken & Peppers packets for the grill. The ingredients are so simple and fresh. The recipe take minutes to prep and the best news is, you can eat right out of the packets! No dishes to wash! This recipe has all the flavors of Summer. What I love most about this recipe is the crunchy sweet texture of the peppers that you use and the tangy glaze of teryaki. The grilled pineapple adds another great layer of flavor. I chose to use boneless skinless chicken thighs for this recipe because I find them to…
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Continue ReadingAs you may or may not know depending on how long you have followed me, I am a brand ambassador for a local Chicago, 92 year old, family business called Chateau Dumplings. I work closely with them to develop recipes using their products, photographing them and managing their social media and marketing events. The partnership was a natural one, as I grew up eating these delicious Czech inspired dumplings most of my life. Traditionally, the bread dumplings were served steamed with a Czech recipe for roast pork. You also served gravy and red cabbage or sauerkraut with this dish. If…
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Continue ReadingSummer is coming to an end and it seems like everywhere I turn someone is trying to push their excess tomatoes on me. I have been turning down these tomato pushers left and right because…how many tomatoes can you possibly eat? This past weekend Original Tipsy (My Mom) made a fantastic and simple pasta dish that has me kicking myself for not taking those tomatoes. She gave me her recipe and it will have you with an answer to the question “What to do with all those garden tomatoes?” Here is what you will need for the recipe: •2 to…
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Continue ReadingOriginal Tipsy and I are back up in the Northwoods for the Summer and we decided to do some experimenting in the kitchen. We decided for Memorial Day weekend we would try our hand at perfecting a fried chicken recipe. I was shocked to learn that she had purchased a deep fryer and was hiding it from me. I would have been frying everything all this time! To start we did some research on making the BEST Fried Chicken. We learned three important things were a must: Good quality chicken. Brining is key. The chicken needs to be dry when…
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Continue ReadingI have spent many years working in all sorts of kitchens. Because of this I know many tips and cooking hacks. One of the best tips I was taught was how to cook bacon in your oven. The oven method is the BEST way to cook bacon. The oven cooks the bacon easily, there is no grease splatter to clean up, and it is a great way to add unique seasonings and flavors to your bacon. Plus you can make a TON at once. Perfect for hosting. BLT’s are probably one of our favorite weeknight meals, so I came up…
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