Simple Tomato Sauce with Pasta

Photo by Katie Kay

Some of my favorite Italian dishes are some of the most simplistic ones with very few ingredients.  I love this sauce made of good quality canned tomatoes, garlic, and basil.  The first time I made it I served it with my own homemade pasta and it was restaurant-worthy.  Truly fabulous.  I bought bagged linguine noodles this time, and they looked like they might taste fresher than pasta in a box.  They were still excellent, even if they weren't homemade.

Caramel French Toast

Photo by Katie Kay

Take note, this is an overnight French Toast recipe, so don't look at the pretty pictures without reading the recipe, then wake up at 8am in the morning with big promises to little kids, thinking you can whip up some of this sticky sweet goodness!  You'll be about 8 hours short.
I don't like cooking in the kitchen once I've already entered my evening relaxation time.  Once dinner is done and the kitchen is clean with lights off, I want to leave it that way.  But thankfully this recipe prepares quickly, and from start to fridge it only took me about 20 minutes with minimal mess.  It was an easy recipe to make, especially the caramel.  I hadn't heard of a caramel recipe that calls for dumping everything in a pan and cooking it all at once, but it turned out dark, thick, and perfectly sweet.

Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

These Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies are so soft and gooey.  When they first come out of the oven, they'll fall out of your fingers and into the bottom of your glass of milk if you try eating them too early.  Which I did.  And I'd do it again.
If you're patient and don't eat them all in the first 5 minutes after their exit from the oven, then you can enjoy how soft they stay for days.  I'm not saying I serve old cookies, but if I have cookies in my cookie jar and you eat one without asking me (you know who you are), that's at your own risk.  It's not my fault if they're old.  As long as they taste fresh--which these do--who cares?
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups flour 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 16oz semisweet chocolate, chopped 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 2 tsp instant espresso powder 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup sugar 1 bag semisweet or milk chocolate chips
Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.  Whisk gently, then set aside.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler until smooth, then set aside.
Crack eggs into a small bowl and stir with fork.  Add vanilla and espresso powder and set aside to dissolve.
In a mixer bowl, cream butter until smooth.  Add sugars and beat for 45 seconds.  At a low speed, slowly add egg mixture until combined.  Drizzle the chocolate in at low speed and scrape sides of bowl with a spatula until combined.  Slowly add dry ingredients and mix only until incorporated.  Add chocolate chips and stir by hand.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 minutes until consistency is like fudge and you can scoop it with a spoon.
At this point, you can refrigerate or freeze it.  I froze it and cooked off small batches over a few weeks with excellent results.
Preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.  Bake for about 10-12 minutes. Source:  Baking Illustrated

Thanksgiving / Fall Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

Theme cookies are so much fun!  I wanted to make Halloween cookies but never had the time.  I was very motivated this weekend and stayed up way too late a few nights in a row working on these Thanksgiving / Fall cookies.  I had no reason to make them other than to share them with you, and the whole time I wondered where I was going to offload all this sugar.  My kids' teachers, Matt's co-workers, and my co-workers are getting an even distribution.  The neighbors are tired of my cooking, I'm sure.  I don't want to wear out that welcome.

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Photo by Katie Kay

Out of this WORLD.  I am so in love with this super easy, moist, flavorful coffee cake.  I usually make my own apple pie filling, but I happened to have a can of it in the pantry so I used it here and everything else in this recipe is a pantry staple for me.  I was able to make this spur-of-the-moment without a trip to the grocery store!  I don't think fresh apples would have made a big taste difference, so just go with the easy canned filling!

Crockpot Chicken Creole

Photo by Katie Kay

I had my eye on an Italian Chicken Soup recipe for dinner, but I foolishly read the ingredients to Matt and he vetoed it due to the coconut milk.  I allowed it.  I get to be the boss pretty much every single day when it comes to the food on our table, so I thought I'd let him have this one.  
This looked to me like a very simple recipe with few ingredients.  Sometimes that's a good thing, but mostly that just makes me distrustful.  I never trust a recipe that looks too easy.  I'm coming around on that, especially after this new marinara recipe I have (to be shared later) and I'm willing to give simplistic a try.

Crockpot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Photo by Katie Kay

Every now and then I come across a recipe that I can't screw up.  In fact, the more I adjust and play with it, the better it gets!  This is one of Matt's favorite crockpot meals, and it smells my house up like nothing else.  It makes me feel like the mom on Home Alone with my perfectly Christmas-decorated house and my apple pie on the counter (except for the whole 'forgetting-my-kid' thing.)  There's a special homeyness to that house that I feel so wistful about, especially around the holidays.  
It takes me back to the time my mom left me alone for a holiday.  Only it was 4th of July, not Christmas, and she dropped me off at my (closed) school.  I hid at the top of a fire escape, thinking that was the safest place for me until she came back for me.  I'm pretty sure she still loves that story.

Salted Caramel Mini Cheesecakes

Photo by Katie Kay

I have lists of recipes I want to make, kind of like my Netflix queue.  I find new ones I'm excited about and add them to the list, then occasionally I go through the list, re-prioritize, and delete some, and sometimes I get hung-up on themes--like cupcakes!  And sometimes the theme is more specific, like cheesecake.

Chili Tortellini

Photo by Katie Kay

I kind of love Tortellini as much as I love Ravioli.  I'm sure anyone can guess why.  They're pretty similar in really awesome ways.  You know, noodles stuffed with yummy surprises?  I found this recipe on Pinterst and was intrigued.  I've heard of putting  noodles in soup, but tortellini in chili?  Interesting.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake

Photo by Katie Kay

I like Chicken Cordon Bleu, but I have an irrational fear of wrapped/stuffed meats.  Maybe not the meats themselves because that's a step past irrational and borderline insane, but my fear is of making them.  I don't pound meat, I don't wrap stuff in it, and I don't roll it either.  Since I believe all of this is required for actual Chicken Cordon Bleu, this recipe seemed ideal for a meat-pounding hater like me. :)

Ravioli with Italian Sausage and Fire-Roasted Tomatoes

Photo by Katie Kay

On my first date with Matt he took me to a restaurant where I ordered Portobello Mushroom Ravioli in a cream sauce.  That should have been a warning to him.  This is a girl who likes her ravioli, whether it's of the Boyardee or the 3 cheese variety.  When I made this delectable ravioli recipe, Matt wasn't totally wild about it and I blame the 3 Cheese Ravioli.  And while blaming it, I also respect, honor and adore it.

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Photo by Katie Kay

This was so yummy!  Perfect treat for cheat night--and I have a LOT of cheat nights.  This was a creamy spinach artichoke dip on top of a pizza crust and eaten as a meal!  So much awesomeness in my mouth, I can't stand it.  Even the leftovers were yummy.  I ate it for 3 days in a row and it was great!  The pizza crust is never quite the same the next day, but who really eats crust anyway?  (Blasphemy, mom.  I know.)

Lemon Creme Crumb Bars

Photo by Katie Kay

These are nothing like store-bought Lemon Bars.  These have a deliciously sweet, oaty crust, creamy middle, and crumbly topping.  I've made this several times with huge success, and they are so easy and fast to throw together.  Most of these ingredients are pantry staples for me, so as long as I have fresh lemons, this is an easy last-minute dessert to bring with me anywhere!

Chicken Tikka Masala

Photo by Katie Kay

GET IN MY BELLY!  Seriously.  Wow.  I cook a LOT.  And I eat even more than I cook.  But this is honestly one of my favorites.  We don't eat a lot of Indian food because we don't know what we're doing.  And we don't like to travel more than 30 minutes from home on date night because babysitters are really expensive.  But I would love to have an experience some time like Jennifer Aniston and Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly with the Indian restaurant.  I'd even take the IBS afterwards.
We attended a wedding for friends of Matt's earlier this year.  The groom was born and raised in Lubbock, TX and the bride was (and probably still is) Indian.  You know how you always see the YouTube videos of the wedding recessions you wish you had the guts to have done?  (Like this one.)  This was one of those.  They did the whole shebang (aka "The Ceremony") then the groom's father (who was also the conservative minister who hates heavy metal and rock...and no this wasn't actually Footloose in a dream I had) pronounced them man and wife, they kissed, and then Beastie Boys' Sabatoge started playing in this huge, lovely, very religious church.  And the entire wedding party recessed to it.

Pan Seared Scallops with Garlic White Wine sauce and Lemon Orzo

Photo by Katie Kay

My inspiration was this recipe from TheKitchn.com, but the Beurre Blanc sauce did NOT work out.  The white wine vinegar and white wine never thickened up and ended up evaporating almost completely.  There was no way I could have added cream or a stick and a half of butter to it.  There simply wasn't enough liquid.  With the softened shallots, there was only about 1 Tbsp of thin liquid left in the pan.
I mentally adjusted my plan and added 3 Tbsp butter to the shallots and residual liquid.  When it melted, I added about 1/2 cup white wine.  As it warmed back up, I pressed 2 (okay, who am I kidding--it was 5) large cloves of garlic into the pan, added 2 tsp dried parsley, and when it was at a good simmer, I added 1 Tbsp heavy cream.  I set it aside on the lowest simmer possible while I prepared the scallops.

One Pot Tomato Basil Pasta with Italian Sausage

Photo by Katie Kay

I loved the original photo of this recipe on Pinterest (link under recipe below) but I was doubtful of how flavorful it would be.  So I took a perfectly good vegetarian (and vegan, mom!) recipe and made some carnivorous changes to it.  The end result was so delicious, and a nice variation of most of the pasta sauces we eat.

Baked Garlic and Herb Fontina

Photo by Katie Kay

This cheesy, garlicky, herby pan of creamy deliciousness was heaven in my mouth.  Honestly, I haven't had an appetizer in a long time that I loved as much as this one.  The fresh garlic, the herbs, the creaminess of the cheese all bubbly around the edges...sigh.  My life is absolutely complete.
Next time I deserve a treat and I'm all on my own catching up on True Blood, I want to make this for myself.  All for me.  I'll probably pay for it later, but Baked Fontina is my new ice cream.

"Welcome Home, Daddy" Enchiladas

Photo by Katie Kay

The kids wanted to make dinner for Matt to welcome him home from vacation, and since they are such selfless givers, they chose their own favorite meal:  Enchiladas!
Kaylen has been eager to make a meal since her first cooking experience with the Devil's Food Cupcakes, and she chose Beef Enchiladas.  Jenson hates everything and is a super picky eater so he chose Cheese Enchiladas.  

Truffes Au Chocolat

Photo by Katie Kay

I planned this decadent dessert around a bottle of wine I picked up several years ago with Chrystal during one of our first trips together to New Orleans.  We went wine tasting near Jackson Square and sampled (from what I can recall) some pretty strange fruit wines.  I loved and purchased Midnight Sun, an orange wine with coffee beans.  This one was fantastic with a sweet orange and coffee flavor.  It's strange to sniff a glass of wine and have such a strong Starbucks scent coming off of it!  

Poached Eggs, Biscuits & Sausage Gravy

Photo by Katie Kay

I have to confess, I had visions of poaching dozens of eggs before getting this right, similar to Julie & Julia.  Thankfully it only took me 5 tries to get 2 good eggs.  This worked for me because nobody else wanted poached eggs ruining their biscuits and gravy.  Poached eggs seemed very 'New Orleans' to me, so I went for it.

New Orleans Shrimp and Cheesy Grits

Photo by Katie Kay

I bought this fantastic cookbook on my 3rd annual girls weekend in New Orleans with the ever-fabulous Chrystal.  (Matt said it feels to him like I've been 74 times.)  We are 2 ladies who love us some yummy food and drinks.  Where else would be better to go?  

Banana Split Skewers

Photo by Katie Kay

These Banana Split Skewers are a perfect low-guilt blend of chocolate and healthy fruit on a stick.  Anything on a stick gets 2 thumbs up in my book--part of the reason I love the Texas Renaissance Festival and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo so much!  Where else can you get steak, cheesecake, chocolate-covered bacon, frozen bananas, fried cookie dough, those swirly potato fry things, and MORE...all on a stick?!?  Heaven.

Kaylen's 8th Birthday Party Cake!

Photo by Katie Kay

I've been doing fondant research for a long time but never had the desire to give it a try.  I'm WAY too fond of elaborately flavored, filled, and garnished cakes.  I don't like the taste of fondant (not even marshmallow fondant) but I think Kaylen is finally at an age where she will better appreciate a decorative (less tasty, IMO) cake.  
Perfect example: Last year she didn't like her cake because it had a strawberry jam filling and she said jelly doesn't go on cakes.  She's a sugar, butter and food-dye kind of girl.
She wanted a pink and zebra striped party this year, and I obliged.  I planned a 2-tiered round layer cake with zebra pattern on the inside, pink fondant on the bottom tier, and zebra fondant on the top tier.  I borrowed fondant supplies (2 sized rollers, smoother, mat, etc) from my friend Janet (a fondant expert) and saved a small fortune.  Thanks, pumpkin!

Kaylen's First Cupcake: Devil's Food Cupcakes

Photo by Katie Kay

Happy Father's Day!  Kaylen wanted to bake Matt some cupcakes today.  Since I'm such a control freak in the kitchen and I usually limit what she is allowed to help with, she was stoked to be allowed to bake her own cupcakes from start to finish all by herself.  I swear, I didn't do a thing!  She even cleaned up!
We chose Martha's Devil's Food Cupcakes because I had all the ingredients and Matt's favorite cake is chocolate.  Kaylen wanted vanilla frosting, although I tried my hardest to sway her towards chocolate.  Vanilla frosting...pssshhhh.  I don't know where she gets that from.  Definitely not me.

Chicken Ranch Tacos

Photo by Katie Kay

I have never in my life willingly chosen chicken over beef.  That would be a crime against humanity.  And when I suggested to Matt that these tacos might be better than beef, or at least comparable, he disagreed with me.  To put it mildly.  However, I think that's only because he has something deep down inside that won't allow him to admit such a thing.  Because I've never seen him moan over beef tacos.

German Chocolate Layer Cake

Photo by Matt Sechrist

For my dad's birthday I knew I was going to do something either Snickerdoodle or German Chocolate because those are his favorites.  I considered cupcakes or a cake, and ended up choosing the German Chocolate cake because it felt more birthday-ey.  

Rigatoni alla Vodka with Rosemary & Lemon Haricots Verts

Photo by Katie Kay

I've made several variations of this recipe in the past and typically I make it with Italian sausage, which is fantastic.  Tonight I had to make do with pantry staples because this was a last-minute throw-together meal, so it ended up vegetarian.  Matt didn't smash his plate down to the floor in protest, so I guess he was okay with it.   And yes, vodka is a pantry staple.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Contest

Photo by Katie Kay

To call this a 'contest' may be misleading.  It's more like comparison shopping.  I've made so many different chocolate chip cookie recipes, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is always in search of the perfect one.  I can't promise that one of these 6 recipes will produce your perfect cookie, but it was fun to find 6 very different recipes and see what we liked and didn't like about them all.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

This recipe calls for melted butter instead of softened, which sounded very strange to me.  Baking Illustrated has an excellent explanation into their research on page 433 (which is one of the hundreds of reasons I'm in the middle of reading this cookbook as if it were a novel.)  Basically they wanted a chewy cookie, so they melted the butter so the flour can react faster with the fat molecules of the butter forming gluten, which makes the cookie chewy.

NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

I saw this recipe on I am Baker and followed her sources to The New York Times, who she says picked these as their favorite chocolate cookies.  What intrigued me about these were the delicious looking pictures (I prefer flat cookies, not puffy ones) as well as the use of bread flour and cake flour.

Lighter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

The term 'vegan' sometimes turns people off (including me) so let's not think of these cookies as vegan.  Let's think of them as a lighter, healthier version of chocolate chip cookies!  Keep an open mind.

Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

I have no idea what or where Levain Bakery is, but this recipe caught my eye because of the 3 varieties of sugars, lack of vanilla, cold vs. softened butter, and cornstarch.  Interesting!

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

I am not 100% sure if this is the recipe my mom always made when I was growing up, but for some reason THIS is the classic recipe that comforts the very cockles of my heart with every spoonful of raw dough and with every warm, soft cookie dunked in a glass of cold milk.

Good Ol' Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

I love Pioneer Woman's main dish recipes, but she's not typically my go-to person for desserts (with the exception of her Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce) however I wanted to try her Chocolate Chip Cookies due to the mixture of butter and margarine (which I frown upon in baking) as well as her use of instant coffee and flax seed.

Lemon Pepper Catfish

Photo by Katie Kay

I'm not a big catfish fan.  In fact, catfish would be the very last fish I would ever pick from a menu at a restaurant.  However, I had the BEST Lemon Pepper Catfish in the entire freaking world at a place called Willie's Ice House in Houston.  I worked there for just long enough to sample almost everything on their menu out of sheer boredom.

Hot Sausage Dip

Photo by Katie Kay - look at that stringy cheese!

I found this recipe on Pinterest awhile back, and this was the perfect last-minute dip for an unplanned Memorial Day Weekend get together.  I love to be prepared, and this recipe has almost all of my pantry staples!

Lemon-Garlic Chicken with Zucchini and Asparagus

Photo by Katie Kay

My Grandpa Price made this recipe on our last family reunion to Sunriver, Oregon.  We go every other year and this is pretty much the only time I see that side of my family, so we cherish those memories!  My grandpa rents a house for a week and we usually have around 16 or so family members: My grandpa, his 3 kids, their kids, and in my case, their kids' kids.  So far, I'm the only one to produce great-grandchildren. Next in line is probably my 18-year-old cousin, but I'm sure my Aunt isn't in a hurry for her to join the ranks of motherhood.

Amatriciana

Photo by Katie Kay

I've been cooking Amatriciana for my family for the past 9 years.  I don't use the recipe anymore, nor do I measure anything, and it changes a little every time I make it.  That's the beauty of it.  I know the basic ingredients, and it's hard to mess it up from there.

Peppered Tuna with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Photo by Katie Kay

This is definitely a splurge meal, given the price of good tuna steaks at the grocery store.  But I could eat this every other day and be a happy, satisfied person.  I also think this has to be fairly healthy.  I mean, where's the fat?  Tuna is good for  me, right?  Don't tell me otherwise because I don't want to hear it.

Pork Chops with Garlic and Red Wine Pan Sauce

Photo by Katie Kay

This is another "moaner meal" for Matt.  I think the louder he is at the table, the more he likes it.  He doesn't even know I'm there.  He's such a lover of food.  It makes him so happy, which is why we love each other so much.  I cook--which is great--but we both eat, and we love doing it.  Love.
I tried to buy pork chops that weren't too thin but not too thick because I didn't want them drying out.  I shouldn't have worried.  There is absolutely no chance these puppies will dry out on you.  Not with a cup and a half of wine and a can of beef broth.  You could suck the juice from them like a sponge.  A really clean, wine-filled sponge.

Birthday Brownie Sundae

Photo by Katie Sechrist

Happy 5th Birthday to my sweet, lovable, kissable, soft little boy!  Soon he'll be skinny, stinky and squirmy and won't want anything to do with me.  For now, he still loves his morning hugs (I never let go first) and his zerberts.
He hates cupcakes--but he doesn't know it.  He licks the frosting off and throws away the cake part.  Still, I couldn't talk him out of cupcakes for his birthday party last Saturday.  So for his actual birthday today, I made him a Brownie Sundae.  He LOVED it!  He said it was better than cupcakes.  Son, this won't be the last time mommy knows best...

Crawfish Stuffed Avocado

Horrible photo by Katie Kay's phone because she made this at work for a friend's birthday

Paula Deen emailed this recipe to me.  We're tight like that.  Also, I might be on a mass distribution list.  Or maybe she reads my blog and wanted me to have it.  Either way, it looked fantastic and I sent it to all my co-workers to salivate over.  They were appropriately impressed, so I made it and brought it to work for my friend's birthday.  Hence the hideous camera phone picture above.

Muscato Sangria

Photo by Katie Kay

White wine sangria seemed like a perfect summertime addition to our Cinco de Mayo afternoon.  Being the huge red wine fan that I am, I have to say I prefer traditional sangria.  But this was definitely a fun, sweet, and tasty change from my usual!  The lychees were a unique addition.  In the picture above, it's the round pinkish-white fruit on the bottom left of the glass.  I found them in the International aisle of the grocery store next to the Asian foods.  They came in a can, but I read online you can get them fresh.  Definitely not in my grocery stores, though!

Tres Leches Cupcakes, baby!

Photo by Katie Kay

I can't even think of words to describe how much I love these cupcakes.  The English language has failed me completely.  Maybe in another language I've never heard of they can describe the utter perfection that is these cupcakes.  You might think I'm exaggerating, but that's only if you're totally un-American and you hate Tres Leches.  That's like hating Apple Pie.  Who are you?

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Photo by Katie Kay

I'm not going to lie, I've had better.  But I've also had worse.  These were actually okay if you LIKE vanilla cupcakes.  Which I don't.  Booorrrring.  I put some pink dye in the frosting because all this white was making my eyes bleed.

Lemon Butter Cookies

Photo by Katie Kay

Matt is hosting his 4th Annual Poor Man's Decathlon today.  Its 19 hours of sports, testosterone and drinking.  Of course nothing goes with sports, testosterone and drinking better than cupcakes, amiright?!?  Well, Matt disagreed.  He said no cupcakes.  So I baked these super yummy Lemon Butter cookies instead.   

Seafood Toban Yaki

Photo by Katie Kay

Get.  Out.  Seriously.  This was the best meal I've had in 2013.  In fact, this was the best meal I've had since Fall 2012 when Chrystal and I took a 5-day girls trip to Napa and Sonoma Valley.  I think half our budget was blown on spectacular food--and the other half on wine, of course.  

Italian Beef Drip

Photo by Katie Kay

Any sandwich with juicy meat, dipped in sauce gets an A+ in my book.  This easy, delicious Italian Beef Drip was perfect on a buttered, toasted, fresh deli roll.  In the picture above, check out the bottom slice of bread--you can see the darkness of the juice from the meat soaking into the bread.  As Matt used to say when he was young, "It was so gyood!"

Carrot Cupcakes

Photo by Katie Kay

I'm a huge fan of cream cheese frosting, and carrot cake is one of the many vessels I use to bring it to my lips. I haven't baked many carrot cakes, nor do I have any go-to carrot cake recipes, but after baking and tasting these, I know that I've found The One.  I will never, ever stray from this heavenly perfection.