My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe

This is the best carrot cake ever. Period.
You should trust me on this one.
And if you don’t believe me, ask my cousin Dan. He swears there’s no better carrot cake in the whole wide world.

Bolzano Apple Cake

This cake is a northern Italian peasant classic and it’s arguably the apple-iest cake I’ve ever encountered.
Compared to other apple cakes, it has a one-of-a-kind apple to batter ratio. That’s the beauty of it. Super moist, awesome tasting, and also a great way to use up your apple stash.

The Best (Vegan) Apple Cake

Vegan cakes tend to have a bad reputation, and for a reason.
Over the years I’ve noticed that most of them have three major problems: they're either (1) strange tasting (some taste only like sugar while others taste like nothing at all) (2) dry and no moist at all (the ones that get stuck in your throat, if you know what I mean) or (3) have a weird texture (some are crumbly while others are seriously solid.)

Poppy Seed Loaf Cake

I’ve always been intrigued by poppy seeds. If you look ‘em up on wikipedia it says that “The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years”.
I’m not sure why they are described as kidney shaped, to me they look like they are oval-shaped, like uber-mini eggs.
Also, do you know that they are so small and light, it takes about 3,300 poppy seeds to make up a gram, and between 1 and 2 million seeds to make up a pound?
Fun facts…

Citrus-Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Arguably a side of sweet potatoes is one of the best ways to add a pop of color and flavor into a meal, regardless of the season.
So when I spotted this recipe on NYT Cooking I knew right away to give it a try. It turned out to be way better than I expected, so I decided to serve it both at Thanksgiving and Christmas. It won rave reviews from everybody.
So why not share it with you guys?

Holiday Marble Bundt Cake

Happy New Year y’all!
What a rough year 2020 has been, I’m pretty sure we all agree that it’s the kind of year that belongs in the rearview mirror and we’re all glad to put it behind us.
But before we dive into the new year plans, goals, and resolutions I think it's important to look back and to highlight to yourself the good things that have also happened throughout the year.
I for one originally set my reading challenge to 30 books but with the lockdowns I’ve been reading far more than anticipated and I ended up finishing 54 books (with a good mix of fiction and non-fiction books.) It's a small feat that probably means nothing to anybody, but I am very happy with it.
I took up rope jumping as an alternative to running outdoors and I soon learned it’s a great cardio workout, and I was able to nail the double under after a little over a month of practice.
I've also cleared out my closet and house of a ton of stuff that was crowding out my life, which was good.
Last, but not certainly least, I’ve cooked/baked a ton of good stuff.

Whole Wheat Maple Apple Bundt Cake

I’m not sure if it’s the anticipation of holiday celebration to come, or the nostalgia of helping out in the kitchen when I was a kid, or just the weather changing, but something about autumn makes me want to bake.
This is the time when I want to start filling my kitchen with the smell of pies and warm spices after a hot summer — when turning on the oven was the very last thing I wanted to do.
And when baking is involved around here, apples must also be involved. To me there’s nothing quite like the aroma of apple baking in the oven.
I mean, fall, baking, and apples just go together. That’s a fact and there’s no point in pretending otherwise.

Cabbage and Potato Pie

You know, sometimes you make something and you think "Oh man, what have I done?"
But then it exceeds your expectations and goes way better than you planned.
I just love that, don't you?
This Cabbage and Potato Pie do that to me.
I had an idea in mind for a vegan/vegetarian version of my Cottage Pie for a long time but never managed to make it.
Until I found this recipe on the Financial Times a couple of weeks ago.
I know that the Financial Times is not the first newspaper/magazine that comes to mind when in need of recipes, but truth to be told they have a great recipe section.

Creamy Caprese Rice Casserole

Don't you just love when you have a recipe that can be a favorite week in/week out? One you keep making and loving?
For me it’s the Creamy Caprese Cauliflower Casserole.
There's something about that dish that I found quite special. It has a rich, comfort-food feel that you would never expect from a dish made with cauliflower and tomatoes.
It's easy and delicious. Plus it makes great leftovers — not to mention everyone I have served it to has gone crazy for it.
So I thought it was time to make another caprese themed casserole.
Enters the Creamy Caprese Rice Casserole.

The Best Baked Spinach Rice

Last week was not my week in the kitchen, guys.
I had earnest, ambitious designs on a beet curry that would be pink and pretty and spicy and would finally put the word “end” on my quarrel with the red/purple root.
But as the week went on and as failures occurred — unnaturally purple, watery, and nothing like what I had in mind — my enjoyment of the project plummeted.
But because I’m one of those persons that no-matter-what follows through and finishes what he started, I did, and lo, it was acceptable, you know?
It’s just that I’m not a beet person and I can tolerate it only when juiced and I forgot?
None of this matter because the pot fell, spilling the curry. As I crouched on the kitchen floor scooping the curry into the garbage, I started questioning my life choices.
Why forcing myself to like something just because a bunch of other people like it?
I should know better…

Eggplant Parm Rice Casserole

This is dope.
So dope, it’s going to send you into a tailspin.
The cheesiest, tomato-iest, eggplant-iest, DOPEST casserole tailspin of your life.
For realz.

Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies with Lemon Glaze

As I told you yesterday, I’m pretty pumped to visit the great city of Berlin.
What I’m not excited about, is packing.
I’m actually really bad at packing. I'm not a light packer to begin with; on top of that I bring things I don’t need, and I forget things I do need.
The one mistake I often make is bringing too many tees, shirts, and sweaters and not enough socks and boxers.
And I always forget about outerwear. As a result I have a humongous collection of fleece jackets and umbrellas I bought around the world.
For some reason, I’m persuaded that while I’m on holidays it won’t rain — not even when I went to India during the Monsoon. My mind is weird, I know.

Easy Zoodle Bake

Sometimes a guy needs a pasta bake, just like mom used to make (no rhyme intended!)
A creamy, cheesy, hearty pasta bake full of flavor and deliciousness.