I didn’t know pumpkin spice was ~a thing~ until maybe 5 years ago. Now I realize it’s a full on phenomenon that people anticipate for months. Also, this pumpkin spice is super polarizing. Some people love it and crave all pumpkin everything. Others HATE it and curse the ubiquity of the orange vegetable. Me? I’ve always… read all

One of sour, two of sweet; three of strong and four of weak. That’s the traditional guideline for making a classic Caribbean rum punch. I enjoy a classic Caribbean rum punch, I do. But sometimes I want something a little less sour and a little more sweet. I like the kind of rum punch that… read all

It just so happens to be National Pie Day (according to the American Pie Council, yes this is a thing), and bellas, we’re in luck! My friend Maya-Camille Broussard, AKA The MCB Project, AKA creator of Justice of the Pies, blessed me with this incredible-sounding Raspberry Hazelnut Pie recipe.  I told her that I love… read all

I must confess, I didn’t grow up eating a lot of salad. My dad has a traditional salad he likes to make with dinner — tomatoes, cucumbers, garlic, maybe an onion sliced up with salt, pepper and a little vinaigrette. It’s a good addition to every meal, but time and repetition led me to take… read all

I used to celebrate New Year’s Eve in a raucous way. Lots of drinking, lots of noise, lots of people around to toast with and kiss at the stroke of midnight. Party like a rockstar and recover all day January 1. I’ve got some great memories from those years. And honestly, I’ve also had some… read all

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” as John Lennon sang in his ode to his son Sean, Beautiful Boy. If you saw me a month ago and asked about my Thanksgiving plans, I would’ve started gushing about recipes and table setting ideas. I was planning a fabulous Thanksgiving for… read all

For me, baths are a luxury. Making the time to clean my tub, light some candles, put on my bubblebath playlist – all of the things I need to do to prepare for the experience – takes time and effort. It’s an intentional exercise in relaxation and self care. So it better be worth it… read all

Whenever NYC expects a snow storm, it becomes a worst case scenario snowpocalypse for the ages media story, covered for days on the national nightly news in the most dire terms. Whenever Chicago expects a snowstorm, it’s business as usual. We know things are bad if schools close. In the five years that I’ve lived… read all

Meatless Monday is a concept that dates back to conservation efforts during World War 1, but regained popularity in the last decade as a public health awareness initiative. The idea behind it is to improve public health by going meatless once a week, to reduce risks of cancer, heart disease and diabetes while reducing your… read all

  Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last few days, huge swaths of America have been affected by the Polar Vortex. It’s been miserably cold here in Chicago, and for a few days we were completely snowed in and hibernating while the wind chill dipped to minus 40 and below. Being hunkered down… read all