My Cooking Spot

When Girl Meets Kitchen



The Easiest Salsa Ever.

By Leave a Comment

salsa

This was a college staple. Or I should say, a senior year staple when we had a huge kitchen (I know…it’s unheard of in College Living but Freshman year I shared the official smallest dorm room on campus). My best friend and I would make this before are favorite shows and share it on the couch or when people came over because it seemed super impressive but was in fact, the easiest salsa ever.

There are only two ingredients. The third is optional. And it tastes delicious. Sometimes we would brown ground meat, make this salsa, and guacamole and eat this feast with tortilla chips on our bright pink couch (it’s a long story).

[Read more…]

Homemade Thai Chili Sauce

By 1 Comment


IMG_7191

My little sister and fellow Cooking Spot contributor Nathalia of Creatively Conscious was married this fall in the loveliest wedding ceremony up in the pine-dotted Sierra.  She and her husband Loren then took off for an epic honeymoon of honeymoons – to travel the world together for 7 months hand-in-hand. It really doesn’t get any more lovely or romantic than that.

It has been like a dream to be able to follow their adventures through their Instagram “Lov3_is_Key” and their Blog, LoveIsKey.net.  But, better than that, Loren and Nathalia invited family members to join them along the way.  I poured over their itinerary with my husband’s large atlas spread on the floor in front of me, my calendar to the right and my computer to my left, tracing what would be their epic journey, trying to decide where in the world would we fly off to see them, fantasizing about all the wonderful places, the amazing food, the cultures, and the people one would meet.  I knew a few things for certain, I wanted to be with my sister for a holiday, traveling can be hard and so can being so far away from your family so this was a priority. If I could make at least one holiday feel a little bit like home, I would have achieved my goal.  Also I wanted to go somewhere new, somewhere I thought I would never get a chance in my lifetime to visit, an adventure to top all adventures.

[Read more…]

Healthy Strawberry Mango Frozen Yogurt

By 1 Comment

Healthy Homemade Frozen Yogurt

I crave ice cream year round. Even on the coldest of days I will sometimes find myself think about my favorite ice cream. For as long as I can remember I have loved strawberry ice cream. I can remember when I was little going to the grocery store with my mom as her “helper”. She would always let me pick out a small little pint container of whatever ice cream I wanted. Every time I reached for the same thing. Not the crazy moose tracks, or candy filled ice creams…no, no, I always picked out homemade vanilla with strawberries by Blue Bell.

[Read more…]

Homemade Vanilla Sugar

By Leave a Comment

Homemade Vanilla Sugar // My Cooking Spot

When you’re baking, running out of vanilla extract is the worst. It’s such a key flavor component — what could you do? You could frantically scramble for your phone and Google possible substitutions. You could make a run to the store leaving behind partially-made batter and a preheated oven. Or, you could have a back-up plan.

[Read more…]