Grilled Stuffed Jalapeños

I’m currently obsessed with grilled and stuffed jalapeños. These are an upscale take on the classic bar snack, jalapeño poppers, but are grilled instead of deep-fried. I’ve made them once a month over the past couple of months and since it’s tailgate season, I still consider them a relevant appetizer for fall.

How to Throw a Lip Sync Party

I had been asking my sister, “what do you want to do for your 30th birthday?” for months (years really) when she finally answered my pressing question a little more than a month before her 30th birthday. “I want to host a lip sync battle 30th birthday party,” she said. Never one to shy away from any crazy party idea, I was immediately on board, the logistics already running through my head. We’d have to get someone to play DJ, everyone coming would have to practice their songs, and we’d have to be 150 percent into the idea in order to convince all those weary of lip syncing in front of a crowd to participate. We’d need ample amounts of booze, a venue that had some sort of stage, delectable hearty snacks that would ensure guests didn’t get too wasted before their performances, and an invite that got everyone excited about the opportunity to lip sync.

Mushroom Empanadas

In late 2005, I spent a month visiting my sister in Argentina. She and her best friends were studying abroad in Buenos Aries for the year and I had recently returned to America heart broken after ending a relationship with a Spaniard. I was depressed and unemployed and my parents didn’t really know what to do with me, so they sent me to South America for some sisterly love, sun, steak, and Malbec. It was just what the doctor ordered!

My dad, best friend, and I in my sister’s apartment in Argentina, circa December 2005.

One can’t visit Argentina without falling in love with the flaky and delicious empanada. The hand-held pastries are everywhere and made in so many different variations that they can suit virtually any tastebud. They can be baked and filled with ham and cheese or deep fried and stuffed with cinnamon, apples, and sugar.

Snapshots From a Recent Dinner Party

Lately I’ve been day dreaming about living in a house. Not just any old house, but a lovely three bedroom house all for myself! It would be the ideal house for entertaining. One bedroom (with a glorious walk-in closet) would be for myself, another room would serve as a creative studio where I would have a large comfortable desk and lots of organized crafting supplies, and the final room would be a guest bedroom for me to host my friends and family. Of course, there would also be a dining room with a table big enough to seat twelve adults, a garden with plenty of cutting flowers and a Meyer lemon tree, a pool with several lounges for tanning in the sun, and a big kitchen with an island, tons of cabinets, granite countertops, and bar stools.