Grilled Salmon

In my opinion, this is PERFECT grilled salmon, but there's way too many recipes out there calling themselves Perfect This and Perfect That. STILL. Sergey makes it this way every time, and every time it comes out just so...

Karaoke Is Magic

There’s a special kind of magic to a good public karaoke session.

Rare Ould Times

One day, eleventh grade English popped out an interesting extra credit assignment: bring in a song to play and analyze the lyrics in front of the class.

Hot Lemonade

This has been my family's cure-all beverage of choice for fevers, colds, and even--you guessed it--The Big Bad. It's no cure, but it packs a Vitamin C punch and coats your throat with heat and honey. Good stuff.

Lemon Tree

I am a lemon tree. I am not a potato tree or a cucumber tree. I am not even a mango tree or a cherry tree. I am simply a lemon tree.

Tumblr Confession #1: Squigglydigg

I didn't speak when it was timely, but Squigglydigg had the right to say what she said, and I find her statements well reasoned and more in line with the truth than the accusations leveled against her.

The Flow

There’s something to be said for mindfulness, I’m sure. Of course, I say I am sure, but I am about as sure as an arachnophobe averting their eyes from someone’s prized pet tarantula and saying, “I’m sure it’s a lovely, friendly pet. You must really enjoy its company.”

Dream of True Reconciliation

I dreamed, woke up, and wrote this down. It seemed worth remembering.

Porcupine Meatballs "Yorsheki"

A dish from Sergey's childhood. My mother in law taught us how to make them at home. We haven't practiced enough to be confident, but we have it down for when we're ready to try.

Sweet Bread

Every now and then I get an overwhelming craving for bread. Nice, sweet, fluffy, devourable bread. This is the first recipe I came across, and it works well. Freezes nicely too, but always slice it up first!

Super Garlic Marinara

For a long time I bought my marinara sauces. At a certain point I started wondering how hard it was to make my own. While I'm not ready to grow my own tomatoes, I found it's not that hard to start with a can of crushed tomatoes and go from there.

Steamed Pork Buns "Nikuman"

Sergey and I have been on a Japanese cooking kick. This is one of our recent favorites. Because neither of us has what you'd call a sensitive palate, we tripled the shiitake mushrooms and swapped greens out for green onions.

Spicy Rice & Beans

"I do not like beans," I said to my husband. "Beans are mushy and overcooked and disgusting and... oh, you mean you can adjust soak time on beans so they're a little al dente? And you can pick different beans? Well why didn't you say so in the first place..."

Shrimp Boil & Sauce

Our neighbor served us a fantastic shrimp boil one evening, and we begged for the recipe. Here is how we make it at our house.

Shortbread Cookies

Sergey loves crispy cookies. In search of ways to get homemade cookies like that, he found a cookie press that made tiny cookies with lots of ridges. Success! Tiny little crunches of joy.