Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I hope that wherever you are the weather has been as glorious as our weather here in Ohio this week. We’ve had warm rain and plenty of sunshine and the world around us is brilliantly green and flowering. I’m soaking up every possible moment outdoors right now.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Garlicky and mildly spicy, mushroom spinach pasta is a study in flavorful simplicity. Perfect al dente pasta is tossed in a light pan sauce of white wine or chicken stock, onion, garlic, mushrooms, spinach, and Parmesan cheese.

Tender, succulent Dutch oven roast pork is a comforting, homey, simple method to prepare an economical cut of pork. Whether you serve this with cheesy mashed potatoes, roasted carrots, or on buttery, fluffy dinner rolls, you’re going to love this meaty main dish.

Fresh lemon, garlic, and black pepper combine to make lemon pepper asparagus simple and simply irresistible. Make this just once and you’ll build meals around it throughout asparagus season.

Inspired by the Korean beef with rice that my family loves so much, these Korean beef noodles were a huge win from the very first bite. Loaded with umami, this one-pot dish is a guaranteed, family-friendly hit!

Bright and colorful, this flavorful Asian cabbage salad is full of freshness and crunch. You’re going to turn to this again and again during grilling season.

Chewy kitchen sink cookies are a fun surprise every time we make them. My cookies are typically made with whichever sweet or salty bits and pieces are left in the pantry from other baking adventures. They might be studded with chocolate and butterscotch chips, chopped candy bars, pretzels, nuts, potato chips, and more.

Inspired by the above cookies, this week’s ice cream is jam packed with toffee bits, cookie pieces, coconut, peanut butter cups, pecans, and more, creamy vanilla kitchen sink ice cream is bursting at the seams with deliciousness.

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Jenn’s Apple Cider Donut Cake is making my mouth water! Doesn’t it sound amazing?

My FAVORITE THING this week is my air fryer. I’ve been using it more than ever

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I had a wonderful time visiting friends and family in Arizona this past week. It’s a little strange sometimes to realize we’ve been away from the Southwest for over six years now, after living all of my life until then in the desert.

I’m looking forward to relaxing with my family as much as possible this weekend. I’m hoping to spend some time soaking up some Ohio sunshine and maybe squeezing in a nap or two as well. It was a glorious 62°F outside yesterday, while Arizona popped back up over 100°F. There really is no place better than home – especially when you live in Ohio.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK:  Tender shrimp, crisp hot vegetables, and a whole lot of flavor come together to make this Shrimp Fried Rice in just 20 minutes.

Spicy ground beef, tender potatoes, bell pepper, and onion come together in a simple Ground Beef and Potatoes skillet meal that will leave everyone grinning around the table.

This chicken salad with grapes and apples is rapidly becoming my family’s go-to chicken salad. (And that says a lot considering how many different versions of chicken salad we make!) Served with crackers or chips, layered in a sandwich or a lettuce wrap, or simply eaten with a fork, this salad is a winner.

With just 3 ingredients and 15 minutes in the oven, Brown Sugar Bacon is a guaranteed way to ensure breakfast happiness. There’s something almost magical in the way a bit of melted butter and brown sugar caramelizes around each salty strip of bacon.

Tender crab meat and a flavorful cream cheese sauce combine to make this Hot Crab Dip taste similar to crab rangoon, but in dippable form! Serve with crostini, toasted baguette, crackers, wonton chips, or whichever dippers you like best.

Thin, chewy, buttery oatmeal lace cookies with crispy edges have proven completely and totally irresistible to every single person who has tried them.

Creamy and sweet with a bit of tang, sour cream ice cream is bright and refreshing when served in a cone, over a slice of apple crisp, or scooped into a bowl and topped with a warm berry sauce.

What I’m CRAVING: These almond butter stuffed chocolate covered dates caught my eye last week and now I can’t stop thinking about them! I must try

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’m in Arizona for a few days and as I write this, I’m enjoying a cool morning on the porch at a friend’s cabin a few hours north of the already very warm Valley of the Sun. Every time I visit Phoenix, it makes me appreciate the beauty of cooler weather and changing seasons all the more.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love Ohio? I hope I never take for granted what a gift it is to wake up to my favorite place in the world every morning.

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: It’s pasta salad season over here and I’m pretty happy about it. Al dente tiny pasta tossed with generous amounts of cooked shrimp, crunchy fresh vegetables, and a citrus-spiked creamy dressing all combine to make this Shrimp Pasta Salad irresistible. It’s about to become your new summer favorite!

Mozzarella cheese, salami, tomatoes, bell peppers, red onion, and black olives are combined with bite-size pasta and tossed in a tangy, garlicky, vinaigrette to make this Salami Pasta Salad. My boys went a little bit crazy over it the first time I made it.

Oh how I’m loving fresh asparagus right now! Asparagus wrapped in bacon is an impressive-looking side dish that is every bit as awesome to eat as it is to admire on the plate. I could happily make a full meal out of this asparagus.

Tender pasta, shrimp, bacon, and asparagus are tossed with garlic in a creamy sauce to make this irresistible Shrimp Asparagus Pasta. This is a deceptively easy recipe, friends. While the directions look lengthy at first glance, I promise you that this is a quick and straightforward recipe.

With layers of sweet vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, and vanilla wafers tucked under a fluffy layer of whipped meringue, this Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding is a hit every time it is served.

Rich, sweet, and infused with whiskey that has been mellowed by heavy cream, Homemade Irish Cream is dreamy. It’s much more subtle and sophisticated than its commercial counterpart.

And if you’re a fan of Bailey’s Irish Cream: this Irish cream infused Bailey’s Ice Cream is going to make you weak at the knees!

What I’m CRAVING: My friend Christi’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies. If you love chocolate and peanut butter, this recipe is about as good as it gets. I could very happily eat this entire batch myself. These cookies really are THAT good.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these Read more

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I came home to a glorious sunset the other day and couldn’t resist pausing in the driveway to take a photo. What an amazing world we live in, friends. Even when life throws us curveballs, the sun still rises and sets in moments of beauty.

As I write this, the birds are singing at full volume outside my window and the sun hasn’t even risen. I love it. We’ve had a fun week over here. My mom is visiting and my youngest son is in his first school play. Who knew high school theater could be this much fun??

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: Filled with creamy oats, sweet bananas, berries, a hint of brown sugar, and spices, this Crockpot Oatmeal is a breakfast that my whole family enjoys. Best of all, this crave-worthy oatmeal can be made in just one hour without any stirring at all!

Spicy, sweet, and slightly tangy Glazed Salmon with Broccoli is one of my favorite ways to cook and serve fish. One delightfully simple sauce does double duty as marinade for the fish and flavor booster for the fresh broccoli.

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms filled with soft cream cheese, fresh green onions, and sweet crab meat keep you coming back for more. These two-bite appetizers are hard to stop eating.

If you’re lucky enough to have some extra mushrooms left in the fridge, garlicky Marinated Mushrooms are great to have on hand to add some pizzazz to salads, sandwiches, pizzas, snacks, and more! This simple recipe makes it easy to keep a jar of them in the refrigerator at all times.

Slightly sweet and tangy, Apple Grape Salad is a fast and fresh-as-can-be fruit salad with a creamy dressing that you’ll want all summer long. You can’t go wrong pairing this with any and all grilled and roasted meats or with a sandwich for a quick meal that satisfies.

Italian Chocolate Salami is made of crumbled cookies, chopped, and toasted nuts, suspended in creamy chocolate that resembles salami. This delightfully different dessert is served in many parts of the world.

Creamy, real banana ice cream studded with pieces of vanilla cookie and pockets of sweet whipped cream combine to make Banana Pudding Ice Cream. If you like banana pudding, you’ll go wild for this!

What I’m CRAVING: All the salads! From the Italian grinder salad to cheeseburger salad, California spaghetti salad to Read more

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! If you live in Ohio, I hope you spent every possible moment outdoors yesterday. What a GLORIOUS preview of summer we had! After a week of crazy wind, sleet, rain, and altogether too-chilly-for-April weather, it was an amazing 84 degrees with sunshine. I soaked up as much sunshine as possible knowing that we still have a couple of months to go before this is a daily thing again. 

ON THE BLOGS THIS WEEK: With flavorful salmon nestled on a bed of baby greens, fresh herbs, glass noodles, avocado, crunchy cabbage and carrots, pickled broccoli and a to-die-for chili lime dressing, this Asian Salmon Salad is a showstopper.

This is a salad to get very excited for – just ask my friends and family. I’ve been shouting about it for months, and I’m thrilled to be sharing it with you at last.

Citrusy, savory, and fabulously gingery, garlicky Marinated Asian Salmon makes the most flavorful salmon you’ll ever have. While you do have to plan a few hours ahead, it’s easy to make and well worth the small amount of prep you need to do in advance. (You’ll want to prep it now to make that awesome salad!)

Full of toasted sesame flavor, tangy, and crisp-tender, sweet and savory pickled broccoli is unexpectedly wonderful. Much like bread and butter pickles in taste, these brined, thinly sliced broccoli stems are great on salads (see above!), sandwiches, and cheese boards.

Brimming with juicy pineapple and colorful bell peppers, this pineapple chicken stir fry is a little bit tangy, a little bit sweet, pretty to look at, and full of flavor!

Air fryer shrimp makes even faster work of already quick cooking shrimp to get a crowd-pleasing dish on the table in record time. This has become a quick lunch favorite for me of late too. Whether you’re using your cooked shrimp as the main event, serving it with cocktail sauce, in a salad, or using it as a component in another dish, you’ll love this easy cooking method.

Shaved Brussels sprouts salad with warm bacon dressing is the ideal side dish to serve with roast pork, beef, or chicken. Tangy, warm bacon dressing is poured over shaved Brussels sprouts, green onions, pecans, and dried cherries in this easy but sophisticated tasting recipe.

Sweet and creamy with a gentle tang, buttermilk ice cream tastes like