Tonight, I tried thirteen different kinds of wedding cake… Yep, you read that right, THIRTEEEN. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to burst… I’ve eaten so much sugar in the last hour that I just might morph into a wedding cake myself… Now, normally during a cake tasting you taste three, maybe four kinds of cake, but as I’m sure you can tell I am not normal in the slightest when it comes to food. I’m especially not normal when it comes to my wedding cake and food, so any plain jane wedding cake just wasn’t going to suffice. We tried everything from strawberry shortcake, to salted caramel, to blueberry limoncello to raspberry white chocolate Chambord and beyond– and as anticipated, they were all delicious. Would it be weird if I had thirteen different kinds of wedding cake at my wedding??

Although Kevin could probably survive on cake and cookies alone for dinner, this chick-a-dee can’t, so I decided to make a super light and easy dinner before we stuffed copious amounts of cake into our faces.

These shrimp lettuce wraps are perfect for a quick lunch or dinner (or pre-cake dinner!), and come together in 20 minutes, tops. Chopped shrimp is tossed in a simple seasoning of garlic powder, chili powder, paprika, salt and cayenne and thrown into a hot skillet for a few minutes until they are bright pink and plump. Toss the hot shrimp with diced avocado, mango, cilantro and thinly sliced onion and scoop the mixture into leafy cabbage stems. Squeeze a good amount of fresh lime juice over everything for a little acidic kick and these guys are ready to be wrapped and devoured.

I was going to share a super yummy cocktail recipe with you guys today, but didn’t feel it was appropriate in light of the tragic tornado that hit Oklahoma yesterday. It especially tugs at my heart strings since it’s so close to home and could happen to my area at any given time.

There are a thousand ways you can show your support, but the most helpful is always a cash donation. Here are some the ways you can contribute:

Red Cross Oklahoma: Donate here or text REDCROSS to 90999

Salvation Army: They have mobilized a number of emergency relief services to give out food, water and support to first responders and survivors. You can donate here or text STORM to 80888 to contribute $10.

Is there such a thing as wedding brain? You know like baby brain, where pregnant women get to say silly things and can unapologetically forget information? I know that baby brain is actually a thing, you know, since you’re body is changing and yada yada. But I really think that wedding brain should be a thing too. I’m just not with it lately. All I think about is wedding stuff and it completely fogs my usually clear mind. I actually believe it’s making me lose brain cells.

Case in point. I was absolutely certain that our wedding day was exactly eight weeks away from this past Saturday, but was brought to the harsh reality by my father that it was actually seven weeks away. I emphatically told him he was dead wrong, proceeded to take my phone out and count the weeks on the calendar to prove it. See one…two…three…four…five…six…seven…seven…Oh crap.

Yep, definitely seven weeks away. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but the planner in me has pretty much everything in this wedding planned down to the minute. I was going to send the invitations out 8 ½ weeks before the wedding so that people would receive them seven weeks before – giving them plenty of time to accept or decline the offer. So instead of calmly stuffing envelopes and diligently checking every name off my spreadsheet, I spent the better part of this week like a mad woman, rushing back and forth from the calligrapher, to my parents, to home, to work, back to the calligrapher and so on.

I have literally had about 2.5 seconds to cook this week so I was more than happy when Kevin offered to do some grilling instead of me cooking a whole entire meal which at this point just sounds horribly time consuming. His job, the meat; my job, the side. Even though pasta salad shouldn’t really be in my vocabulary or diet right now that’s all I could think about to accompany our grilled chicken…A little bit can’t hurt, right?? Everything in moderation… Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.

My Mom had made a cobb salad a couple days before which triggered the idea to morph the classic into a pasta version perfect for summer barbecues and picnics – and perfect for my inconvenient craving. I threw some hardboiled eggs, lots of creamy avocado, juicy cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, chives, crispy bacon and blue cheese into a big bowl of corkscrew pasta then tossed everything with a super light red wine vinaigrette. Light, refreshing and full of flavor.

I’m a self-proclaimed sodium addict when it comes to food and nearly all of my distinct food memories pertain to the savory. I can still remember the very first time I realized I loved red meat when I tried a filet mignon from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and I’ll never forget when I tasted homemade ravioli at Lidia Bastianch’s restaurant in Kansas City for the first time. In these defining food moments, my perspective changed. Now, I crave juicy steaks that are charred on the outside, pink on the inside and always prefer fresh pasta over dry.

Unfortunately, I only have a few select dessert experiences that were unforgettable, but since I do only have a few, those are some of the ones that are engrained in my mind the most. One in particular was during my study abroad time in college. On a very chilly and rainy day in Florence, Italy my classmates and I took shelter in a small bakery in the middle of the city. While the outside of the city was nearly abandoned, inside, the store was full of lively chatter and masses of locals enjoying espresso and various pastries. After drooling over the hundreds of different choices of desserts behind the glass case for the better part of a half hour, us girls settled on what appeared to be a simple fruit tart that was anything but.

A buttery, almond crust encased a velvety smooth pastry cream that had just the right amount of sweet vanilla flavoring, and was topped with some of the biggest, juiciest blackberries I’d ever seen in my life. In that moment and that first bite, I was in pure dessert heaven. Just as we finished inhaling our tarts, the rain cleared and we went on our way, promising to come back to that very spot the next day. Unfortunately, we never made it back to the little shop; we tried to find it a couple of times, but were unsuccessful. It’s almost like it disappeared completely….

I’ve wanted to make a tart at home just like the one I had on that rainy day in Florence, but completely forgot about it until the other week when I was gently reminded of that same tart I loved so much…at of all places…Wegmans grocery store. In their pastry case, behind all of the chocolate cakes and coconut cream pies one dessert stood out above the rest – a simple mixed berry tart. While it wasn’t nearly as good as my favorite one I had years before, it was good enough to convince me to finally attempt the tart on my own.

I didn’t want to mess with anything too complicated, so I deviated away from the traditional pastry cream and crust. Instead, I included the same flavor profiles with an almond shortbread crust that’s insanely easy to prepare and a fool-proof mascarpone and cream cheese filling that requires no double boiler or egg yolks. The almond flour crust is baked in the oven until golden brown, cooled and then filled with a mixture of mascarpone, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, and almond extract. I chose to decorate with fresh strawberries that were on sale at the market, but you can use whatever fruit is in season or on sale locally.

Although this tart isn’t an exact replica of the one from the little bakery, it’s close enough and delicious enough to take me back to that day….and that’s all that matters.

Today marks the third installment of Monday’s homemade ricotta. In my homemade ricotta journey, I’ve brainstormed a million different ways to utilize it in creative ways; a necessity since I might otherwise be sucked into it eating it straight from the bowl day after day.

I went the straightforward approach with ricotta, lemon zest and fried rosemary as a spread for crostini; I also went the traditional route with ricotta stuffed ravioli; and today, we’re going off the beaten path a little bit and using ricotta as a base for pizza instead of sauce in what might be one my favorite pizzas of all time. Actually, it’s probably a tie for my favorite pizza of all time – an even split between today’s ricotta pizza, the classic margarita pizza and this butternut squash ravioli pizza.

I wanted to keep with the “spring” theme and use up some of the leftover veggies I had from Wednesday’s ravioli, so I came up with these super simple individual pizzas on whole-wheat Naan bread. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Naan, it’s an Indian flat bread equivalent to Mediterranean pita bread (and better in my opinion). It’s baked in a screaming hot tandoori oven and used as a side for most Indian meals – it’s great to soak up their rich sauces or to just nibble on by its lonesome, or to use for PIZZA!

I slather the ricotta generously across the bread, and then top it with crispy cubes of pancetta, bright green asparagus, sautéed leeks, and a little bit of chopped shrimp. Each guy is tossed into a scorching oven set at 500 degrees and baked quickly, about five minutes until the cheese is hot, creamy and the asparagus has a slight char. Drizzle each pizza with a little bit of olive oil and top with ridiculous amounts of parmesan cheese. Pizza in a pinch.

Here’s a little tip: Heat a pizza stone in the oven for about twenty minutes before baking. This works on pre-made crusts and fresh pizza dough alike – you’re guaranteed a SUPER crisp crust every time.

Rav–ee–oliii…. How I lovvee theee… I’m singing these words if you can’t tell. Most times I’m singing to my dog Ravioli (yes we named our dog Ravioli) but today I’m singing to actual raviolis. Perfect little raviolis…

Perfect little raviolis that melt in your mouth…

Perfect little raviolis that look so incredibly elegant yet are so ridiculously easy to put together… (I made them on a week night if that tells you anything)

Perfect little raviolis that you must make…now.

Rav–ee–oliii…How I lovvee theee….Sorry, I’m trying to talk about food here, but I’m in one of those silly-can’t-keep-a-straight-face-feel-like-being-stupid moods. I get like that sometimes…err ok, often. Some people think it’s funny, other people (Kevin and Ravioli) just think I’m weird. You choose.

Now, I said that these raviolis are easy and they are, the only thing though, is they’re made with homemade ricotta from the other day. So if I didn’t convince you to make it then, let me try again. I promise it’s the hardest step that isn’t actually hard, plus you can make it up to a week before. Here’s the abridged version – heat milk and cream, dump in lemon, stir, stir, strain, sit, AND done. Easy peasy. I will admit though, they’d still be good with store-bought ricotta, really they would, but they won’t be good. Do you know what I mean?

Kind of like…

How fro-yo is good, but good with crushed oreos, cookie dough and mini chocolate chips

How chicken fingers are good, but good with honey mustard and ranch

How a burger is good, but good with cheese, tomato and mayo

How boxed mac and cheese is good, but from scratch mac and cheese is good.

You get my point?

Also, side note. I’m letting (yes letting) you use wonton wrappers instead of fresh pasta just so you can’t complain that I’m forcing you to make homemade cheese AND fresh pasta. I’ve gotta pick my battles and I really want you to make the cheese.

Aren’t they adorable?? At this point you can stick them in the freezer until you need them. If you aren’t going to use them the same day, freeze on the sheet pan and then trasnfer to a freezer ziplock baggie.

I wanted the ricotta to be the main focus in these guys so I decided against a complicated and heavy sauce and instead opted to top them off with veggies sautéed in a little bit of butter. The combination of the butter in the veggies mixed with the pasta water that’s left on the raviolis creates a sort of sauce anyways.

There’s something about warm fresh ricotta, thin sheets of pasta, and buttery green veggies that is just heavenly. I had to immediately package up the leftovers, stick them in the back of the fridge, and get out of the room to keep myself from eating the whole batch.

But…I may have saved one lone ravioli for myself to eat right before bedtime…shhh….

Homemade ricotta. Why would anyone time the time make homemade cheese? What’s the point? Can’t you just buy it at the store and save yourself the hassle?

At least that’s what I would have previously said before I actually tried homemade ricotta at one of my favorite restaurants. Infinitely better – and now I’m hooked. At first glance when I spotted homemade ricotta with grilled bread on the busy menu it seemed ordinary and so unassuming I almost glazed right over it. But it was happy hour and half off and I do like bread with toppings…so why not?

Life changing – and trust me, I don’t throw that term around often. What came out from the kitchen was light and fluffy, unlike any ricotta I’d seen before. It was simply topped with a pinch of sea salt and olive oil and served with mammoth sized pieces of slightly charred bread that were chewy on the inside and perfectly crisp and smoky on the outside. The ricotta itself was airy, spread as easily and as perfectly as softened butter, and just completely melted in your mouth. Heaven. From that moment on I’ve been obsessed with the stuff; I can easily polish off a whole order myself and still crave more. So of course, I had to figure out how to make it at home.

And here we are.

After a little research and perusing through various cooking sites, I settled on this variation on the Epicurious website. It seemed pretty straightforward and had plenty of raving reviews so I was hopeful this was the recipe for me. Although, I do admit that even though the recipe seemed to be relatively easy, I just knew that it wasn’t going to be – we’ll call it a cook’s intuition.

I was completely, utterly, wrong.

Like me, I’m sure you would assume that re-creating something like this at home would be next to impossible even if the recipe declared otherwise. Much to my surprise, it was the opposite. The recipe was just as it appeared – humble in its preparation and ingredients. It required only whole milk, cream, lemon juice, and salt and comprised of just four easy steps to an end result of pure ricotta perfection.

I stuck with the original recipe, but doctored it up with a little lemon zest and fried rosemary for added flavor and texture then topped it off with a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. Again, pure creamy, decadent ricotta perfection.

In honor of the special day I’ve rounded up some favorite Mexican recipes from the last year. So cheers and enjoy!

Skinny Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Baked Shrimp and Cheese Jalapeño Poppers

Baked Chicken Flautas with Avocado Garlic Sour Cream

Roasted Shrimp “Cocktail” with Chipotle Mayo

Baked Chilaquiles with Chorizo, Eggs and Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Crispy Pork Carnitas with Pineapple Salsa

Chorizo and Egg Breakfast Calzones

When is it going to end???????????? I feel like a meteorologist over here for as much as I’ve been talking about the weather. But I mean, COME ON. A winter storm in May? I don’t really curse that much, but what the h*** I’m sorry that was totally un-ladylike and all that, but it was necessary. I’m seriously angry about it. As I irritably type these words, Kansas is preparing for the next three days to be 40 and SNOWING.

I.just.can’t.deal.

This May snow also happens to fall on the day of one of my bridal showers. A bridal shower I already have a super cute sundress picked out for, because you know, I thought at this time of year I wouldn’t need a freakin parka. Come rain or snow though, I will be wearing that dress Saturday – I don’t care if I have to wear a ski coat over it and freeze my little booty off. It’s happening.

Luckily, we got in some good grilling time while it was warm out and Monday night was glorious. I had planned on making some sort of fancy burger to share with you guys, but when I asked Kevin what he wanted on his burger and he replied with the standard cheese, lettuce, tomato – I thought to myself how incredible that sounded. No muss, no fuss, just a plain ole cheeseburger with lots of juicy tomato, crisp lettuce, mayo and ketchup.

I still wanted to share something from our grilling date and we did need a side so I brainstormed a little bit and came up with these super easy veggie stacks. Aren’t they adorable?

We grilled thick slices of zucchini and squash, and then layered them with a little mozzarella and goat cheese and threw them back on the grill for a few seconds while the cheese melted. I topped each one off with a little drizzle of super thick balsamic vinegar. (You could also use regular balsamic and reduce it in a small saucepan to create a thicker consistency).

These are incredibly versatile – you could pretty much use any veggie that is stackable – eggplant would work well or even thick slices of russet potatoes would stack nicely. Same thing can be said for the cheeses – we used mozzarella and goat cheese since that’s what I had on hand but, brie, provolone, or even ricotta would be delicious. Sky’s the limit!

It’s here! It’s here! Spring is finally here!

(Knock on wood)

I spent the better part of today basking in the sun, reading up on some of my fav cookbooks and menu planning for the next zillion months. There’s something about the sunshine and warm weather that just inspires me. I’m dreaming of caprese salads, juicy steaks hot of the grill topped with blue cheese, fruity drinks with fancy straws, burgers with toppings like spinach artichoke dip or fried avocado, oh and copious amounts of homemade ice cream – that’s a must. I have so many ideas for summer dishes that my head is in a constant spin, not knowing where to start first.

So for today’s post I wanted something that screams spring, something light, something healthy – scratch that, we’ve had enough healthy around here lately, its time for a little indulgence.

I thought about what really makes me feel most like summer – err, getting ahead of myself sorry – what makes me feel most like spring. After some very intense contemplation, my thoughts kept drifting back to Ina’s goat cheese tart I used to make a million times a year when I dabbled in a little catering for a brief moment. It was one of my favorite things to make and something that was always well-received.

I’ve changed it up quite a bit here, adapting to what I had around the house and then adding a little spring element with the addition of plump heirloom cherry tomatoes.

This starts off with homemade pastry. – If you want, you can also use frozen and thawed puffy pastry or store-bought pie dough, but there is nothing and I mean nothing like homemade crust – and this one is no exception. It’s flaky, flavorful AND most importantly, doesn’t shrivel down to nothing after being baked – and between you and I, it’s easy to make too.

The choice of fat is an ongoing debate in the pastry world; some whole-heartedly believe butter is the only way to go, while others believe shortening or even lard is the only acceptable choice. I like a combination of the two – butter for flavor and shortening for flakiness.

Now, I want you to listen carefully to what I’m about to say… I PROMISE you will have a perfect crust every time if you follow one cardinal rule – keep ingredients cold and chill every step of the way.

So keeping that in mind, we start out by cutting COLD butter and shortening (the shortening actually doesn’t have to be cold) into flour and a little salt. Then mix in one egg yolk (to prevent shrinkage) and five tablespoons ICE COLD water. Knead just until the dough comes together – it’s ok if there are a few pieces that don’t combine, they will once the dough chills. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for 20 minutes.

Next, we roll the dough. Since you really don’t want to add anymore flour to the crust, I like to put it between two sheets of plastic wrap and then roll. It’s super easy and requires practically no cleanup – and I’ll take that whenever I can.

In the middle of my pastry making I realized that I misplaced my tart pan – yet another item lost in the process of moving. So I had to improvise and use a spring-form pan, worked just as well, thank goodness. You could also bake in a pie pan; it just won’t come out in one beautiful piece.

Ok, so we place the crust in whatever pan of your choosing – make sure you grease it up first – and do not stretch the dough! Gently fit it to the pan, if you try to stretch it, all it will do is shrink back down while baking. Then back to chill – in the freezer this time, for about 15 minutes. After she’s done freezing, we partially bake it so that the bottom crust isn’t soggy after adding the filling.

Now, for the best part…the filling… tangy goat cheese, creamy mascarpone cheese, chives, garlic powder and a little salt are mixed together until super smooth. Heavy cream is used to thin it out and then two eggs are mixed in to bind the whole thing together.

Everything is poured into the partially baked crust and thrown into the oven for about 35 minutes until set – very similar to the baking process of a cheesecake. Let everything come to room temperature while you prepare the tomato topping.

I worship cherry tomatoes – they’re so cute and tiny and juicy… But do you know what’s even better than cherry tomatoes?? Heirloom cherry tomatoes. Aren’t they gorgeous? I spotted these beauties at Trader Joe’s and knew immediately that I was going to use them here.

You can use do this a couple of ways, but all methods involve cutting the tomatoes in half.

• Halfway through baking, layer the tomatoes artfully around the tart. Finish baking – you might need to add on five minutes or so to the baking time.
• Toss the halved tomatoes with two tablespoons balsamic vinegar, let set while the tart bakes and then layer on when the tart is done cooling
• Or (and this is what I did) layer all the tomatoes on the tart after its done baking and then drizzle some super thick balsamic vinegar over the whole thing and sprinkle with a little kosher salt.

Goat cheese and tomato tart, complete! Serve with a small side salad for the perfect spring lunch, or pair with some grilled chicken or steak for a filling dinner.

Someone wanted some… Bad boy…