Once Upon an Adventure

Hi Everyone, Back in September (re: computer issues), we were highly anticipating the premiere of Hocus Pocus 2. We've done some home cooking posts and while I do enjoy those, I wanted something uncomplicated and easy to throw together. We made up all the names and "recipes" for our little Halloween themed party and it took less than an hour to throw it all together. Popped on a fun table cover, arranged all the food, lit the Black Flame Candle (not really), and we were ready for a little Hocus Pocus. First up, we made some Muscles & Bones: Mozzarella cheese sticks wrapped in prosciutto. You can buy the cheese and prosciutto separately and wrap them yourselves, or buy them already wrapped in packages. We did the shortcut and bought them already wrapped. This is one of my favorite things. I like to use them for cheese boards with wine as well. Eyeball Dip: Greek yogurt + French Onion Dip Mix. You can always use sour cream, but I wanted some protein and to ...

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  The weather has certainly changed and the smell of winter is in the Ohio air. Naturally, that means I begin craving comfort food. I was thrilled when Chrissy announced that she was making a 3rd cookbook in the Cravings collection, and I immediately bought my copy of Cravings All Together when it came out. As I stated in the Mother's Day Cravings post, I LOVE these cookbooks. I've made many of Chrissy and her mom, Pepper Thai's recipes and they've all turned out amazing. I know John Legend has a few of his own recipes in each book, but I hadn't made them. His recipes seem to give off a very relaxed and hanging-out-with-the-fam vibe. This time, I made a point to test out a couple of his recipes along with a couple of Chrissy's, of course. Forewarning: These recipes were not my most photogenic work, but I promise the flavors were all there.  I'm a bit of an egg snob. One of my biggest pet peeves is overcooked eggs...

 Sending good vibes to all the moms out there. 💕      Mother's Day weekend in Ohio was full of heavy rain, cool temperatures, and comfort food cravings. Instead of going out, I decided to make my mom a day's worth of food from Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook. I own both of her Cravings cookbooks and I'm highly anticipating the third because I have not made a recipe from either book that wasn't flavorful and hit the spot. Don't ask me which recipe is my favorite because that is an impossible question; although I will say in a life or death situation, it's probably in the Thai inspired section. You can order her cookbooks (and her mom's) off of her Cravings website , or at most bookstores.       In honor of Mother's Day, this is where I say a tidbit about my mom. She is the hardest working person I know. She's worked long shifts for as long as I can remember while also keeping the house clean, taking my brother to his hockey tournaments out-of-...

 Greetings from the frozen Tundra!       Okay, I'm exaggerating. I'm freezing and we got about 6 inches of snow dumped on us last night and today. This is why I decided that this month would be a culinary adventure from the comfort of home. I have had many struggles throughout this pandemic with missing Disney World and just wanting to book that next vacation. It's my happy place. Knowing my love of cooking and Disney, my brother and his girlfriend gave me The Unofficial Disney Parks Cookbook by Ashley Craft.  It has recipes for popular foods (mostly snacks and desserts with some meal options) from each Disney World park, plus Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. I decided to begin with a few items from the beautiful Magic Kingdom where it all started back in the day.       I wanted something comforting and would warm me from the inside out. Winter = soup. Tomato Basil Soup from Pinocchio Village Haus sounded perfect. It was prett...

Happy Saturday! One of the hardest things for me during this pandemic is that I can't plan my next Disney vacation. It is one of my favorite stress relievers and gives me something to look forward to when things are tough. 2021 isn't even looking promising, so who knows when I'll get back to the magic. In the meantime, I started saving recipes from various Disney restaurants to make at home and hopefully bring some of that magic to Ohio. I decided to make the first test group from the restaurants at the Polynesian Resort. This is one of my favorite resorts because it is right on the beach, has a view of Magic Kingdom from across the lake, and everything is Moana/Lilo and Stitch/Hawaii themed. It is also home to my favorite coffee on all of Disney World property. Kona Cafe is our breakfast spot. Their Kona coffee is my absolute favorite. A few weeks before I decided to do this home-cooking adventure, I heard Joffrey's was selling the coffee that they created sp...