As a self-employed person, weekends aren’t always weekends. I actually like it this way. I know it may sound strange but I love doing work on the weekends because it means peace and quiet and zero emails! WOOHOO! This weekend was a combo of work and relaxation and it felt really nice.
I’ve been put on Queer Eye Season 2 and started to edit all the photos that exist on this computer. Josh was like, “why are you putting on that show because you’re gonna cry?” I was like, NO I’M NOT. And then literally seven minutes into the show, I started crying. Lol. It’s emotional!
Let’s talk about the recipe. I haven’t alway been a big fan of galettes. I kinda always thought they looked a little sloppy and I preferred and perfect-looking pie. And then I just embraced that them looking kinda sloppy is exactly what galettes are all about!
I would like to confess something to you all: I use to be anti-freezer.
I didn’t like the idea of freezing food. I have no idea why. It sounded stale and not “fresh.” I was also a very single person for a long time and really had no need to freeze anything. But I’ve since found my freezer to be a true gift. I freeze all sorts of things: sauces, cakes, muffins, pie crust…and cookie dough!
I always get questions about why I scoop cookie dough so close together. People ask me if I bake them that close together. NO, SILLY! If I did that it’d be one gigantic cookie (not a terrible thing).
I scoop them out because I usually make a double batch of cookies and freeze most of the recipe for later use. It always comes in handy when people come over or we have a party to go to. I can usually reach in my freezer, bake off some cookies and have something to bring.
Here how I freeze cookie dough:
STEP 1: Make the cookie dough. Now this works best with cookie that needs to be scooped out and baked. It can work with, say, shortbread but those are different directions all together.
STEP 2: Per the instructions, I transfer it to the fridge to chill for 1 hour. You can chill it for longer, it just gets tougher to scoop out the colder the dough gets. So I always say an hour is good. This will also depend on your recipe.
STEP 3: Scoop out balls of cookie dough. My favorite cookie scoop is this medium-sized ice cream/cookie scoop from OXO. It’s the perfect size. It measures about 1 1/2 tablespoons. It makes it super easy.
The edges of this cookie scoop are very sharp, so it easily cuts into cold cookie dough.
I place the scoops right onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and I place them super close together, though none of them are touching.
STEP 4: BAKE..OR FREEZE. If I’m baking the cookies, I’ll line another baking sheet with parchment paper and just transfer about 6 cookies to the tray and stick it in the oven. While those cookie are baking, I’ll usually transfer the cookies to the fridge, especially if it’s a hot day.
It makes the baking process much easier because once the cookies are done, I line another baking sheet and keep going. I reuse the parchment and baking sheet, I just allow it to cool a bit before adding the cookies to them.
In the second installment of….let’s go through my hard drive and find all the posts I haven’t posted, here is a summer-y pasta!!
Before we went to Japan, everyone warned us: THE JET LAG IS TUFF. I was scared. Will I be a walking zombie? Will I be able to enjoy my days? I assumed yes because I’ve been to Europe a few times and while I’m a little out of it and tired, I drink coffee and run off adrenaline because I’m on vacation and it’s fun!
When we got to Japan, I was a little tired. I ate some soba, walked around and then went to bed at 10pm and the next morning I woke up bright and early (I think 6am) and was totally fine.
I am back from my honeymoon!! YAY! I am so excited to share some photos with you all soon. Japan was incredible. Hawaii was fun. But like whenever I am coming home, I’m happy to be home. I have a broken computer still—the saga seems to be never-ending—but it should be fixed by the end of the week. I rented a laptop for the week from some place in Hollywood and I feel like a new woman with this computer. I can do anything!
Since I wasn’t able to post while I was gone—even tho I shot a bunch of content so this blog here wouldn’t go dark—I have a bunch of stuff that I want to share. Like a ton of recipes that are gonna come at you very quickly!
I love a vegetable noodle dish. Real, gluten-filled pasta is my fave, but sometimes I crave the flavor of those dishes and want to skip the heaviness. (And then again, sometimes I like the heaviness haha!)
One thing I use over and over is my KitchenAid Architect Stand Mixer with Vegetable Sheet Cutter attachment. I got both of these things from Macy’s (my architect stand-up mixer is my favorite). I’ve made different iterations of this same dish, swapping out zucchini for butternut squash and even eggplant—it’s so good. The classic version of this dish used zucchini. It’s delicious and cheesy and when you’re craving something lighter, this is the move.
For this post, I teamed up with Macy’s Wedding Registry where I’m recommending that these two items have a place on it. Yep, they truly deserve a spot. As you probably know by now, I use my KitchenAid Stand Mixer daily. I bake a lot, but really it’s not just for baking. I make plenty of other things in my KitchenAid, including lasagna!
Ahh! Hi! I feel like I’ve been gone for forever but really I’ve just been living my life in Hawaii. You see, last weekend I took a flight to Hawaii, fell asleep on the flight and lifted my tray to move it without realizing my computer was on it. The computer fell to the ground pretty hard but I really thought nothing of it…until I tried to turn it on at the hotel to put up a blog post—that I so diligently wrote up on the plane—only to find out the computer didn’t want to turn on.
Anyway, there was a trip to the computer store in town and apparently it’s the display blah blah. Long boring story short: I can’t get it fixed until I get home. I did want to share with you some fun things to make in the month of June because while fall will forever be my favorite, summer is fun too! Here are some of my favorites. You can follow my adventures on the Instagram.
Copycat Shake Shack Burgers – I am one of the view Los Angeles people who likes Shake Shack more than In-n-Out. Making them at home is an A+++ move.
Gluten-Free Coconut Strawberry Tart – This tart is SO ridiculously easy and delicious. The tart shell is gluten-free and the filling is simply a can of cold coconut milk with strawberries and raspberries. So simple and delicious.
Copycat Sweetgreen Caesar Salad – I am a basic human who loves salad, specifically Sweetgreen salads. My favorite on their menu is this caesar salad. I now live very far from them so instead of buying them, I have to make them!
A Week of Salads – Speaking of salads…if you’re in the mood for a lot of salads, I made a whole post of a bunch of combinations that I love. They’re not really recipes but just combinations.
Blueberry Lime Poppy Seed Cake – It’s like pound cake meets summer at its finest. There are poppy seeds all throughout this cake with lots of lime zest for some zing and blueberries. It has a creme fraiche icing that is just out of this world!
Elote Pasta Salad – I am on team pasta salad. I LOVE PASTA SALAD. I think it’s the easiest thing to bring to a get together or summer party. And it’s delicious.
Summer Berry Pie – The thing that everyone wants to eat in the summer: pie. This is a classic. Just mixed berries and the right ratios of sugar and lemon juice.
Black Sesame Coconut Popsicles – Billy has this thing called “Popsicle Week” and it’s my favorite week in the blog world because everyone makes popsicles. It’s simple! These are a favorite of mine from a few years ago.
Charred Corn and Poblano Pepper Queso Fundido – This recipe is something I ate a few times in the winter and I used frozen corn. BUT, now it’s (almost) summer and corn is available so I say let’s make it again.
Bacon Western Cheeseburger Sliders – These are so cute and so delicious. I love sliders because I can eat more of them and feel less guilty!
As you guys know, we recently moved into a new home and while the kitchen is all done and in tip-top shape, we still have SO much to do. The den is completely empty (great for dance parties tho!) and the dining room needs some love. Besides creating a cozy room to watch movies, the other area in the house that I’m super excited about is the backyard.
We can’t wait to spend this summer grilling and hanging out with friends. The backyard is actually quite pretty as is, so all it really needs is a few accessories. We’re excited to deck it out with some cool grilling stuff. So that’s why I was super excited when I was invited to a Home Depot event called Garden to Grill. The event was showing off all of the pretty items that The Home Depot has that can make your outdoor space beautiful.
The event was super cute. It was at The Lombardi House and the gardening part included a DIY herb box that I barely was able to make. Luckily my friend Billy was with me and he used to build bird feeders with his dad so he’s handy. It now sits in my backyard and I can’t wait to walk outside and pick some chocolate mint from it.
We also toured some grilling items by Charcoal Companion like this really pretty Himalayan Salt Plate that you can use to cook items on it on the grill OR just simply use it as a cheese board. I also love this Pitt Mitt, which makes it easy to grill and protect your hands.
There were grills both of which I have my eye on. First was this really pretty and affordable stainless steel grill from Nexgrill. And you know I love KitchenAid, this red one is gorgeous, though I do have my eye on the black one to match my kitchen range. Both of these grills are exclusive to The Home Depot!
Are you guys excited about grilling season? I can’t wait to make burgers on the grill and hang out underneath the hanging lights we just put up!
(This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. Thanks for supporting the sponsors that keep A Cozy Kitchen cozy.)
As you know, summer is usually a slow burn for me. It takes me a bit of time to welcome the unrelenting heat and mosquitos. I’m more of a winter person, you know this. But this summer I’m excited. I’m excited about outside BBQs and cubing up watermelon and maybe jumping in a pool. Summer is weeks away but we all know that Memorial Day is the unofficial kicking off point for summer.
For this post, I teamed up with ALDI, where you should go for all your summer food needs. They have everything from fresh meats to BBQ and fresh organic produce for pies. It’s a one-stop shop for summer!
I’ve been wanting to make hot chicken, but in slider-form for a while now, so I figured what better time than now to unofficially kick off summer.
My favorite part about this recipe is that it doesn’t require a fryer or a big pot of oil. This is in the oven, baked, the whole time. I know we’re not fans of lots of oil so this one is pretty simple.
This might sound totally ridiculous because literally I do not know her and she’s going to be like a Duchess or whatever BUT I kinda feel badly for Meghan Markle. I can’t be the only one!!
Are you planning on watching the Royal Wedding? I know a lot of British people think Americans are so weird for being obsessed with their royals but we are. And I have to be honest, I definitely pay attention–I think it’s kinda fascinating.
Have you heard of procrastibaking? It’s a new term coined by the New York Times. Honestly, I feel like I invented it. I feel like I made a whole career from procrastibaking. That’s what made me start this blog! I WAS RUNNING AWAY FROM MY JOB!
If you work from home, you really can spend your days procrastibaking. I mean that’s probably what the majority of you are doing right now anyway…I’m a way for you to avoid work. Lol.
Consider me flattered!
This recipes comes from my love of those childhood cartons of pink milk at the cafeteria. Honestly, my mom always made my lunch so I wasn’t really allowed to eat at the cafeteria. I had Capri-Suns anyway so I rarely was able to drink strawberry milk. VERY SAD!
But this is a love letter to strawberry milk because it’s so good. And when we made it for this, we still thought it was fantastic and dreamy.
