It’s summertime. Go ahead, you know you want to start singing… “summertiiiiiiime and the livin’s easy…” So Jeff and I have friends. I know. The rumor is true. There are people out there that are actually willing to hang out with us other than our moms and our cat. And those friends are pretty stinkin’...
If this recipe ain’t fancy schmancy, I don’t know what is. I mean, it’s potato salad for Pete’s sake. Potato salad! How in the world does a bunch of potatoes, mustard, and mayonnaise get fancy? Well, just nix the good ‘ol mustard and mayo and add balsamic and feta. That’s how. Plus a bunch of...
As I mentioned last week with my Cheese Flautas recipe, I summed up the courage to make two Recipe Sunday dishes for the same meal, and much to my relief, it actually worked! Yay! So take a stab at the Cheese Flautas and throw together this yummy salad for the perfect summer dinner! Yum! This...
So I’m a big fat liar. These are not Cheese Flautas with Cilantro Pesto. When I went out to my little glorified herb garden to make this recipe the other day, I noticed that Mr. Cilantro had outgrown itself. The poor little over-achiever had grown so big that he had big dead brown chunks all...
Alrighty folks, nothing gets more simple or more tasty than this little gem of a recipe here. Even with taking pictures, this only took me a grand total of fifteen minutes to prepare. That, my folks, is well worth the kitchen hall of fame status you’ll get when you put this on the table for...
Welp, for most people in this country it’s summer time. The weather is hot, the skies are blue, and the days are long. But for those of us stuck in the middle of a bad year of San Diego’s June Gloom, the weather is still cold, the skies are yucky gray, and the sun sets...
Eh-Hem. Before we get started I would like to make a very important announcement: Jeff is coming home today!!! Woohoo!!! Before my dear sweet hubby makes his way back to Casa de Youngren, however, I have a very special Recipe Sunday for everyone today. While hangin’ out with the adorable Shannon at her place in...
This, my friends, is me. Yup, I’m double-fisting a spicy hot dog and a cheese pretzel. Hey, I’m on vacation people. I can hear you judging. Or is that drooling? So what is this week’s Recipe Sunday all about? Well, it’s about eating. Which just so happens to be what I’M all about. Eating yummy,...
Today’s fantastic Recipe Sunday feature just so happens to be my dear hubby’s famous chili recipe. And when I say “famous,” I mean this chili is so famous it can wear sunglasses inside and have it’s assistant sign it’s autograph for you. It’s fame-OUS. In fact, when we started dating, Jeff made two recipes for...
What’s the best thing to have around when you yourself are a klutz in the kitchen and can’t cook anything worth beans? Friends that can cook! This week’s Recipe Sunday is coming all the way from Chicago, IL, where the master of breakfast dishes is returning with yet another recipe for us. Ryan (of Ryan...
Roasted Tomatoes on Rustic Bread… that’s what this recipe is SUPPOSED to be. But let’s be honest – this recipe is really more along the lines of “Tomatoes I had in the fridge on leftover Rosemary Potato Bread.” But that’s the beauty of cooking in your own kitchen. Only you know the secrets behind your...
Happy Sunday morning everyone! As you read this post, Jeff and I are taking off with suitcases in tow once more. We’ll be in the Cayman Islands this entire week, but this will be a very different job than our weddings and couples. Jeff and I are long time members of our church, The Rock,...
The next few weeks on Recipe Sunday are going to be all about simplicity. We’re in full swing with our weddings this year, so the Casa de Youngren machine is running at full speed ahead, and everything we do around here has to be simple. No bottlenecks or complicated maneuvers around these parts. Just plain,...
I’m finally going for it… I’m gonna try to be like Martha. I’ll admit that even though I love my Martha Stewart Living magazines like they are little messages sent from the everything-cute-and-stylish-and-yummy-gods, sometimes the folks behind the recipe section forget that its people like me that are reading their magazine. I mean, why would...
In my heart of hearts, I wish I was a chef. Not professionally, but I wish I was one of those people that could whip up a masterpiece dinner with nothing but a chicken breast, some olive oil, and a rusty stove. But I’m not. I’m not one of those people that have gone to...
I had never eaten Thai food before I went to Thailand, and I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know if the flavors were spicy or cheesy or if they used noodles or rice or pasta or tortillas. Really, its completely sad how little I knew. I had heard about this thing called...
Welcome back to the kitchen and the second installment of Khmer cooking with The Youngrens. I hope you enjoyed the trip to the Cambodian market yesterday, smells and everything! Last week, we featured Jeff’s appetizer of Khmer Spring Rolls, so this week its my turn to show off my crazy appetizer-making-skilz with a little something...
Last week, I featured the spring rolls that Jeff and I made at our cooking class in Cambodia for Recipe Sunday, but that was only one of five dishes that we made during the whole afternoon class, and that doesn’t include the best part of the whole experience – a trip to the local market!...
Its BAAAAA-AAAACK! After a *brief* hiatus, Recipe Sunday is back in full swing here on the bloggy blog, and I’ve got such a crazy assortment of recipes in the bag. You may have heard through Twitter and Facebook that Jeff and I took cooking classes on our trips to Cambodia and Thailand, and the rumor...
It was one of those magical bathtub finds. I sat curled up in our tiny bathtub underneath a mountain of vanilla scented bubbles, my hair was pulled back, a glass of wine sat at my fingertips, and I ripped page after page out of my favorite magazines for design/makeup/fashion/life inspiration. And there it was –...
Before we left for Singapore for two months, I spent three days cooking some of my favorite recipes for Recipe Sunday. The kitchen was a disaster, Jeff was delighted, and our dinner guests loved us. So over the next few weeks I’ll be featuring some recipes from my own cooking, but I’m hoping to somehow...
Today I am being a little lame. I’m going to admit it. Although I’m sure you already knew it. I’m lame. And this is what I do on nights when I’m too lame to make anything that requires effort. Effort is not my favorite thing in the whole world. In fact, effort and I have...
Bread and pies. That’s my job. As you’ve heard, I am in charge of those two things at every holiday dinner with my family – baking the pies and making the rolls. While pies weren’t as tough to get the hang of, the bread part took a little bit more time to master. And by...
Jeff and I spent three days in Connecticut this past week and a miraculous thing happened – it was cold! I had to contain my excitement for the winter weather underneath my enormous scarf and brand new peacoat that shielded me from the 27 degrees of winter air, but I was doing backflips underneath my...
This is the easiest thing I’ve ever made in my life. It has less ingredients than a PB&J (if you count milk and the sticky mouth syndrome as essential ingredients of a PB&J like I do). Its easier than Mac ‘n Cheese, they’re cuter than my kitty Gracie and sweeter than the sale rack at...
They’re fluffy, they’re Christmas-y, and they’re easy – which means they are right up my alley! As Jeff and I were walking out to the car after our family portrait session with the Eastmans, Lindsey Eastman came running out to us with a fresh plate of pumpkin cookies along with their family recipe – you...
What always seems to be better than Thanksgiving dinner? Why the leftovers of course! Not only does turkey and gravy taste even yummier re-heated the next day, but my mom’s turkey stew always hit the spot on those cold post-Thanksgiving evenings. Growing up, I watched my mom put together the most creative concoctions with leftover...
Yesterday, we featured the engagement session of Chelsea and Ryan, but not only did Chels and Ryan bring their beautiful selves from Chicago, but Ryan brought the mother of all french toast recipes with him. When he first described what goes into this I-think-I’m-gonna-die-from-flavor-explosion breakfast, I think I drooled a little. I’d like to say...
I can’t believe I am about to admit this, but Jeff and I were late to our own dinner party this week. Yep, that’s right folks. We were ten minutes late getting to our very own house to have dinner with some of our good friends, Megan and Bronson, who were patiently waiting at our...
Happy Sunday morning everyone! Yesterday was a day of rest for Casa de Youngren, evidenced by the fact that I didn’t get out of my pj’s until 7:00pm. And even then, I only changed into my fancy sweats… It was wonderful to catch up on sleep, e-mails, blog reading, and The Office all in one...
I don’t have very many home-grown meals in my recipe book. As in, I don’t have very many dishes that I have crafted and developed myself, and that actually taste good every time I make it! My kitchen arsenal mostly consists of what happens to be in my fridge, what kind of seasonings I feel...
As I write this, we are finishing up our pre-wedding prep for our last wedding of the year! Erin and Blair are getting married in the heart of Laguna Beach, and its going to be a gorgeous day. I can’t believe how fast 2009 has flown by. We’ve had so many amazing couples this year...
After my failed experiment with whole wheat cranberry scones the other day, I made a second batch a few days later and followed the scone recipe exactly. Fortunately, they turned out perfect, but it just so happened to be the night of Jeff’s guys bible study at our house, and they ate all of the...
Yes, the fall bug has officially hit the Youngren household. Ok, maybe not the entire household – just me. And maybe Gracie, but there’s really no way to know for sure since she can’t talk and all. I mean, she’s a cat. She has no idea what fall is. All she knows is that I...
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