I can remember the first time I ever tried shellfish. My grandma always bought the holiday platters with shrimp and cocktail sauce to serve at our family gathering on Christmas Eve. In my childhood curiosity I wanted to try one so badly, but I was nervous because my dad was allergic to all forms of fish. Eventually my grandma and mom convinced me that I would be okay. The first taste was not a success. I HATED the cocktail sauce, and I still do to this day, but luckily my mom convinced me to try another one without the sauce, and I realized how delicious shrimp is. The rest is history. I now buy shellfish at every opportunity I get, whether that’s at a restaurant or buying it fresh to cook up myself. I’m fortunate enough that in the summer seafood trucks will drive up to my hometown and sell their frozen catches that they made down South. I usually stock up with six months worth of shrimp so that I can get by for a while before being forced to buy shrimp from the grocery store instead. 

Throughout the years of trying different kinds of shrimp, I have discovered that I like it best with hot sauce and garlic for flavor, which led to the development of my Garlicky Grilled Shrimp. Be warned ahead of time, as the title suggests, this dish is full of garlic flavors. In all my other recipes I try to chill on the garlic flavors for Cole, but since he doesn’t eat shrimp, this recipe is catered directly to my own taste buds, and I LOVE garlic. Feel free to cut the garlic down if you only LIKE garlic and don’t LOVE it like I do. 

*This recipe makes enough for one person to have it as a meal or two people to have it as an appetizer course.

*Special Tools Needed* Kabob Skewers – either wooden or metal can be used – if using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water for at least 4-6 hours before grilling to ensure that they stay intact when put on the hot and flaming grill.

Ingredients

Shrimp Marinade

8 Medium Shrimp (about 6 oz)

3 oz Olive Oil

2 tsp Crystal’s Hot Sauce (Tabasco can be substituted in)

½ tsp Minced Garlic

¼ tsp Dried Onion Flakes

1 tsp Lemon Pepper

Garlic Butter

1 ½ tbsp Butter

½ tsp Minced Garlic

5 drops Crystals Hot Sauce (Tabasco can be substituted in)

⅛ tsp Dried Dill

Directions

1. Many times shrimp will be cleaned by the seller, but if it has not been, then it will need to be deveined before any other steps can happen. If you do not own one yet, Amazon sells a nice Shrimp Cleaner like the one pictured below. This tool can be pushed through the upper middle section of the shrimp to remove both the shell and the vein. Sometimes a small portion of the vein will be left behind after this process, but the tool provides access to it so that it can be easily picked out. Rinse the shrimp off and pat them dry after removing the veins and shells.

2. Mix together all of the ingredients of the shrimp marinade. Cover the shrimp in the sauce and refrigerate for 20 minutes to let the flavors seep in. 

3. Heat the grill to about 400 – 425 degrees, and push the shrimp onto the skewers, about 4 shrimp per skewer. 

4. Place the shrimp on the grill in a spot where it will get indirect heat. If using a gas grill this will be the top shelf. If using a charcoal grill this will be placed closer to the edges. Cook on each side for 4 minutes only. 

5. While the shrimp is cooking, melt the butter and mix in the minced garlic, hot sauce, and dried dill. 

6. When the shrimp is taken off the grill, remove them from their skewers and pour the garlic butter over the top of them to finish them off. 

Kitchen Tip: If you are trying to eat healthy, the garlic butter drizzle can be skipped in this recipe. The shrimp is also delicious with just the marinade. The butter simply adds something a little extra to it. 

This recipe is perfect for all seafood and garlic lovers. My favorite part about it is that it only takes 8 minutes to cook! I personally like to use this as a main course, and I serve it with a side of my Parmesan Crusted Asparagus. These two dishes pair together really well and make for a nice, light, summer meal. 

Sometimes I think that snack foods and appetizers are the best of all the food courses, and among all the many options in this food category, guacamole consistently comes out on top. Maybe it’s because it can be eaten with a little less guilt. Avocados are notoriously known as a super healthy food, so the fact that they are the main ingredient in guacamole makes one feel less guilt as they dip chip after chip into it. Of course, the chips stray away from the goal of a healthy snack, but guacamole still remains a healthier option in comparison to a lot of appetizer choices. 

Even though the salty nature of chips detracts a bit from the healthy theme that avocados bring to the table, I do try to keep my guacamole as heart-healthy as possible by limiting the sodium content. My recipe only contains ¼ tsp of salt, and I lean on other spices to bring in the flavors. I also recommend adding in the salt last. That way a taste test can be done before putting adding it. It’s very possible that you could be satisfied with the bold flavors brought in by the other ingredients without adding in the salt. 

Two other steps that I take to separate my guacamole out from the rest are in the consistency of the dip and the amount of cilantro used. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of chunky guacamole. Some people put large pieces of tomato or a lot of onion into the dish. I choose to use dried onion flakes instead of fresh onion, and I opt to use canned fire roasted tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. While I usually prefer to use pure ingredients that are fresh from the market, using the fire roasted tomatoes helps to smooth out the consistency of the guacamole, and they bring in extra flavor. 

The other distinguishing factor in my guacamole is the small amount of cilantro used. Cilantro is considered a “key” ingredient in this dish, but it is also one of those ingredients that some people absolutely loath. It is either loved or hated, there is no in-between for this flavor profile. For this reason, I limit my cilantro usage to only 1 tsp, and choose to rely on spicier flavors to overwhelm the small taste brought in by the cilantro. 

Ingredients

3 Avocados

2 tbsp Lime Juice

3 tbsp Chopped Jalapeno Pepper

1/2 tsp Dried Onion Flakes

1 tsp Minced Garlic

½ cup Canned Fire Roasted Tomatoes (strained)

¾ tsp Cumin

¼ tsp Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Cilantro

¼ tsp Salt

Directions

1. I like to start making my guacamole by prepping all of my fresh ingredients first. This means chopping up jalapeno. To get the smoothest consistency, I try to chop this up as small as possible. Some people like chunks in their guacamole, but if you are like me, and prefer a smooth and creamy chip dip, these small pieces will help to keep the smooth texture in the end. It is also important to chop the jalapeno up small because it is a very spicy pepper. If the pieces are too big it can lead to an offensive bite when someone gets a chip with a large chunk of pepper on it. 

2. After the jalapeno has been chopped up it is time to tackle the avocados. 

Kitchen Tip – Cutting Avocados: Avocados can be deconstructed and mashed down very easily if a certain process is followed when cutting them up. First, cut the avocado lengthwise until the knife meets the pit in the center. Once the knife has met the pit you can simply turn the avocado in a complete 360 degrees to finish cutting it in half. Remove the knife, and you should be able to twist the avocado in half to break it apart. 

After the avocado has been split in half, the pit needs to be removed. This can be done by slapping the knife down directly into it as seen in the picture below. When the knife is embedded in the pit you can twist it clockwise and lift up. The pit should come up attached to the knife. You can remove the pit from the knife by hitting the pit against the side of the sink. As long as you haven’t gone overboard when slapping your knife down into the pit, it should remove itself easily from the tool. 

When the pits have been removed you are going to take the knife and cut all the way down into the skin in a grid-like fashion as seen in the picture below. After the deep grid cuts have been made, a spoon can be used to scoop out the chunks of avocado into a bowl. By chopping the avocados up in this grid it makes the pieces of avocado small already, and then they are easier to mash up. 

3. Once the avocados have been deconstructed you get to mash them. Before mashing them, add in your lime juice though. By adding in the juice it makes the avocado pieces softer to mash up. I like to completely mash up the avocado, leaving very little chunks in it, but if you prefer your guacamole to be less smooth and more textured, feel free to stop mashing sooner.

4. After the avocado and lime juice are mashed and combined, add in the jalapeno, dried onion flakes, and garlic. Stir until they are combined. Next, use a slotted spoon to scoop out ½ cup of fire roasted tomatoes. It is very important to use a slotted spoon for this job otherwise too much juice will be in the guacamole, and then it will get liquidy. A smooth texture is good, but guacamole should never be liquidy. 

5. Once all of the vegetables have been combined, the last step is to add in the seasonings. As I mentioned before, I like to add in all of the other ingredients before adding in the salt. Sometimes if a jalapeno pepper is an especially strong one, or if the avocados are on the smaller side, the other flavors are sufficient without adding in the salt. However, if you are not satisfied after a quick taste test, add in the salt. Then your guacamole is complete!

Guacamole is best when given at least half an hour to set, and it is usually served on the cooler side. I highly recommend resisting the temptation to snack right away. The flavors will taste even better if you give your guacamole some time in the fridge before eating it. 

Kitchen Tip – Storing Avocado Dishes: It’s possible that you’ve noticed in the past that when you store avocados, or dishes that have avocados as a main ingredient, it turns brown after a while. This brown tinting cannot be completely avoided, but can be lessened by taking care when storing it. Avocados do this when they meet oxygen, so the simplest solution is to avoid as much oxygen as possible. I do this by taking plastic wrap and pressing it directly into the guacamole instead of spreading it over the top of the bowl. The guacamole will still turn a little bit, but this process does help to give some relief. A quick stir covers up any tinting that may have occurred during storage.

I have three favorite kinds of cake: chocolate, red velvet, and strawberry. It doesn’t matter what every traditional recipe calls for, in my mind, all three of these cakes need one thing to make them perfect – chocolate frosting, more specifically, dark chocolate frosting. When I first started baking cakes, frosting was something that I really struggled to make. In fact, after a couple of failed attempts, I flat out gave up and started buying pre-made frosting from the store. However, if you have been following my blog for a while, you know how I feel about processed pre-made foods, so after talking to both my mom and Cole’s mom, I started experimenting with the process more. 

Cole’s mom makes the best sugar cookies ever, and I was able to master her cookie frosting recipe, but I wanted a slightly thicker frosting for cake. After enough times of making the cookie frosting, I was able to observe the techniques and figure out how to combine them with my mom’s chocolate frosting recipe. This still took some trial and error, but after a couple of adjustments in ingredient amounts, I finally had a buttercream frosting that was exactly the consistency I was looking for. Personally, I prefer to have a larger cake to frosting ratio, so I use this recipe to frost 24 cupcakes, but if you like a lot of frosting on your cake, you may want to make a batch and a half instead for 24 cupcakes.

Ingredients

½ cup Softened Butter

1 ½ tsp Vanilla 

2 cups Powdered Sugar

⅓ cup Special Dark Cocoa Powder

¼ cup Whole Milk

Directions

Kitchen Tip: To reach the right consistency of frosting, the trick is to have EXTRA soft butter. I like it right in that stage where melted butter is starting to pool from the stick a little bit, but yet isn’t terribly melty either. To achieve this texture, I like to make frosting about an hour and a half after shutting the oven and taking the cupcakes out. During this time span, the oven will have cooled off a bit, but will still be decently warm. I place the stick on an oven safe dish, pop it in the turned off oven for half an hour, leaving the door open a small crack, then I check it every 15 minutes until the butter has reached the extra soft/semi-melty stage. Usually this only takes half an hour. 

1. Beat the softened butter with vanilla in a large bowl. 

2. Add in the powdered sugar and dark cocoa powder and continue to beat. This will still be fairly clumpy without the milk.

3. Add in the milk, and beat on high until the frosting is a smooth consistency, and the lumps of powdered sugar have disappeared. 

That’s all there is to it! Three steps to a delicious chocolatey frosting that is sure to compliment all of your favorite cakes. To make your cake a little extra special, feel free to top with sprinkles, chopped nuts, or chocolate chips. Enjoy!

Tips for Spice Organization When you enjoy cooking, you quickly accumulate a large collection of spices and seasonings. You don’t even realize how fast it happens either, until one day you open up your cabinet to grab the parsley and have to struggle to find it because it’s buried amongst so many other little bottles. Continue reading “What’s in Your Spice Cabinet?”

Throughout our first year of marriage, Cole and I ate a lot of pasta. We were still in college and each of us was only working ten hours per week while we completed our student teaching and internships. This meant that groceries were on a tight budget, and of course time was tight too. OnceContinue reading “Not-So-Spicy Buffalo Meatballs”

Mexican cuisine is one of my absolute favorites, and no matter which restaurant I’ve been to, it has never failed that the beans were one of the best parts of the dish. However, whether I was making tacos, fajitas, or enchiladas in my own kitchen I always found the bean portion to be disappointing. ThereContinue reading “Frijoles”

This recipe takes me straight back to the tiny galley kitchen in the first apartment that my husband and I shared. We were still in college, and the only good things about the apartment were that it was near the walking trails and had a beautiful view of the Eau Claire River. Everything else wasContinue reading “Dill Pickle Chip Dip”

Casserole or hot dish? Regardless of what you call it, the best part of this meal is usually the crunchy topping that covers everything. But what does that topping consist of and does it always have to stay the same? The answer, quite simply, is you need an ingredient with a crunch and some butterContinue reading “Crunchy Casserole Topping”

Potato salad is such an interesting dish. When you think about potatoes normally the first images that would come to mind would be some sort of hot potato dish: mashed potatoes, loaded baked potatoes, twice baked potatoes, etc. All of these are items that need to be eaten warm, but then you have potato salad.Continue reading “Deviled Egg Potato Salad”

I was in first grade the first time I ever tried a buffalo chicken wing. I remember this clearly because it was the same year that I joined the YMCA swim team. The decision for both my sister and I to compete on the swim team meant many long hours at the Y after school.Continue reading “Honey Buffalo Slow Cooker Wings”

Memorial Day Weekend is approaching, and along with it comes summer, the season of celebrating both college and high school graduations, and weddings galore. While the summer of 2020 may look a little different in terms of large gatherings, one thing remains the same, graduates deserve to be congratulated. If this were a normal schoolContinue reading “Cookbooks – The Perfect Gift”

I’m so excited to share this week’s recipe, because this has become something that we enjoy so much that I now make a batch once per week. I am not a salad type of person. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy a nice salad before the main course, but a salad does equal aContinue reading “Italian Herb and Cheese Buns”

One of the foods that I like to cook with quite frequently is peppers. Usually this is either red bell peppers or jalapenos, but it can vary depending on the recipe. To me, the frustrating part has always been that peppers of any kind don’t have a very long shelf life. This is especially aContinue reading “Flash Freezing – Preserving Peppers”

*This recipe is intended for a gas grill that has more than one shelf*

I have enjoyed cooking my entire life, but my interest began to peak when I entered high school. This was when I discovered the art of grilling. My mom received her breast cancer diagnosis when I was a freshman in high school. This meant that suddenly my dad and I were responsible for the majority of meals cooked since my mom was too sick from her treatments. My dad was perfectly adept in the kitchen, but overall he preferred to use the grill, and I asked him to teach me how to use it. Since my dad worked shift work, I would have to cook dinner on my own during this time too. As a typical teenager, I hated doing the dishes. Grilling offered a certain advantage – it didn’t get pots and pans dirty, and a lot of grilled food could easily be served on a paper plate. 

Even though my grilling experience started from a negative life event, it has grown into one of my absolute cooking techniques. Now, I cannot say that I am a true Wisconsinite that grills all year round. Honestly, I put the protective cover on mine in November, and it typically stays that way until late March. Could I grill in -20 degree weather? Absolutely. Do I choose to? No way. Not when I also love a steaming soup boiling on the stove. Despite not using my grill in the winter months, I still make sure it gets plenty of love the rest of the year. 

While poultry is our main source of protein that we eat, I’ve only recently begun to use the grill to cook it up. I used to reserve the grill for steaks, brats, shrimp, and the occasional porkchop. Lately I’ve been looking for ways to branch out when I cook chicken though, and when the weather allows it, I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting on the grill. 

During the process of my experimentations, I kept reaching a point of struggle. I would make up various types of supposedly delicious rubs, but then, when I would go to cook them, the rub would completely char to a point where I couldn’t even taste the flavor that was supposed to be there. I started to do some research, and was greatly disappointed by the bulk of my results. Many blogs and cooking websites were saying that the rubs I wanted to try were not intended for the grill, but for smoking low and slow instead. The reason behind this was that the rubs I was using contained brown sugar, which burns very easily at semi-high temperatures. 

I was frustrated. I didn’t own a smoker, and I felt like there should definitely be a way to cook up these recipes on my gas grill. Despite the research warning me it wouldn’t, I became determined to figure out a way to make this work, and after numerous times of trial and error I have finally found a technique that fixes the charring issue. When I first started this experimentation I was interested in using drumsticks, but I will provide tips for cooking up chicken breasts and wings at the bottom of the recipe too!

Ingredients

1 lb Chicken Drumsticks

Spice Rub of Choice (I usually use Jamaican Jerk or Cajun)

Olive Oil

Directions – Drumsticks

1. The first step to take when grilling drumsticks is to bring them to room temperature. They grill up more easily if they have not come directly out of the refrigerator. Obviously, it is not overly healthy to keep raw chicken sitting out on the counter for a duration of time, so I like to do this by creating a hot water bath. I fill my sink with a couple of inches of hot water, put the drumsticks in a seal-able bag, and let them soak for at least 15 minutes. This process warms the meat up a little bit without having to leave it out and exposed. 

2. After the meat has been brought to room temperature it is time to put the rub on. My personal preferences are either a Jamaican Jerk rub or a Cajun Rub, but many other delicious options can be found in grilling cookbooks.

When it comes to putting the rub on the chicken, I don’t have an exact amount that I use in my technique. I know this can be frustrating to hear. Ambiguous recipes can be challenging to follow, but when it comes to something like a spiced rub, it really is a matter of preference. Some people prefer their foods to be filled with flavors, and other people prefer the natural flavor of the meat and lean toward less spice. Personally, I shake the rub out so that it coats my entire cut of meat, and then I rub it into the skin. You can see from the picture below that my chicken has been coated pretty generously. 

3. After the chicken has been prepped, it is time to turn your attention to the grill. This next part is crucially important. You want to heat your grill up so that the temperature is hovering around the 400 degree mark. It is okay if you are not exactly there, but you do not want the gauge to dip lower than 350 or higher than 450. The goal is to keep it in the sweet spot in between those two numbers. 

4. Once the grill has come up to temperature you are going to oil it. You only need to oil the top shelf of your grill, because the bottom one will not be used. Oiling the grill is an easy process – simply use a silicone basting brush to apply olive oil to the bars the chicken will sit on. Try to avoid dripping too much oil into the flames though or large flames will flare up. This is part of the reason that I like to use an infrared grill. The grate on an infrared grill prevents flare ups entirely.

Kitchen Tip: Out of all the experimenting I have done to figure out how to grill a spice rub chicken without charring it to death, the shelf placement has proven the most helpful. The charring of the spices is directly correlated to the amount of heat it is exposed to. In grilling terms this is considered the difference between direct heat exposure and indirect heat. By using the top shelf of the grill you are keeping them further away from the flames to prevent the charring that detracts from the flavor of the rub. 

5. When the drumsticks are on the grill they need to be flipped every 7 minutes for a total cooking time of 35 minutes. By flipping them so many times you are, once again, working to prevent the charring of the rub. When the rub is continuously touching the hot metal for long periods of time it is more likely to burn, but by flipping the chicken frequently you are allowing it to cook without charring. 

6. The final step of grilling the chicken is to turn the grill up to a high temperature during the last three minutes of the cooking process. By increasing the heat during the last minutes of cooking this allows the meat to get a deliciously crispy exterior while holding the juiciness of the meat inside. Because the heat is increased for only a short period of time, it also still keeps any of your rub from burning. 

Even though many cooks warn against using sugar in rubs, I have found that by using indirect heat, oiling the grill, and flipping the meat frequently, charring can be prevented, even with a Jamaican Jerk seasoning. This says a lot considering there is a sizable amount of brown sugar in a Jerk Rub. Good luck, and happy grilling!

Directions – Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Because my husband is not a fan of having bones in his meat, I have also had to experiment grilling up chicken breasts when I grill drumsticks for myself. The process is pretty similar, but there are a couple of small steps that need to be taken.

• Since this is a skinless cut of meat, about two tablespoons of olive oil need to be poured directly into the bag before soaking the chicken in the hot water bath. This oiling provides two distinct advantages: First, it helps to keep the chicken juicier when it is cooking, and secondly, since the chicken doesn’t have skin for the rub to stick to, the oil helps the rub stick to the meat.

• Since this is a boneless cut of meat, it doesn’t take as long to cook, unless you have a breast that is over 8 ounces in size, then you may still want to grill it for the same duration as the drumsticks. However, if your chicken breast is 8 ounces or less, it should only need 28 minutes to cook instead of 35. You will still flip it every 7 minutes, just like the drumsticks though. 

Every other technique is kept the same for chicken breasts as it would be for the original drumstick recipe. 

Directions – Chicken Wings

Chicken wings are one of my favorite cuts of poultry, but they provide a bit more prep work to cut the drumettes and flats apart. For this reason I usually prefer to make drumsticks on a more regular basis, but have provided instructions for wings below. Overall, it is about the same as cooking the drumsticks, just with a different cooking time, and this one gets to cook on the bottom shelf of the grill instead of the top. Moving it to a section that has more direct heat allows the skin of the wing to become less chewy and more crispy. Since the wing skin is thicker than other chicken skin, it needs a more direct approach to form crispiness. 

• Since chicken wings are a much smaller cut of meat, they take much less time to cook than a drumstick does. They also need to be flipped a little bit sooner because they seem to char more easily. I grill chicken wings for a total of 20 minutes and flip them every 5 minutes. 

Like this recipe? Check out some of my other grilling recipes listed below.

Tasty Turkey Burgers https://soupsonwithschallock.wordpress.com/2020/04/07/tasty-turkey-burgers/

Parmesan Garlic Oysters https://soupsonwithschallock.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/parmesan-garlic-oysters-shucked-and-grilled/

Okay, I’m going to start out this blog post by saying that I am by no means an expert on this topic. I am simply a person that loves to cook, who wants my dream kitchen. However, I am also a very frugal person, so I know that I will never be able to justify the expense that a full scale kitchen remodel demands. Luckily, I have a dad that is very handy, and both he and I spend many hours researching, reading blogs, handyman magazines, etc to figure out how to best be able to complete a job. 

I’m not going to lie, this was not an easy project. Over the course of home ownership I have removed yards of wallpaper, repainted all the walls, and had my dad’s help to put up my own kitchen backsplash. In comparison to all of those jobs, this one was probably the most demanding; however, now that it’s done, I’m glad that I did it, and I’m very happy that I was able to do it for a fraction of the cost of what replacing all the cabinetry would have been. Again, I’m a very frugal person. 

Over the course of this post I’m going to go over the details of what I did to make this project happen, and add in my suggestions for things I would do differently if I were to do it again. 

Stage 1 – Cabinet Door Removal and Cleaning

1. To start the project off, all of the cabinet doors had to be removed, the drawer faces had to be taken off, and all of the hardware had to be taken off. It was really important to have a system of organization during this project. After the doors and drawer faces are taken off it can be very easy to forget which door belongs where. To keep this organized, I took pictures of my kitchen prior to dismantling it. I then used the mark up tool on my phone to write a number on each door and drawer in the picture. As I removed each door and drawer, I took a piece of masking tape and set it on the floor next to where I was placing each door and drawer face, marking the tape with the correlating number in the picture. By assigning each door and drawer a number, this made drilling holes for handles, and putting the kitchen back together much easier. During this step, I would also recommend completely emptying all of the cabinets and drawers. I didn’t do that for my project and I regretted it later. 

Marked up photo on phone and labeled doors after being removed.

2. Once all of the cabinets were disassembled it was time to clean. We used TSP Substitute in a spray bottle. We got rags liberally damp with the TSP and rubbed it all over any of the surfaces that we planned on painting aka anything that was currently stained the honey oak color. After it was cleaned with the TSP, it had to be rinsed down with a wet rag. I would also recommend cleaning the interior of the cabinets at this time. While we didn’t paint any of the shelves, it was shocking to realize how much grime and dust  accumulates on them over time, and if you empty them out, this is a prime time to clean. 

Stage 2 – Sanding and Taping

1. Once the cabinets were clean and dry it was time to sand them. The purpose of sanding them is to remove old varnish so that the primer can stick better. Luckily, only the varnish needed to be removed, so the sanding was easier than it sounds. It didn’t need to be completely stripped down to the original wood. To accomplish this, we picked up Sanding Block Sponges from Sherwin Williams. For this first sanding process we used the 100 Medium Grit Sanding Sponges. This allowed the varnish to be removed without making the surface of the cabinets too rough. Any of the areas that were going to be painted needed to be sanded first. I would recommend wearing safety glasses and maybe a mask during this stage. I didn’t do either of these things, but my eyes were stinging and my lungs hurt from the dust in the air after doing this step. Safety first!!

2. After sanding, it was time to drill some pilot holes for our new cabinet hardware. We had never had handles or pulls on our kitchen doors or drawers so this was an essential step.It was important to make sure to measure carefully before drilling the hole so that we didn’t have any mistakes that needed to be filled with wood putty. (We did buy wood putty just in case though) We also bought a tool that helped this process move a lot faster called a Cabinet Door Alignment Template. This template had pre-made measurements that could be drilled through rather than measuring every time. We still had to make all of our own drawer measurements, but after a quick Google search, it does appear that they make templates that work for drawers too. (Totally wish I had realized this last weekend.)

I was originally unsure of how high or low the door pulls should go, but after doing some research, the general consensus from cabinet makers is that the lowest part of the handle should align with the edge of the framing of the door. See the picture below for reference. This ended up being the 3 inch marker on the Door Alignment Template for me. We made sure to cover all of the other holes on the template with tape so that we didn’t accidentally use the wrong hole ever. 

Cabinet Pull Placement Example

3. After the sanding and drilling of pilot holes was done, we used a Tack Cloth to wipe up any of the dust that was leftover on the surface. We actually did this step twice, first right after sanding, then we took a break for lunch, let the dust settle from the air, and went back a second time to pick up the rest that dropped out of the air during our break. Before our break, we also took that time to knock down the awful scalloped wood feature that was above our sink. Luckily, it was only secured by two nails on each side, so with some wiggling and jiggling this was fairly easy to loosen and pull out.

4. After all the dust was picked up, I used Frog Painter’s Tape to tape off any areas next to what I was going to be painting that I didn’t want to get paint on. This was a tedious process, but it was worth it in the end for a clean finish on all my edges. 

Side Note: There are many different brands of painter’s tape, and I have used a bunch of them throughout both my home projects, and projects I’ve done at the theater. This was my first time using the brand Frog Tape, and I don’t think I will ever use the other products ever again. This tape was clearly superior.

Stage 3 – Primer and Sanding

1. After everything had been prepped it was time to set up the doors and drawers for painting. I used three sets of horses and large plywood pieces to assemble makeshift tables in my basement that I wouldn’t mind getting paint on. I also laid a large drop cloth beneath the horses just in case. My dad bought Painter’s Tripods or Pyramids. These were a life saver, I wouldn’t do this project without them. About four mini tripods could be used on each door to lift it off the table. That way the edges of the doors could be painted more easily, and large drip run offs could be noticed, cleaned up, and avoided throughout the process. As we laid out each of the doors on our makeshift tables, we made sure to move the masking tape labels next to each door so that they were still numbered and categorized. My dad had also saved large cardboard boxes for this project, and we broke them down to lay across my countertops, oven, and floor so that any spills wouldn’t ruin surfaces that I can’t replace yet. 

Painter’s Tripods Painter’s Tripods lifting up cabinet doors for easier painting access.

2. After the surfaces had been prepped it was time to apply the first layer – the primer. I used a Multi-Purpose Latex Primer that was suitable for both Interior and Exterior projects. Even though there are special primers made for trim and wood, I was told by the people at the paint store that this is the primer they recommend if you are doing the work of sanding the varnish off ahead of time. They said the other special primer is only necessary if you aren’t following all the correct prep steps. This was a lucky break for me, because apparently there is a huge primer shortage right now, and the trim/wood primer wasn’t actually in stock or available to buy. I had 400 square feet to paint, and I went through about half a gallon of primer. I was surprised by how little I used, but the primer layer didn’t need to be super thick, just enough to cover all of the initial surfaces, so I didn’t need as much as I originally bought. 

Even though the primer layer didn’t need to be thick, it was very important to make sure that every part of the surface was covered. The primer helps the paint to stick, so I didn’t want to miss sections. 

We used two different types of tools for the painting process, and we bought numerous of each because we didn’t want to worry about cleaning the brushes and rollers in between each painting layer. We used mini rollers with Fine Finish High Density Foam Rollers for the faces and backs of the doors. These were incredibly helpful in making the surface look smooth, instead of using the traditional paint rollers that are made from polyester. We also used these rollers on each of the sides of the doors and drawers to give them a smooth and finished appearance. On all of the beveled decorative pieces on the frames of the cabinet doors we used 1 inch angled brushes. On the actual built-in cabinets themselves we used 2 inch angled brushes. But on the small areas such as interior lips of the cabinets next to the shelves we used a ½ inch detail brush.

We always started by painting the back sides of the doors and drawers before moving to the fronts. We made sure to wait at least 5 hours before flipping them and painting the fronts.

Side Note: We found it easiest to use the mini roller to do the edges of the cabinets, but one thing we had to be super cautious of was drips and heavy paint that liked to gather here. Since the edges of my cabinet doors and drawers are at a slant, the paint liked to gather here. We would go back and check our doors and drawers about five minutes after finishing each one. If paint had pooled, we would run dryish roller over it to avoid a clump from drying there. This gave the edges of the cabinet drawers and doors a smooth finish and helped us to avoid errors in the texture. 

2. After the primer had been applied to everything and dried, the entirety of the cabinets needed to be sanded again, but this time it needed to be sanded with a finer grit. We used 180 grit Sanding Sponges for the second round of sanding. 

3. Just like the first round of sanding, we did two rounds of tack cloth for cleaning before starting to apply paint. 

Stage 4 – First and Second Layer of Paint

1. Once the cabinets had been primed and sanded a second time, the actual paint could be applied. For this project we used Urethane Trim Enamel Paint. We chose a satin finish, but another popular choice for kitchens is semi-gloss. This paint was pricey, but still worth it in comparison to the cost of replacing cabinets entirely. We went through 1 ½ gallons for our 400 square feet of painting with two coats of paint. The painting process went super smooth since all the prep work had been done. Just like the primer, we started by painting the backs of the doors, flipped them after 5 hours, and then painted the fronts. We also used the same tools, with the rollers for the faces and sides of the doors, and the brushes for the beveled detail work and for the actual installed cabinet pieces. 

2. We let the first coat dry overnight so that a full 12 hours went by before we started on coat number two. We used the same steps for the primer and the first coat with the second coat. 

Stage 5 – Hardware and Reinstalling the Doors and Drawers.

1. After waiting overnight for the second coat of paint to dry, it was time to put the doors back up. We made sure when picking out new hinges that they were fairly similar to the old ones, but they were still a little different, so this process was slightly tedious for us since we had to make some new holes for the hinges to be installed. This part of the job was probably the hardest part because we had to be so meticulous about making sure everything was level. We even had to readjust a couple of the doors after putting them on because they didn’t end up being level the first time around. 

2. Finally, once all the hinges were on and the doors were back on the cabinets, we installed all of the handles and pulls. 

Final Reflections

Overall, this was a very large project to tackle. We worked Thursday-Monday to get it done, and the total amount of time actually actively on our feet was 40 hours. That doesn’t even include drying time. If I were to do this project again, I would probably want to spread it out over at least seven days instead of five to allow myself some more breaks to rest. I definitely was going to bed sore every night after working so hard each of these days. However, even though this was a challenge, I’m so glad it’s one that Cole, my parents, and I were able to tackle instead of hiring out for help. There’s a certain pride to walking into my kitchen, seeing how beautiful it looks, and knowing that it was my family’s and my hard work that made it look that way. My mom calls this design a West Hamptons Vibe, and all I know is that whatever vibe it’s putting off, I’m so content spending time surrounded by a bright, cheery, more modern environment. 

One of the foods that I like to cook with quite frequently is peppers. Usually this is either red bell peppers or jalapenos, but it can vary depending on the recipe. To me, the frustrating part has always been that peppers of any kind don’t have a very long shelf life. This is especially a struggle during farmer’s market season. Usually jalapenos are sold in larger quantities at the market, and I always end up throwing some out because they get shriveled and mushy before I can go through them all. While food waste is always irritating to me, it never became a huge issue until a couple of months ago when the pandemic led me to making much less frequent trips to the grocery store. I had two choices, either avoid any recipes that had peppers in them, or find a way to preserve them. 

In the past, I have occasionally substituted roasted red peppers from a jar, or canned jalapenos, but this always changes the flavor and texture of the dish, so I began researching. It quickly became apparent that the technique I was looking for to properly preserve my peppers was called flash freezing. This technique allows you to prep your peppers ahead of time, freeze them, and take them out when you want them. While it means more prep work after arriving home from the grocery store or farmer’s market, I can easily see the perks of doing this in bulk amounts before next school year. By doing the prep work ahead of time I will be able to have individually bagged portions of diced peppers saved in my freezer and ready to take out when I need them in a dish. This is sure to be a time saver on busy school nights.

Depending on the space you have in your freezer and the quantity of peppers you want to flash freeze, you are either going to use a plate or a small cookie sheet for this process. You’ll see from my pictures that I decided to use a plate. I usually have my freezer stocked pretty full, so it would be difficult for me to fit a cookie sheet into it. It really doesn’t make a difference which one you use as long as you have enough room on it to spread out all your diced peppers in one single layer. You do not want stacks to happen. 

Before dicing your pepper, you are going to de-seed it. Here’s a neat little trick about bell peppers I learned during my one summer I spent working at Subway. Start by lopping off the top and stem of the pepper. Get as close to the top as possible in order to avoid food waste.

 Next, cut the pepper in half. Loop your thumb underneath the main clump of seeds that is hanging down.

Once that is ripped out you should be able to flip the pepper over and slap it into your cupped hand. The remaining loose seeds should jostle themselves out from the force of the slap. It’s such a simple technique, and it beats trying to scrape out each of the small seeds.

The next step is obviously to dice your pepper into whatever sized pieces you are going to want. I usually try to get my pieces into about ¼ inch squares for red bell peppers, and as small of pieces as I can get without cutting myself for jalapeno peppers. 

After your pepper is diced into the appropriate sized pieces you are going to spread them in a single layer across the surface of the plate or pan, It’s okay if they touch each other, but this works better if there are some spaces between each of the pieces. You are not going to cover the plate or pan with anything. Pop the plate in the freezer and set a timer for one hour. Do not leave the plate in the freezer for more than an hour or the peppers will start freezing directly to it and they will be very hard to remove without letting them thaw, and that defeats the entire purpose of flash freezing.

Once the hour is up, take the plate out and scrape your peppers free. Portion them out into whatever sizes you think you are going to need. In this example, I’ve put all the pieces into one freezer bag, thus having one who pepper in one bag, but I can also see the usefulness of measuring them out into half cup portions. I hope this trick saves you some trips to the store in the future! 

Growing up, my parents used to take my sister and I to Chicago once per year. We would see the sites, and go shopping at stores that we didn’t have around us in Wisconsin, but best of all, we would get to try out new and unique restaurants. One year, we decided to try out a restaurant called Heaven on Seven, and it was here that we received our first introduction to Cajun Cuisine. We were all blown away by how good it was, and it became a yearly tradition to eat there. 

After a couple of years of enjoying the food, my parents decided to take a cooking class that was offered by the restaurant, and it was that experience that helped shape my taste palate. This class taught my parents about the combinations that create some of the unique Cajun flavors, and more specifically, it introduced us to andouille sausage, a staple in many recipes. 

When my husband and I first started dating he didn’t have any experience with Cajun cuisine, but as we dated longer he became more willing to try new foods. Eventually I had him try gumbo, and he loved it. Especially the andouille in it. I gradually began to make him more Cajun food, and he always loved anything that had andouille in it.

Because of his love for andouille, I decided that I needed to create a Cajun pizza once I started to make my own homemade pizzas this summer. With a combination of Cajun Alfredo sauce, chicken, and andouille sausage, this pizza checks off all the right boxes, and it’s probably my favorite out of all three pizzas I make. If you have tried and loved Cajun food in the past, I highly recommend trying this one out!

Directions – Cajun Alfredo Sauce

Just like my Buffalo Chicken Pizza, I’m going to divide this recipe into a sauce portion and a pizza portion. I haven’t tried it on pasta yet, but I think this sauce would be as delicious on noodles as it is on pizza. It’s honestly something that I cannot wait to try. For this reason, the sauce deserves it’s own section in this post. 

Ingredients 

1 ½ cups Whipping Cream

2 tbsp Parsley

2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 ½ tsp Cajun Seasoning

½ tsp White Pepper

¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1. In order for the sauce to become the correct consistency, the whipping cream needs to be simmered for 15 minutes before anything else happens. It is very important to make sure that the cream is at a low simmer, and not a high boil. Stir the cream the entire time to prevent clumps sticking to the sides of the pot. 

Kitchen Tip 1: If you double this recipe you will most likely have to simmer the cream even longer to thicken it up. The more cream required, the longer it will take to change in consistency. 

2. After the whipping cream has thickened, add in all of the seasonings and mix them in until they are incorporated. 

3. Once the sauce is seasoned, melt the Parmesan cheese into the mixture. Make sure to stir until the cheese is entirely melted. 

4. Let the sauce sit on warm for about 10 minutes to finish thickening it up. 

Kitchen Tip 2: Because this sauce has a whipping cream base, it is helpful to keep it warm until you are ready to use it. Whipping cream dishes can be difficult to reheat. If you must reheat it, use a low heat setting to do this. Heating it over a high temperature could cause the ingredients in your sauce to separate out. 

Directions – Cajun Chicken Andouille Pizza

After the sauce is made, it is fairly easy to throw the pizza together. In these instructions I will detail the process when using my Homemade Garlic Pizza Crust, but if you are using a different crust, make sure to follow those baking instructions. 

Ingredients

Pizza Crust

Cajun Alfredo Sauce

6 oz Chicken

Olive Oil

Cajun Seasoning

6 oz Andouille Sausage

1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Kitchen Tip 3: Before the pizza dough is rolled out, it is helpful to have all the other ingredients prepped, meaning the sauce is done, and the chicken and andouille are cooked. The sauce is very easy to make up ahead of time and keep warm, and the meats can be taken care of half an hour before you are ready to start the pizza. While you are working on these elements, preheat the oven to 400 degrees so it is ready for the crust.

1. The chicken can either be grilled or baked in the oven ahead of time, but no matter which process you pick make sure to rub the chicken with a thin layer of olive oil and then coat it in a layer of cajun seasoning on both sides of the breast. I prefer to grill the chicken because then I can throw the sausages on the grill during the last five minutes of cooking time to lightly warm them up. Because andouille is a smoked sausage, it should have been cooked ahead of time and only needs to be warmed up. 

2. After the chicken and andouille are cooked it is time to break them down. Shred the chicken into tiny pieces, and cut the andouille into coins first, then cut the coins in half. By cutting the meat into smaller pieces it allows you to get a little bit of both meat with each bite of pizza taken. 

3. Once all of the elements have been prepped, roll out the pizza dough and put it in the oven for 5 minutes. If you are using my Homemade Garlic Pizza Crust make sure to follow the instructions in the recipe while rolling it out. 

4. When the crust has been pre-baked, take it out and quickly add a layer of sauce and both of the meats across the surface. I like to make the sauce layer thick enough that I cannot see the crust beneath it, but I prefer a saucy pizza. Feel free to put on the amount you feel comfortable with. You may have leftover sauce depending on your preferences. Once the ingredients are spread out, put the pizza back in the oven for 15 minutes. DO NOT ADD THE CHEESE YET.

Kitchen Tip 4: It is best to apply the ingredients in step four as quickly as possible so the pizza dough is not out of the oven too long. Interrupting the baking process for a lengthy duration of time can create a doughy end product. 

5. After the 15 minute baking time, the pizza is ready for the final step – the cheese. Using all the cheese in the ingredients list will create an ultra-cheesy pizza. This is the way my husband prefers it, but if you are not a cheese lover, feel free to put on less. When you are satisfied with the way the cheese is spread out, put the pizza back in the oven for 4 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

This pizza comes out of the oven looking like a gourmet product. You will feel like such an accomplished chef when looking down at it, and it tastes delicious! Enjoy!

Being a household that eats a lot of soup and a lot of pasta, bread is a staple side that I make time and time again. One of my biggest goals of my time spent in quarantine was how to make the perfect loaf of French Bread. As I broadened my knowledge of baking, in my head, this idea didn’t seem too difficult. Before my time at home, I had always used my bread maker, but the concept of actual bread baking didn’t seem that challenging. I learned about the process of activating dry yeast, the standard time for kneading dough, how long to proof the dough to make it double in size, and researched different ways to coat the bread for the desired brownness/crunchiness of the crust. Armed with this knowledge, I set to work.

With dough that I assumed was perfect, I separated it into two logs, let it be for its second round of rising, coated it with an egg wash and let it bake. I was so proud of myself. They came out of the oven looking PERFECT. Then we ate… and yikes…that turned into a giant NOPE. Those were some DENSE loaves of bread. 

I turned back to the internet trying to discover what I did wrong. Did I need a different combination of ingredients? I really didn’t think so, but figured it was back to the drawing board. After an hour or so of reading, I discovered the problem. Turns out you cannot just form two logs of dough and expect it to turn into fluffy loaves of bread. There is a TECHNIQUE to forming French Bread. There was a correct way of rolling and shaping the dough. 

I returned back to my kitchen, and sure enough, all of my problems were solved. If you have ever had a desire to make your own loaves of French Bread, check out this recipe. Make sure to pay careful attention to my notes about technique, because it REALLY does matter. 

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup and 6 tbsp Warm Water

1 tbsp Sugar

2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

1 ½ tbsp Olive Oil

1 ½ tsp Salt

4 cups Bread Flour

Baking Prep Ingredients

Corn Meal

1 Egg White

3 tbsp Water

Directions

1. The first step to making most bread is activating the yeast. This can be very easily done by warming up the water, dissolving the sugar into it, and finally, whisking in the yeast until it is also dissolved. Let this rest for 5-6 minutes. Once the time is up, the mixture should be bubbled up in the middle to indicate that the yeast is, indeed, activated. If it is not bubbled up, then throw it out and start again. 

Kitchen Tip 1: One of the easiest ways to mess up yeast activation is by having the water too cold or too hot. If you are nervous about the temperature of the water, stick a thermometer in it. Ideally, this should be between 85 to 100 degrees. If it’s too hot, then wait for it to cool down a little bit before adding in the yeast. 

2. Once the yeast has been activated, pour the mixture into your standing mixer bowl. While you can knead dough by hand, I personally make all of my bread recipes in my standing mixer using my bread hook. Add in all the other ingredients into the bowl. Mix together and knead with the bread hook on low for 7 minutes. Don’t be surprised when the dough is a little firmer than other breads. That is completely normal.

3. Once the dough has been kneaded, put it into a large greased bowl, cover with a flour sack towel, and let it rise for 90 minutes. It should double in size. 

Kitchen Tip 2: Many newer ovens have a Bread Proof option. If you are fortunate enough to have this function, use it. This setting heats up your oven to the ideal temperature for bread to rise, around 80-90 degrees. If you do not have this function, then find the warmest area in your home and let the bowl of dough rise in that room. Before I got my oven I would always set the bowl of dough on the fireplace mantel, and that worked pretty well. 

4. After the dough has risen, punch it down and split the ball in two 9 inch to 12 inch logs. Roll out the logs into a thin rectangular shape. This should be about ⅛ to a ¼ inch thick. 

5. Using your handing roll the long sides of the rectangle inward until  a long log reforms. Then tuck the edges of the loaf under it and smooth out the creases, and put the long seam on the bottom of the pan.

Kitchen Tip 3: If the loaves are turning out longer than your pan when forming them, rip off the ends, smooth out the areas you ripped off, then create a third mini loaf with the leftover dough.

6. Coat a pizza stone, or parchment lined pan with a layer of cornmeal. This will prevent the loaves of bread from sticking as much to the pan or stone during the baking process. Lay the loaves on the pan or stone, cover with a flour sack towel and let rise for another hour. 

7. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. While it is preheating, mix one egg white with 3 tablespoons of water. Lightly brush the egg wash onto the top of each loaf. Make sure to get both the sides and the top, as this is what will give the crust its toasty brown appearance and crunchy crispy texture. 

Kitchen Tip 4: The amount of egg wash used makes a big difference in appearance and texture. I vary this up depending on how brown and crunchy I want the outsides. A light brush stroke with small amounts of wash creates a lighter softer crust, and using more of the wash, and getting it into the oven while it’s still freshly wet will create a harder crust. The picture at the top of this post shows a softer crust, and the second-to-last picture represents a harder crust. It’s really all about personal preference.

8. Use a sharp knife and score (cut a slit) the bread about every two inches apart. These slits should go about an ⅛ of the way through the loaf. 

9. Bake the bread for 25 minutes and let cool a little before cutting and eating. 

Kitchen Tip 5: This bread does have a tendency to stick to the pan even with the corn meal layer. If you are using a pan make sure you put parchment paper down first. If you are using a stone, you MUST let them cool for at least a full hour before trying to separate them from the pan. If you don’t the bottom of the bread will stick to the stone.

French bread is a great side to serve with so many meals, and there is such a sense of accomplishment to creating beautiful bread loaves. While I love eating it fresh out of the oven. I also love that this recipe makes up two loaves, leaving me one to save or give away to family and friends. Since a loaf this long won’t fit in a bag, I like to store it by wrapping it in two layers to keep fresh. The first layer is parchment paper, and the second layer is freezer paper. This technique can help keep the bread fresh for about three days, if it even lasts that long! It is always eaten up before hitting the three day marker in my house!