I Am... 2018 Holiday Gift Guide
Can you believe there are only 21 days until Christmas!? Time to get shopping. Here's a massive gift guide for the men, women, and kitchen obsessed, and cute lovers in your life. As usual, I want everything on these lists >_<
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I Am... What to Make this December
It's holiday party season! Which means, you'll find me at the food table, stuffing my face with all the handheld food stuffs because handheld food is the best food! Here's a quirky little list of tasty handheld foods of what to make this December. Hand pies have got to be one of the best inventions ever. Flaky, buttery pastry around a juicy meat filling? Count me in! These guys are a Vietnamese take on the classic British pie. Try them! Once you have one, you won't be able to stop. Hello roast beef! Mini yorkshire puddings topped with thinly sliced roast beef, wasabi mayo, and sunny side up quail eggs? Holy beef, I'm in! Feel free to make these on toast too because fancy toasts are never a bad thing. Twice baked potatoes are underrated. They're so GOOD I always wonder why people don't make/eat them more. Fluffy potato insides mashed up with ranch dressing, cheddar, bacon, and green onions then baked to golden perfection. Have you ever had sausage balls?! Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, these balls come together so quick and are always one of the first things to go at potlucks :) Handheld lasagna! Need I say anymore? These mini lasagna roll ups are all the things you love about lasagna in a bite size, pick-up-able form. YAAAAS. Hot ham and cheese sliders. Warm and delicious, you can prep these ahead and then just pop them in the oven when you're ready to feed yourself...I mean, people. If you want to impress, make these everything bagel pretzel dogs! Soft and pillowy pretzels and snappy hot dogs are a match made in heaven. Another kind of sausage ball because sausage balls are the best! These guys have a bit of Vietnamese flair going on – they're incredibly juicy and flavorful. SO GOOD. Alright, I'm off! Hope you guys have lots of holiday parties this month. Maybe even some parties planned just for one or two? Spoken like the true introvert I am LOL. Happy cooking! xoxo steph
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I Am... Our Hokkaido Adventure: Hiking, Camping, and Eating in the North of Japan
I love nature. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time in cities, but I’ve definitely discovered that there’s something about being in nature that grounds me in a way the city never does. Nature is energizing in a pure, romantic way – and by romantic I mean in the Romanticisim sense: there’s just something about the sublime beauty of the outdoors that is awe inspiring. I suppose it has something to do with the city Mike and I grew up in – there was always a forest to explore or a waterfall to hike to – the wild was never too far away.
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I Am... Extra Flaky Sky High Cheddar Scallion Biscuits
These extra flaky sky high cheddar scallion biscuits are my everything right now. Are you a biscuit person? I'm definitely a biscuit person. If I see biscuits on the menu, especially if they're the kind that will come hot and fresh out of the oven, I will obviously order them. Flaky, buttery, hot biscuits are my jam. Heck, biscuits and jam are my jam. I dig all kinds of biscuits. Savory, sweet, giant, mini, just give me all the biscuits, please and thank you.
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I Am... Dark Chocolatey Drizzled Flaky Sea Salt Kettle Corn
The other day Mike and I were shopping at Whole Foods. I was starving, right on the verge of hangry. Luckily, it was a Saturday. Saturday is sample day. So while Mike did the adult thing and shopped for sensible adult things like animal welfare chicken and hunks of parmigiano, I was unapologetically eating samples. There was chocolate cake at the bakery and fennel sausage at the meat counter, but the winner was the snack aisle sample of dark chocolatey drizzled flaky sea salt kettle corn. It was so good: salty, sweet, crunchy, with the barest hint of bitterness from the dark chocolate. Thank goodness Mike let me have his sample. I was obsessed. Not enough to buy a bag, but enough that I snagged another sample on the way out – sorry not sorry!
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I Am... Black Friday Finds: 11.23.18
Black Friday! Are you guys shopping? Maybe just a little bit online? I already bought a sweatshirt and it wasn't even Black Friday yet. The sales start so early these days! To be honest, I'm more excited about the fact that it's almost December. I love the holiday season and can't wait to get all of our decorations out so we can have a Christmas explosion. I'm also extra excited about Christmas flavored everything. By that I mean, peppermint and dark chocolate. I've been addicted to dark chocolate kettle corn so next on my list is trying to make it at home. Hopefully everyone's Thanksgiving was good and you're all cozied up for the weekend, ready to binge watch some shows or catch up on internet reads :) I think we're going to go watch Wreck it Ralph 2, hopefully it's good! Webstuff:
- I'm kinda skeptical of all these influencer presets. What are you guys' thoughts?
- Little bit older now, but hello Japanese Kit Kats!
- Everyone is quitting Instagram, well, maybe not petfluencers!
- This Netflix show about dogs looks incredibly wholesome.
- Mariah is back!
- Amazon is shaping how our regular everyday household staples look.
- First it was straws, now it's paper coffee cups.
- From knitting hobby to knitting profit. Side note, ever winter I get the extreme urge to knit.
- The best burger joint in America is no more.
- Tech bros and sourdough. Maybe it's time to grow a new sourdough starter...
- Amazon reviews are a rare peek into humanity.
- I'm not sure about these new rice krispie flavors.
- Can this overnight pumpkin french toast magically appear for breakfast tomorrow morning?
- Bourbon butterscotch? Yes please!
- A stuffing-off! May the best stuffing win :)
- Tell the Machine Goodnight was such a weird, but deeply good book. I thought about it long after I turned the last page.
- The other day a friend asked, who even buys candles?! I was like, I do! This one is one of my faves but I haven't had one since last year. Maybe it's time?!
- Kinda digging this mortar and pestle. I'm always on a lookout for a pretty set but haven't found the perfect one yet.
- Mike and I both are in desperate need of smart phone gloves. My hands get cold but I still need to be able to touch my phone. First world problems, I know. These ones look okay? Any recommendations?
I Am... The Most Stress Free Thanksgiving You’ll Ever Host: An Instant Pot Thanksgiving Dinner
This is the most stress-free, calm Thanksgiving you'll ever make, provided you have an Instant Pot. If you don't, check out this one-pan turkey dinner that has your name all over it. If you want to Instant Pot it up though, just follow these easy steps and relax, we've got you covered.
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I Am... Better than Boxed: Instant Pot Pumpkin Mac and Cheese
The first time I had boxed mac and cheese, it was at a friend's house. We were starving after an intense afternoon of playing with our My Little Ponies and her mom made us some pasta out of a bright blue box. I was hooked! What were these magical tube-y noodle covered in orange sauce!? They were so good and made such a big impression on me that I went home and told my mom about it immediately. I begged her to go to the grocery store so we could buy our own boxes.
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I Am... Stuffing Lovers Unite: 5 Ingredient 15 Minute Instant Pot Mushroom and Onion Stuffing
There are two types of people in the world: stuffing lovers and stuffing haters. The people who are indifferent to stuffing don't matter – are they even really people?! Then there are people who call stuffing "dressing" or are dead serious about whether or not it should go inside the turkey. Here's where I stand: loud and proud stuffing lover, it's definitely stuffing not dressing, and it should never ever be made inside the bird. There you have it, fight me.
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I Am... It’s Easy Being Green: Super Tender Instant Pot Garlic Butter Brussels Sprouts Recipe
If you asked me a week ago if I thought making brussels sprouts in the Instant Pot would be a good idea I would have laughed my face off. Why in the world anyone would want to use an Instant Pot to cook brussels sprouts would have been the most absurd thing ever. But then I tried it, in the name of science, and I've got to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, it was kind of sort of good? I know, I too am shocked.
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I Am... Anyone Cran Cook: A Super Simple Make Ahead Instant Pot Orange Cranberry Sauce Recipe
If you want to win this Thanksgiving, you should make this make ahead instant pot orange cranberry sauce. If you've never had homemade cranberry sauce, you're missing out. It's nothing like the stuff that comes out of the can. It's kind of funny that I'm even saying this because the truth is, until recently, I didn't get what the deal with cranberry sauce and turkey. Growing up we certainly didn't do cranberry sauce. Heck, we didn't even have regular stuffing made with bread. Nope, my mom did the whole Chinese sticky rice stuffing thing. So, you can see why cranberry sauce isn't a nostalgic thing for me.
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I Am... Homemade Soup is Easier Than You Think with this Instant Pot Ginger Coconut Butternut Squash Soup Recipe
I love soup. It's warming, it's comforting, and because it's liquid, I fool myself into thinking that it's not quite the same as eating real food – it totally doesn't count as a meal so you can eat it as much as you want! The best think about soup though, might be the fact that it's so much easier than you think to make it at home.
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