Italian herb-encrusted focaccia roll; vine ripe tomato; fresh mozzarella; own-yard basil
I’m certain little else needs to be said.
I think I could quite contentedly eat this every day of the summer

So I’m trying out being a vegetarian for a while.  There are a lot of different motives for me and its something I’ve been contemplating for quite some time.  I think I’ve slowly been heading in that direction for years.  First I got rid of beef (mostly, except for when I moved to Texas but [...]

I spend Thanksgiving dinner with some of my lovely friends.  When I offered to bring a dish to contribute I was given the choice of a side or dessert or just my fabulous self!  It was also noted that they are big fans of chocolate too.  And there it was, my answer to what I [...]

I love cinnamon rolls!  I have a place in my heart for all the different kinds: the orange-icing-refrigerator-from-the-can ones; the gargantuan ones I get at that place in the airport or mall; the make-the-night-before-and-let-rise-to-bake-early-in-the-morning ones; but my most favorite are the super quick roll-your-own-Bisquick ones.  Besides how easy they are, I love the contrast of [...]

So I bought these tiny cast-iron skillets on a whim from Ross.  The set of two were only $6.99 or something and I figured I’d use them now and then when I want to have a fun dessert with friends over.  Never did I dream they would become such a staple piece of kitchen equipment!  [...]

The quest has been long and arduous.  Countless batches of cookies have been baked in Mav’s Minuscule Test Kitchen.  Numerous friends have volunteered their feedback for MMTK’s Research & Development Department.  Tens of recipes have been tried, created, altered, written, tweaked, tried again, crossed out, smudged with cookie dough, re-written, and finally I think I [...]

So a few weeks ago I was watching the Food Network (dangerous mistake #1) and I saw three back to back episodes on bbq, hot dogs, and steaks.  By the end of the 90 minutes I was drooling all over and my stomach was roaring for some savory deliciousness.  It was totally awesome that all [...]

Yes.  It’s true.
I resisted for a long time.  Mostly because I was entirely unimpressed by the cupcakes that I had tasted from the various new, chic, cupcakeries that have been sweeping Southern California.  Sure they looked cute and the myriad of flavors was inticing.  And who doesn’t love the perfect ratio of cake to icing [...]

I’m not exactly sure if this qualifies as tortilla soup (hence “Mavricky”) but I have no idea what else to call it since I made it up.  I for sure know that it is tasty, savory, spicy, and delicious, but that seemed like a rather lengthy name!  This soup was inspired by my attempt to [...]