Grilled cheese sandwiches are deceptively simple. They hit all the pleasure points – melty, buttery, crunchy perfection! But what if you could elevate your eating experience? I know. How can you improve on perfection? But, you can! How To Up Your Basic GC Game CHEESE COMBINATIONS Some cheese melts well while others add depth of flavor. A combination of two or more will strike a great balance. For melting you cannot go wrong with Mild cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, Swiss, and Mozzarella. These are younger and have more moisture. But, for a flavor impact you need something aged. Try a sharp cheddar, aged Swiss, Asiago,Read More →

I love strawberry cake! I hate red food dye! I can always taste it. Even the kind that says you will not taste it. Yeah. It still has a taste. Plus, food dye is just for photos so why bother putting junk into the best, most delicious, fluffy, moist, sweet-but-not-too-sweet strawberry cake? Well, that was sort of rhetorical but it also has an answer. Fresh strawberries have a lot of water in them and using real strawberries to make a cake generally leaves you with a mushy mealy cake that no one wants to eat. Oh, and those fresh strawberries will start molding pretty quickly.Read More →

Cranberry Sauce

Growing up, I thought I did not like cranberry sauce. It turns out, I was turned off by the red stuff that wobbled in the shape of the can it slid out of. Real cranberry sauce is simple and delicious and fun to make. I love it when the cranberries start bursting! Seriously, my sense of accomplishment at that moment is outstanding! If you are looking for the perfect side dish for your Thanksgiving table, this cranberry sauce, from The Farm Girl Gabs, is perfection. It’s easy (prep time is five minutes, cook time is 20 minutes) and delicious. It’s sweet and tart and greatRead More →

Recently, a data company, Infogroup, dug into its human-verified business records to mine for some essential data – mapping the Top 10 Cities for Desserts. Here in Houston, we love our food. I would say we love it more than Tex-Mex but then this whole article would devolve into a fight over which Tex-Mex is the best. And, if you live north of Dallas just. don’t. bother. This is not your fight. All that to say, that Houston is not in the top ten. And, neither is Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin or San Antonio. So, where should we plan our dessert-centric road trip!? Longview (#4),Read More →

Heavenly Beverages is a café nestled in a shopping strip lining the parking lot of a Home Depot. We drive past it a lot. It only took five years for us to go inside. In hindsight, this probably saved me a lot of money. Bubble tea, you say? How have you not already known about this? In all fairness I did. I just judged that book by its cover and said chewy tea, no thank you. But, I was wrong! So, tapioca balls (the chewy part of the tea) are strangely addictive. And, I do not know if they are all the same but Heavenly’sRead More →

Rotisserie Turkey

Mmmmm, rotisserie turkey! We love cooking our Thanksgiving turkeys on the rotisserie. If your grill has one and you haven’t given it a go yet this could be the year for you! The most difficult part is balancing the weight. Prepare to get up close and personal with your turkey. It’s okay to give it a name. You will get intimate. However, once you get it balanced and spinning the pay off is worth the wrangling! A rotisserie turkey has crispy browned beautiful skin. It is extra moist and, maybe the most important factor, it frees up your oven for other dishes! A few thingsRead More →

Do you know a peanut butter lover? A chocolate lover? A chocolate peanut butter lover?? And, they like whiskey?!? This is your cake. This cake is not for the faint of heart.? It is massive and massively delicious.? And worth every decadent calorie. Looking for something special to whip up for Father’s day?? This is it! The recipe below makes 1 two layer 8-10 inch cake. The one pictured is a double recipe. If you want a tall cake to feed the masses then double it so that it will be sky high. If you are feeding a few less people then proceed as theRead More →