Favorite Things #55 - Brown Rice and Sweet Potato Triscuits

I don't think I had ever even had a Triscuit before I started dating Tom, but he was a fan so I gave them a try. I have been hooked ever since. When their new red bean and sweet potato flavors came out I was hoping for something great to replace the retired cheddar Triscuits that I used to be in love with. Well, I have found a new cracker love...


This onion flavor is amazing and so addictive! You can see that Steve is super interested in them also, but lucky for me dogs can't have onions so I don't have to share.

Are you a Triscuit fan and have you tried these new flavors yet?

Favorite Things #54 - Biscoff Spread aka Cookie Butter

I read a lot of food blogs and I have seen numerous mentions of Biscoff Spread and Cookie Butter. People seem to go crazy for this stuff but I had never tried it. I was at Cost Plus getting some sport peppers so Tom could have Chicago dogs for the 4th and I finally saw this miracle spread.

I got home and decided to give it a try. All I can say is this stuff is RIDICULOUSLY good. I gave Tom a spoonful and the expression on his face was priceless. It is such an unexpected flavor of cookie deliciousness. We both concurred that it tastes like animal crackers ground into the creamiest spread ever. Sounds pretty cruel, but it sure is tasty!



If you have not tried this stuff get it NOW. I am not sure what I am going to do with it but eating it out of the jar with a spoon is a solution I can live with.

Favorite Things #53 - Rita's Water Ice

This weekend the Phoenix area is under an excessive heat warning. Right now it is 9:45am and it is already 104 degrees on my patio, in the shade. Yesterday our high was 116 and they are forecasting 118 for today. I have lived in AZ for almost 17 years and I am used to the fact that we will be over 100 degrees from May until October but 116 is HOT. Like go open your oven and feel that hot wind hit you and that is what walking through a parking lot in 116 degree heat feels like.

When it is that hot something cool is definitely in order. I was so excited to learn that one of the best Summer treats from the East coast had made its way to AZ, Rita's Water Ice. This place is SO good and one finally opened within reasonable driving distance from my house. It opened a few weeks ago but just by pure luck we went on their 'official' grand opening and we got FREE Italian ice!


I chose the Swedish Fish candy flavor and it was absolutely delicious and just as good as I remembered it from back in PA. Tom got the Blue Raspberry and had fun showing me his blue lips and teeth the whole way home.

I hope you are having a much cooler weekend where you are!

Favorite Things #52 - Cooking Sunday

I cook a lot more than I actually blog about, and I love Sundays when I can do cooking for the week and make a meal that doesn't need to come together quickly.

This is what my kitchen usually looks like on a Sunday morning.



By the end of the day it is all cleaned up again and ready for the week. This Sunday I made some Thai Meatballs with noodles that Tom actually ate with me and really liked.



I will share the recipe soon because I know I want to have these again soon!

Favorite Things #51 - Horseradish

One of the blogs I read often is My Bizzy Kitchen and today she had a lot of horseradish going on in her post. I love horseradish and have since I can remember. Recently I discovered that my favorite chip company from back East, Herr's, can now be found in AZ. I seriously had a moment in the grocery store when I saw them and may have squealed a little.


Of course I snagged this flavor, sorry for the blur but I wanted to include my little stalker in the background. Here is the amazing part, Tom tried these and he LOVED them. I always knew he would like horseradish if he would just try it and these chips were the perfect vehicle.

Are you a fan of horseradish, if so what is your favorite way to eat it?

Favorite Things #50 - Game of Thrones and Ommegang Brewery's Iron Throne Beer

This week I am combining two things into one post because they go hand in hand. Ommegang Brewery has brewed a special blonde ale called Iron Throne in honor of the book and TV series called Game of Thrones. I love this book series, I love the TV series and I love a good beer.


I am all ready with my sriracha popcorn, Iron Throne beer and Game of Thrones on the TV.

Are you watching this series or have you read the books?

Favorite Things #49 - Blogging Friends

Earlier this week I came home to a package at my door which is always an awesome surprise. When I opened it I found a Pyrex divided dish in perfect condition...


Isn't it adorable? This is the Daisy pattern and I only have one piece in that set and it is one of my favorites. The package was sent by a friend that I know through blogging. We have never met but she was kind enough to send me this dish out of the blue just because she knew I would use it and love it.

I just wanted to take the time to thank Phyllis for the great package and to thank all of you that read and comment on my posts, it is what makes blogging so much fun for me.

Favorite Things #48 - The Perfect Pickler

One of the blogs I read regularly is The Healthy Beehive written by a super creative woman named Jane. I saw on her blog that she liked to do her own pickling and fermenting and I had recently been reading about the health benefits of fermented food. I decided to pick up a Perfect Pickler to give it a try.

The first thing I made was cauliflower. I was scared I was going to end up with a jar full of disgusting smelly grossness so I didn't take too many photos or plan to blog about it.


This is what it looked like after I just set it up. The airlock on the top makes it so air cannot get down into the food but allows air to escape. This makes it less risky for some kind of food poisoning disaster.


When it was almost time to taste the cauliflower the brine had turned cloudy, which is expected, so I was pretty excited. When I finally tried it, I loved it! It was not overly sour like a pickled veggie, but if I had let it continue to ferment it would have become more sour. I have since made onions and asparagus and both turned out awesome.

I got the following book, Real Food Fermentation from Amazon and it has taught me a lot also. I will be posting a step by step later this week to show you just how easy it is to transform food into something you can keep around in your fridge for weeks. I bought this with my own money and I am not being compensated in any way for this, I am just excited about another way to think about and work with food!

Have you ever made your own fermented food or done brine pickling?

Favorite Things #46 - Sweet and Savory Combos

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I love anything that combines sweet and savory food. I love a little fruit in with my chicken or even some ice cream and potato chips! As I had mentioned at the beginning of the year Tom and I are trying to go to some new restaurants and we finally made it to a place called Croque which specializes in sandwiches.


This is their Brie sandwich that has melty brie cheese, ham, tomato, lettuce, and cranberry sauce. The cranberry sauce pushed this sandwich right over the edge of perfection for me. I also had them add some of their specialty garlic sauce. I paired it with delicious potato salad and it was a wonderful post baseball game meal.

What is your favorite bizarre combo?

Favorite Things #45 - Spring Training

Yesterday Tom and I took a vacation day from work to go see the Arizona Diamondbacks play the Oakland A's. The weather was perfect and the game was a lot of fun. This is my favorite time of year here in AZ!



Have you ever attended a Spring Training game?

Favorite Things #44 - Sabra Cucumber Dill Dip

Happy Valentine's Day to all of those who celebrate it! Tom and I will just be grabbing some dinner at a local sports bar and then hanging with our dogs, that is the perfect night for me. Oh, and I will probably be reading more of the Outlander series, I am on book two now and I am totally hooked.

One thing that Tom and I discovered recently that we both love is this veggie dip from Sabra.



I know that these kinds of dips are super easy to make as noted in my last recipe, but if you need a store brand in a pinch I highly recommend this. I honestly don't know who liked this more, me or Tom!

Are you doing anything fun for Valentine's Day?

Favorite Things #43 - Outlander

I haven't been doing much cooking, or much of anything except reading this book! I discovered this series by randomly perusing Instagram last week. (my name is Wiliger on there if you want to add me)

I am loving this book and can't stop reading it! Luckily this is a series so I have a lot more reading ahead of me. The premise is a little strange, a woman travels through time from 1945 back to the 18th century and falls in love with an outlaw. I am usually not too into books with much of a romance plot but there is a lot of adventure and intrigue as well so I am really enjoying it.



Has anyone else read this series? What are you reading right now?

Favorite Things #42 - Arizona Winters

I have lived in Arizona for a little over 16 years and I still love it just as much as I did when I first moved here. I grew up in Western PA so I saw plenty of snow, rain and dreary weather. This weekend in AZ we are supposed to have actual cold weather, like in the 20s at night. It has not been that cold that I can remember since I moved here. I am actually looking forward to it as a nice change. Hopefully it will still be bright and sunny as Tom and I are going to a Food Truck Festival at the AZ Dbacks Spring Training facility. I am super excited and will definitely report back on how it was.

For now here is my youngest dog Steve enjoying some AZ Winter sun...



Do you have fun weekend plans?

Favorite Things #40 - Cupcakes

I love cupcakes, anyone who knows me well is aware of this fact. Instead of a cake at our (very casual) wedding we had cupcakes. I ask for cupcakes for my birthday instead of cake. So can you imagine my inner joy when a new friend happened to mention he owns a cupcake business with his girlfriend? I seriously had the urge to hug him and jump up and down like a little girl, but I somehow maintained my composure.

Fast forward to the day after we get back from Amsterdam and I am jet lagged and we have no food in the house. My friend texts me and says he has a present for me and is stopping by. He and his girlfriend had made us cupcakes. Seriously, everyone needs friends like this!!

Those are pumpkin pie cupcakes with pumpkin cream cheese frosting and they were totally amazing.



If you are in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and need cupcakes I highly recommend Sweet Cakefessions!!

Favorite Things #39 - Relaxing

We are gearing up for our trip to the Netherlands next week so I am going to be pretty absent from the blogging world for a while. I will try to get one more post in before we go, but I haven't been cooking much and my brain is definitely elsewhere as we plan our vacation.

But all the planning will be worth it when I see this...



This is my favorite beer (Bink) on the table at In de Wildeman in Amsterdam. Sitting here and people watching is one of the best things about being on vacation, just being able to sit back and relax and watch the world go by.

What is your favorite way to relax on vacation?

Favorite Things #38 - My Microplane Grater

I could continue to go on about how much I love my new phone, but this is a food blog so this week's favorite is food related. This is my favorite kitchen gadget and I sincerely hope you have one. If you don't, treat yourself, you will not regret it.


Behold the glory of the Microplane grater/zester. This handy little tool gets used in my cooking all of the time.

Here are some of its appearances on the blog...






As you can see it can be used for grating nutmeg and ginger, zesting citrus, and for shredding hard cheeses. I even use it to grate garlic and onions for when chunks just are not acceptable.

If you'd like to pick one of these up Sur La Table has them for a good price!



What is your favorite kitchen gadget?

Favorite Things #37 - Samsung Galaxy S3

I love getting new phones and gadgets, even if I am often intimidated at first. I have had the Samsung Galaxy S3 for a week and thanks to the patience of a friend at work who has the same phone, and endless playing around and tweaking, I am pretty excited with it.


This is a crappy photo of it, but take a look at some pics I took with the actual phone.





I love it just for the camera alone, but everything else is pretty slick too. I would definitely recommend it if you are in the market for a new phone.

So now the big question for you guys...iPhone or Android???

Favorite Things #36 - The Netherlands

A few people have commented on my new header photo, which is one of my own pictures that I took in the Netherlands in 2009. Tom and I will be going back in November and to say I can't wait is a huge understatement. Tom grew up taking family vacations there because of his Dad's job and he fell in love with it. When I met him he carried a photo of Amsterdam in his wallet.

We decided to take our honeymoon there in 2008 and I fell in love with it as well, it is just such a beautiful and relaxing place to visit. We went back in 2009 and haven't been since so we are both so excited.

So here are some pictures of my favorite place after Arizona!




There are cats in most bars and some restaurants in Amsterdam. The staff will gladly get them out of your way if you are not a fan, but this adorable little guy sat on my lap through my whole meal. That is a delicious pancake with ham that I am eating, the dutch love giant eggy pancakes, almost like a super sized crepe.








The bread and cheese in Amsterdam is AMAZING.
This cat loved Tom, I will be so excited if he is still there when we go back.


Ok, all the cats loved Tom :)

Finally a very classic view from Amsterdam...



Have you been to the Netherlands? What is your favorite vacation spot?

Favorite Things #34 - Trader Joes

One of the best things I have discovered since moving to Arizona is Trader Joes. I absolutely love the place and have found very few things there that I disliked. If you are unfamiliar with this little grocery store click the link and check it out.

I have some recent favorites I will share with you.


These cashews are like crack, seriously. The flavors are so perfect and go so well with the sweet cashews. I keep a bag of these in my freezer at all times.


This salsa is sweet and delicious. I love all of the Trader Joe's salsas, but this is a recent find for me.


This stuff is AMAZING. Tom and I pretty much ate a whole container over a weekend. I actually think Tom likes this more than I do.

If you are fortunate enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby I'd love to hear about your favorite things?

Favorite Things #33 - Rada Cutlery

A few weeks ago I told you about Shun knives and how much I love them. I understand that the knives are very expensive and really don't fit into most people's budgets for a knife. Here is my absolute favorite affordable alternative, Rada Cutlery.




These knives are SHARP and extremely durable. You can get this awesome knife on Amazon for around $9. I first discovered these knives in an Amish community in Western PA and bought a paring knife and a chef's dicer. I bought those knives about 14 years ago and they are still incredibly sharp and have maintained a perfect edge.

What is your favorite bargain item that is just as good or better than the big name brand?