I'm sure you guys get it by now. I'm in love with fried chicken. Pretty sure I feel the same way about pasta. There's just soooo many different styles and flavors to choose from but the main ingredient stays the same. Versatile - that's the word I was looking for!! 

Anyways, I spent a couple of days frying up different kinds of chicken in my kitchen and I would have to say that my favorite part of chicken fried "Nashville hot chicken" style would be the chicken thigh. You just can't beat that juicy dark meat especially once you've put the time and effort into soaking it in buttermilk for 24 hours.

Let me know if you have any questions below! And as always, the serving size for this recipe is for around 2-4 people. (Two starving people, three normal people, or four people who feel like snacking together.)

Poutine is something that I'll never stop dying over. French fries, gravy and cheese curds. Hot damn.

There's a restaurant in Cleveland called the Greenhouse Tavern and they make a dish real similar to poutine but it has juicy pork belly bits, a fried egg and whole grain mustard on it - it's so good and my version of poutine is totally inspired by it.

I'm REALLY obsessed with tacos al pastor right now. Seeing that I don't have any devices at home that can cook meat on a spit for hours on end, I decided to not try and do that, lol. I seasoned a pork shoulder with the same flavors as tacos al pastor and cooked the meat in a crockpot so that the pork turned into soft and juicy shredded meat. 

Also, this is very much a long recipe. The best way to make it not feel like that is to start marinating the pork around dinner time and wake up and get it going in the crockpot in the morning so that it'll be ready by the next day's dinner time. It makes a lot of pork, I'd say to buy enough taco shells for around 6 people. You can refrigerate the leftover meat and it'll stay good for a few days.

What if I told you you didn't have to go to your favorite local chicken wing joint to eat the best boneless wings of your life?? I've tried hundreds of times to make them at home and they've never turned out like how they taste from a restaurant. UNTIL NOW, and guess what? It happened on accident, lol.

Pretty sure pho is famous for it's slow simmered broth but I loooove picking out all of the noodles and spicy jalapeños whenever I'm eating it. A few people replied to my IG story saying it's not pho since I used soy sauce, but I'm allergic to hoisin sauce since there's peanuts in it so I had to improvise. It still has the flavors of pho with the beef broth, lime and ginger that I used and that's good enough for me. Ps, this recipe will serve two people or one VERY hungry person.

So it's not traditional pho, but it's still really phoking good, okay?!

The trip to your local Chinese grocery store is so worth it for these chow mein noodles. Don't try to skimp and use spaghetti - that's just wrongggg. 

Also, yes I am allergic to sesame seeds, but the person I was cooking dinner for isn't so I put them on her dish! :)

Fact: adding cabbage to dumplings makes the filling a whole lot softer. It's less like a dry meatball inside of there and more like a juicy piece of meatloaf. I always get questions about what kind of dumpling wrappers I use and since I'm too lazy to make homemade dumpling dough, I buy gyoza wrappers from a local Asian grocery store in Cleveland.

Ps - if you prefer a slippery dumpling texture instead of the pan fried crisp, you can boil them for about 8 minutes (they should float when they are done.)

I legit never think to buy buttermilk when I'm grocery shopping but I saw it the other day and decided I wanted to try and make some seriously good buttermilk fried chicken. I typically use a salt water and garlic brine but this was SO MUCH BETTER!

I was trying to stop myself from eating the chicken all on it's own after it came out of the hot oil. The seasoned salt is such a clutch ingredient in turning the chicken that really pretty golden color and it smells amazing.

I love fried balls of any sort. Lol. 

But for real, goat cheese is the GOAT - and I love arancini so this is sort of like a weird version of that. Also, how good is goat cheese with honey?? The best combo since pb & j. 

I used to beg my mom to take me to Cracker Barrel so that I could eat their chicken and dumplings and this is so much god damn better than that. LOL.

It's actually so easy to make dumplings, I was shocked when I started googling to find out how. I used dark meat because I think there's way more flavor and it's way juicer. #teamdarkmeat

I love this recipe, the combination of that extra virgin olive oil + the zesty lemon flavor gives me all the light and crisp flavor feels. Adding more of the olive oil into the bread crumbs and then topping with more lemon zest at the end is what takes this one to another level.

It's no secret that I love making fried chicken of all sorts. I think it might be the only other food that I consistently post about besides pasta, noodles and/or dumplings. I don't own a deep frier so I just use a large pasta pot for frying the wings. (If you're in the same boat, be sure to use a tall enough pot so that the hot oil doesn't splash out.)

I don't have a thermometer to check to see if the oil is hot enough for frying different types of food. I just run my finger tips under the sink faucet and then flick a little tiny bit of water into the pot of oil as it's heating. Once the water reacts and makes a crackling sound, it's hot enough to fry stuff.

This recipe isn't the same without Cleveland's famous Bertman Original Ballpark Mustard. Just sayin'. Go Tribe. For real though, I put this stuff on everything - as I am writing this I'm squirting some out onto crackers that I'm snacking on, lol. The obsession is real. ​If you're going to use other stuff, dijon is the next best thing.

Fresh lemon juice, wine, garlic, butter, pasta and parmesan. These are a few of my favorite things. You've probably noticed by now that I have a couple different lemon recipes. This one is meant to be a bit lighter than the creamy lemon pasta, there's no cheese in the actual sauce so it's more silky and doesn't get melty or stick together as much.

You don't have to use tagliatelle pasta. You can use whatever shape you like, but I think a longer flat noodle tastes the best because that's the way I ate this dish for the first time in Italy. Make sure you remember to add a little of the starchy pasta water into the sauce. That + butter makes for the ultimate silky pasta.

I'm obsessed with honey butter fried chicken. That is all. 

Like I said in my IG post, I would probably eat dirt if there was fresh lemon juice squeezed all over it. This recipe is slightly different from my lemon butter pasta recipe, because there's parmesan cheese all up in this sauce.

You can use any kind of noodle, I was in the mood for bowtie on the day I created this recipe. I've been using garlic powder instead of fresh garlic in some of my sauces lately because I feel like you just can't beat the flavor concentration. It's so strong and I don't think that I get the same flavor when I use fresh garlic? Which doesn't seem right, but my tastebuds don't lie. 

I've always wanted to try wonton soup with actual noodles in it, but the traditional way it's served involves a few things I can't eat. cc: shrimp, sesame oil. About a month ago I went out to eat at Saigon on East 4th Street in Downtown Cleveland and had to watch my friend slurp it down from across the table - talk about FOMO. I decided to make my own version, a version that wouldn't kill me. ​

You'll want to use fresh wonton egg noodles. You can read more about them + see a photo if you click here and check out @thewoksoflife's blog. (If you scroll past the wonton noodles on that page, you'll also see the yellow square wonton wrappers that you'll need!) Both can be found at Asian grocery stores - if you're from CLE, I do all my noodle/dumpling shopping at Tink Holl Market in Asia Town.

For the portion sizes, I would say that 1 bundle of wonton noodles + 4-6 wontons and 2 cups of broth equals one serving. That said, this recipe makes enough for two eaters!

What you need:
(Broth)

• 4 cups wonton soup broth - I didn't have any so I used chicken broth and seasoned it with other flavors to make it taste a bit like wonton soup. If you're going that route - follow below.
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 5 garlic cloves sliced in half
• 5 pieces of peeled ginger - same size as garlic cloves cut in half
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 2 tbsp soy sauce

(Wontons)

• Yellow (thin & square) wonton wrappers
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 cup chopped scallions
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp chinese black vinegar
• 1 tbsp shoaxing wine
• 2 tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp salt

(Noodles)

• 2 small bundles (about 2 handfulls) of fresh wonton noodles - see below for how to identify them at the store

What to do:​​
(Broth)

1. Heat the pre-made wonton soup broth - if you're going to use the chicken broth method, heat that up in a pot until it's at a low boil.
2. Add in all of the parts listed in the ingredients and let simmer for 20 minutes. 
3. Remove the garlic and ginger chunks from the broth, cover with a lid and keep it at a low simmer until serving. 
4. Once the noodles and wontons are cooked, they go into the broth. Top everything with fresh scallions and blanched baby bok choy. (Blanched means placing the bok choy into boiling water for 20 seconds and then rinsing under freezing water to halt the cooking process.) 

(Wonton)

1. Mix together all of the wonton filling ingredients.
2. Place a teaspoon of the filling mixture into the center of the square wonton wrapper.
3. Wet the parts of the wonton surrounding the filling with your finger after dipping it in water.
4. Fold each corner upwards around the meat so that they connect above the meat, press together to seal. It should look like a little purse or money bag when you're done. Make sense? If not, click here to see photos of it on @souperdiaries website - scroll down to "pouch wontons." 
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you run out of fillings or wonton wrappers. You can freeze whatever's leftover for up to 3 months.
6. Boil the wontons in water for 6 minutes, do this step when you're ready to put them into the soup.

(Noodles)

1. Boil the noodles for 2-3 minutes right before adding them into the broth, time it up so that the wontons and noodles are done right around the same time. While cooking the noodles, stir them constantly - they like to stick together since they are so thin and chewy.

Brielieve it or not, brie is probably the easiest kind of cheese to use for mac and cheese since it's so melty. If you're having trouble scooping it out of the wheel, you can stick it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds to loosen up the insides!

What to do:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni noodles according to package directions.
2. Using a sharp cheese knife, cut a circle about halfway down around the top layer of the wheel of brie. Be careful not to go too far down and puncture the bottom layer.
3. Scrape off the top layer of the brie rind (the hard white part.) When you're done, you should have a brie bowl - it's sort of like carving a pumpkin, but way better.
4. Scoop out all of the creamy brie and put it into a small pot.
5. Add the milk or cream to the brie in the pot and heat it on the stove (low/medium heat) until it's all melted.
6. Pour the melted brie sauce over the cooked macaroni noodles and mix well. 
7. Fill the brie bowl with the pasta and top with salt and pepper

I don't eat a lot of meat with my pasta but this one is great for when I'm craving a lil protein. The sausage pieces shown in this recipe are kinda chunky, but if you want the meat to be smaller - all you have to do is break it apart more while you're cooking it in the skillet. 

I really hate portion sizes. I always say it's best to make a lot and then save whatever is leftover/repurpose any extra stuff into another meal. If I had to guess, I'd say the amount listed below in the recipe is enough for three small plates, or two big plates of food. Does anybody even really eat the same amount anyways? Lol.

Introducing: alfredo sauce's badass older sister. I started things off with a heavy cream base and added in lemon juice/zest, garlic powder and then brie & parmesan cheese. Oh, and white wine because wine and cheese and pasta is everything!

True story, I basically never measure when I cook unless it's something crazy with very specific instructions. The good thing about this recipe, and really most recipes that I make is that they are hard to mess up. Don't be afraid to add in a little more of what you like/don't like. If it tastes too much like one ingredient, add more of the others. Worse comes to worse, you'll have leftover sauce...which means you can make more pasta and eat it all over again the next day. :)

What you need:

• Pasta (the sauce is enough for two big bowls or three small bowls.)
• 2 tbsp butter (a little less than 1/4 stick)
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 4 tbsp dry white wine (I use an oakey chardonnay)
• Juice from 1 lemon (about 1/3 cup)
• 1 tbsp lemon zest (grated lemon peel)
• 3 wedges of brie, cut the rinds off so it's just the inside/melty part. Each piece should be around inch long/thick. (Basically, three spoon fulls of it.)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Optional:

• Crispy garlic for topping
• More lemon zest for topping

What to do:

1. ​Bring water to a boil and cook whatever kind of pasta you're using according to package directions.
2. Put a skillet on the stove and turn the heat up to medium. Add in the butter, heavy cream, garlic powder, wine, lemon juice and zest. Mix with a whisk.
3. It should start to bubble after a few minutes, when this happens, add in the brie and parmesan cheese. Whisk until the cheese has melted and the texture is thicker like an alfredo sauce.
4. Taste test the sauce. Add salt/pepper if you'd like. If it's too lemony or there's too much of a wine taste, add more cream. If it's lacking lemon or wine taste, add in more of either of those.
5. Pour over the hot pasta and top with lemon zest, crispy garlic and brie wedges.

We took a private car arranged through our Airbnb host from the Naples airport to our place. Click here to see where we stayed. (This is where Bryant proposed! Full story to come in our more official travel guide!!) Our place was uphill (and if you're looking at a map) west of the main public beach in Positano. There were busses that ran every so often (signs with times at every stop on the main road) and then there was a sort of hidden stairway that you could walk all the way down to where you will find the main public beach area, the ferry ports and restaurants & shops. You could also walk down the main road which leads to an area near the main beach, there are tons of restaurants and shops along the main road. 

Il Fornillo Ristorante
We went here for dinner on the first night shortly after the engagement! They had cacio e pepe on the menu so naturally, i was like F*CK YES gimme dat. The pasta was a little more al dente than I would prefer but I just got engaged so I basically didn't care at all. Bryant had pizza, he ordered pizza a lot and it was seriously amazing at every single place. ​

​La Pergola
We (or maybe it was just me) were super hungover after the engagement celebrations and wandered down this like 3 mile staircase to the restaurants on the beach. We picked this one because it was under really pretty green vines, there was tons of open air and we saw a plate of calamari walk by that looked divine - it was, we loved it. We shared the ravioli, and we didn't love it.

Ristorante Il Capitan
This was our last dinner in Positano! (Tears.) It's part of a hotel called Hotel Montemare. It overlooks the water and the beach from up high and it is the perfect place to watch the sunset while you eat. I really wanted to try squid ink pasta while I was in Italy so I ordered it and was super grossed out. It tasted way too fishy for me. So I proceeded to drink a ton of wine and eat all of the amazing pizza that Bryant ordered.

I LOVED CAPRI. Mostly because of the boat ride that we went on which we found through our Airbnb app's "Experience" tab. As soon as we got off the ferry we were hounded by locals trying to get us to sign up for their boat tours, and we saw them while we were on our boat tour. Their boats were bigger and crowded with tons of people holding their phones up in the air trying to take pictures. Our boat was 8 American millennials drinking beer/wine and having a great time. I HIGHLY recommend booking though Airbnb experiences, you will not want to be on the other boats full of tourists. My favorite part was swimming! The water was freezing but also the most clear water I've ever been it. One second I was looking down at fish and the next second I was looking up at mountains covered in green trees with foggy smoke surrounding them. It kind of reminded me of Jurassic Park and I was loving it so much.

Ristorante Augusto 
The port of Capri is lined with restaurants and we ended up randomly picking this one because they had a lemon pasta on the menu that I really wanted to try. It ended up being one of my favorite dishes of the trip! The lemons and citrus in Italy are so fresh that it takes the flavor of certain dishes to the next level. I was dying over it - so so so good.

We spent the last two days of our trip in this magical place. It was so different from Positano because there were way less tourists, or at least American tourists. The English language was the least common here out of everywhere we went. I mean literally, our Airbnb host was trying to tell us not to leave the windows open when we left because of birds and she flapped her arms like a bird to try and get the point across...I was dying inside. Very nice lady, but the language barrier was real.

Salerno was also very different than Positano because all of the streets besides the main one along the water were tiny little alley ways that twisted and turned throughout the city. Instead of little houses built into cliffs, it was more of a flat landscape with taller buildings. At first it was confusing and intimidating but after we got to our Airbnb we had a nice view of the layout of the city and found out that there was an elevator we could take to the entrance of our Airbnb. At first we were trying to use google maps to find our way and it was not working out so well with all of the little roads. 

Ristorante Il Duca
Here's where we went our first night in Salerno! It was in a tiny alley way and we sat three floors up on the roof. It actually overlooked the alley and was a beautiful view. Our waitor didn't understand that we wanted still and not sparkling water, so we were forced to just deal with it, haha. I ordered a bacon and cream sauce pasta - the noodles were super thick and it was real good. Bryant had the gnocchi which was equally as amazing. 

Trattoria Pizzeria Zi Renato
So this restaurant was one out of many along the main street in Salerno that was parallel to the ports and water. It was cute with red checkered tablecloths and the service was pretty good. Once again, blown away by the pizza but the pasta was seriously disappointing. I ordered the carbonara and it came out as penne noodles with scrambled eggs and very pathetic bacon. Someone DM'd me and they were like "ordering bad pasta in Italy feels the same as when you find out Santa Claus isn't real" and it was the realest thing anyone has ever said to me!! I was so sad because I even had a shirt that said "I want pasta" and I just so happened to wear it the time that I effed up my order. BOO. There was this place next to it called In Rada, I would try there instead.

Goccia Wine Bar
This place was super funky, but cool. Lots of different looking people. They had cacio e pepe on the menu and I obviously was immediately sold. They brought out a really weird salad with like chopped cabbage and carrots and it smelled weird so we didn't touch it. I may or may not have had too much wine and asked the waiter if he spoke "American," like an idiot. I'll never forget the look on Bryant's face when it slipped out of my mouth, LOL. Okay back to the food, the cacio e pepe was amazing, def enough for two people. It was super al dente and there were bread crumbs on top!

It was pretty ironic to be in San Fran during the first Cavs vs. Warriors finals match. And then less ironic and more heartbreaking when J.R. Smith decided to forget the score of the game in the last couple seconds lol...whoops. We watched it in the hotel lobby and the food they served there kind of made up for how shitty that felt. So the Cavs lost but everything else was a win.

I came to San Fran for the 2018 Brand Marketing Summit which was held on Wednesday and Thursday and then I stayed the rest of the weekend to do FOJ things. Bryant flew out to meet me and then we hung with my boss and her boyfriend. We tried to go to Trader Joes to pick up a bottle of wine and the line looked about the same as the line for the Dragster at Cedar Point so if you're going to buy booze, don't go there, lol.

We stayed in the Union Square area which is about a 20 minute Uber ride from the Golden Gate Bridge, a 10 minute walk to tons of shopping/dining and Chinatown. Since the travel was primarily through work, we stayed at The Parc 55 Hotel instead of an Airbnb (which is usually my favorite way to lodge while traveling.) Our Uber driver on the way back to the airport told us that San Fran is only 7x7 miles big which kinda blew my mind. It was definitely super easy to get everywhere we wanted to go.

We did visit the Golden Gate Bridge on our last day and it was really cool. We hiked down (literally felt like I was Frodo Baggins climbing mountains) as far as you could go to Baker Beach. I wasn't aware, but apparently that is where nudists like to hang out. There were like 3-4 groups of men that were j chillin butt naked...kinda weird, kinda funny. Whatever! Still such a fun experience for sure.

As far as people, it seemed like everyone was either super rich or super poor - lots of strange homeless people encounters but you'll find that in every city.

As far as weather, it was way colder than I expected. I wasn't aware that it's typically warmer in Cleveland during this time of the year than it is in San Fran! It was like high-sixties, low-seventies. Everyone was saying we were lucky to experience such good weather but I didn't wear shorts, and had a jacket on almost the whole time I was there and I thought it was pretty cold (especially at night.)

Key takeaway: there are a lot of "garlic fries" in San Fran and you must order them everywhere you go.

Puccini & Pinetti
This is the first spot my boss and I went after starving on an airplane for hours, it was literally across the street from our hotel. We LOVED the bruschetta appetizer that came with goat cheese and this warm bread drizzled with balsamic glaze. After that, I of course ordered the clams and linguine and my boss, Rin, got the pappardelle - both were really good. So good that we in fact reheated our leftovers with a blowdryer in the hotel room the next morning. That was fun.

Super Duper Burgers
This west coast burger chain is what's up. It sort of reminded me of Shake Shack! There were sesame seeds on the bun which sucks because I'm allergic but I was feeling dedicated so I literally scraped every single one off before eating. I seriously loved the garlic fries and all of the different sauces you could order on the side. ALL ABOUT DAT SAUCE, always.

The Old Siam Thai Restaurant
​I walked past this spot on my first night and saw tons of people eating really good looking Thai food through the window. We decided to head here for lunch after discovering it and it didn't disappoint. I ordered the pad see ew and I loved it. The spring rolls were bomb too. There were jars of different sauces and powders on every table and the service was really good as well.

Scoma's - Fishermans Wharf
Fisherman's Wharf was a really cute part of town near the water and this restaurant was tucked away back on one of the piers. Their tag line is actually "from pier to plate" which it thought was cute. There's tons of local fisherman fare on the menu, but I'm allergic to fish so I wasn't able to try it! I could immediately tell upon entering the restaurant that it's the kind of place that serves good food - the waiters kind of dress like butlers too which gave off a fancy feelin'. The clam chowder was amazing, and so was the clam pasta. Can you tell that I like clams?? 

AT&T Park
We went to a Giants game which was really cool because the home run porch is basically the water. Home run balls land in the bay and kayakers paddle over to claim their prize, lol. I was super hungover so we didn't make our way to a ton of food spots but there was some cool looking Asian food stands. I got a Giants Dog vs the regular ballpark dog because it was beef and pork instead of just beef and I think it tasted way better than the original one that Bryant ordered, but that's just me. It was longer and skinnier than the other one and obviously, less beefy. Also, there was someone walking through the stands selling churros which I thought was awesome because you usually just see cotton candy and peanuts. I was very jealous of everyone walking around with chicken fingers that looked like the definition of perfectly crispy, greasy chicken fingers.

Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar
We stopped in here for a few drinks and a quick bite to eat and I'm so glad we did. If you're from CLE, it's just like Porco Tiki Lounge, but bigger with a pool in the center. Every 20 or 30 minutes it rains into the pool and there's thunder storm sounds - SO COOL. It legit felt like we were getting drunk the the jungle. (PS - it's inside of a hotel so it's not something you'll see or recognize from the street!) We ate the vegetable pot stickers, chicken wings and spring rolls. All three items were so sooo good and the drinks were on point too.

​

Everything is better between two slices of bread. I remember the day my family made the big switch from white to wheat bread. I hated it at first but as time went on I started to love it and my favorite kind has always been Brownberry Bread's Whole Grains: 100% Whole Wheat. That said, I am so excited to be working with them on this post!! Tap the product to learn more details about the bread and to see what other products Brownberry Bread offers. 

Also, homemade macaroni and cheese is where it's at. I make it from scratch a couple of different ways, but this method is seriously SO cheesy and stringy which is perfect for when you need the noodles to stick together in certain recipes. 

I think that I might like wontons better than dumplings. There's more noodle to them once they are folded up and that's what it's all about. If you want to see more visual details for how to make this one, there's a highlight reel on my Instagram page as well as a video that's posted to my feed. You don't have to use pork, I just prefer pork in all of my wontons/dumplings since it's the most fatty and flavorful meat in my opinion.

My favorite wontons EVER are from Szechuan Gourmet in CLE's Asia Town, and these remind me of them! At one point, I ate lunch there every Friday for five weeks in a row. #TrueStory

What you'll need:
Wontons:

• 30-ish square wonton wrappers (circle shaped won't work!)
• 1 lb ground pork (you can sub chicken, beef or veggies here)
• 1 large egg
• 3 scallion stalks, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
  
• 1 small ginger root (about the size of a garlic clove), minced
• 2 tbsp shaohsing cooking wine (you can sub rice vinegar if you don't have access to an Asian shopping market)
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1/2 tbsp white pepper

Spicy Sauce:

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp neutral oil like vegetable or sesame
• 2 tsp Chinese black vinegar
• 2 tbsp chili oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 scallion stalk, finely chopped