Favorites: Dinner Kits from Good Eggs

I'm so excited to partner with Good Eggs to bring you a preview of their new Weeknight Dinner Kit launching on April 16th. I've tried other meal kits before and there were always two things I didn't like about them--too much wasteful packaging and it took at least an hour to prep and cook. When I received the Good Eggs Weeknight Dinner Kit, I was so happy to see that the box was small, the ingredients were minimally packaged, and any packaging material that was required was compostable.

The kit came with 3 dinners and each one literally took only 10-15 minutes of prep time. Each recipe is clearly marked A, B and C with corresponding labels on the ingredients. It was easy to distinguish and separate for storing in the fridge.

I decided to make the Mint Pesto Pasta with Spring Peas and Green Garlic first. Initially I thought it wasn't enough food but turns out I had some pesto leftover so I could make a lunch the next day. Score! Lucas and Theo LOVED it! They never had mint and arugula pesto before and they kept asking for more. Score again! The meal came with a giant salad and a yummy red vinaigrette.

Love this on the box!

I also got a Buh-Bye Box to encourage being fully present at the dinner table.

Thanks Good Eggs for the amazing Finishing Salt from Omnivore.

And thank you again for the Fresh 2016 Harvest Olio Nuovo from Other Brother. It was perfect for drizzling at the end of the

I highly recommend this dinner kit for busy families. It's absurdly fresh, easy, and delicious.

Here are more details of the Good Eggs Weeknight Dinner Kit:

• Customers who sign up for the dinner kit receive 3 meals, which can be ordered and delivered at the same time as their weekly groceries (subscription not required).
• Kit options change weekly
• Cost is $69.99
• Promotional pricing in April and May: $49.99 (use code DINNERKIT20 for $20 off your first kit)
• 1 meal = 3 servings
• Each weekly menu comes with a Good Eggs seasonal green salad mix and dressing that can be paired with any meal. (pairings suggested on recipes)
• This spring, there will be 2 omnivore meals and 1 vegetarian
• Coming later this year: vegetarian, paleo and other options

+ Ceramic bowls by Colleen Hennessy
+ Napkins by Sweetgum Textles
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Baking with an 8-year old

Have you ever met a kid (not your own) who reminds you of yourself when you were their age? For me, that's my friend Lisa's daughter Zoya because she loves to bake. Remember when I baked with her when she was only 6 years old? Now Zoya is 8 and she still loves to bake as much as she did two years ago. When I was little, I loved to bake all kinds of things, but it was usually from a Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines (whichever was on sale) box where all I did was add eggs and oil to the mix.

A few weeks ago I invited Zoya to come over to bake. She chose to bake a carrot cake and used this recipe from a DIY post I did for Oh Happy Day. It was fun and messy and perfectly imperfect!

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Banchan Workshop No. 5

Lately I've been having a love affair with kimchi. We've been eating it at least twice a week with rice, seaweed, and a stack of tofu slices dipped and pan fried in egg--an easy weeknightmeal (perfect for #meatlessmonday).

I had so much fun a few weeks ago shooting Banchan Workshop #5 for Selina at SKYCreatives at the EatWith kitchen studio in San Francisco. Unlike Banchan Workshop No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4, this workshop was all about making one dish--KIMCHI. The guests were so much fun and included some old and new friends including Shu from Aplat who also sponsored the event with her amazing totes, Leslie from Spotted SF, and my friend Carrie and her husband Chris (the class was her Valentine's Day gift to him!).

Here are some of my favorite shots. You could find more details, photos and recipes on the SKYCreatives blog and on her Instagram @skycreatives.

Shujan Bertrand, owner of Aplat, sponsored the event with one of her tote bags for each guest. It was my first time meeting Shu, and she was so sweet, easy going and kind. Stay tuned for an Instagram giveaway for one of her totes.

These cucumber ones were my absolute fave!

Selina's mom showing everyone how it's done.

Delicious kimchi pancakes!

Selina in action

+ Find more Korean food inspiration on Instagram @skycreatives
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Banchan Workshop No. 4

It was that time again--another opportunity to attend, pig out, oh and shoot photos for Banchan Workshop No. 4 hosted by Selina Lee of Skycreatives and Feastly. Remember Banchan Workshop No. 2 and No. 3? This time the workshop was held at the beautiful Feastly studio in San Francisco. With its flood of natural light and high ceilings, the space was a really nice backdrop for all the delicious food and fun guests.

Here are some of my favorite shots. Tons more details, photos and recipes on Skycreatives.

Love how Selina decorated with succulents for each guest sitting on top of Korean newspapers with white paint strokes.

Lots of goodies donated by the awesome Whole Foods Market Berkeley and Allegro Coffee from Whole Foods Market Gilman.

Look how cute my friends Nancy and Meg are!? ;)

View fullsize

Selina doing her thing.

Um, drooling! I need to make this for my kids!

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Banchan Workshop No. 3

A few weekends ago I had the opportunity to attend and shoot photos at the Banchan Workshop No. 3 at The Berkeley Kitchens hosted by Selina Lee of Skycreatives and Feastly. Remember Banchan Workshop No. 2 and how delicious and fun that was? I love Korean food!

If you missed this sold out class, Selina and Feastly will be hosting Banchan Workshop No. 4 (Korean Street Food) on September 26th in San Francisco. Sign up here.

Love these tea towels by Vintage Create Room

Fluffy rolled egg demo

Would love to try making these Korean meatballs with ground turkey.

How cute are these mini bibim bap bowls with quail eggs? I could have eaten every one of those bowls -- so good!

Dessert included almond petits fours by Cakes Made by M.E. and coffee by Blue Moby Coffee.

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Recipe: Easy Swedish Chocolate Cake

I recently went to a craft night at my good friend Lisa's beautiful house where my other good friend Lisa taught us how to make simple beaded necklaces. I offered to make a dessert but realized I didn't have a lot of time to get too fancy. But if you know me, I love baking, but it had to be something simple. I went straight to my new cookbook Top with Cinnamon by Izy Hossack, a rad 19-year old who bakes amazing things and takes gorgeous photos of it all.

I love chocolate cake and this Swedish Chocolate Cake could not have been easier to whip up. With only six ingredients plus some powdered sugar for dusting, I was able to bake this amazing cake in under 30 minutes. Done and done. I loved this cake and the girls at craft night did too. Think brownie but with a molten chocolate center. No frosting necessary! Yum!

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Recipe: The Yummiest Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

When Nick and I first met over 12 years ago, he told me his all time favorite cookie was oatmeal raisin. Cute, right? Well, since then I've tested out several different recipes (I even burned my arm pretty badly trying to make these for him), but none have quite been my hands down favorite. Until now. While perusing through my friend Sarah's blog Snixy Kitchen (amazing photos and recipes by the way), I did a search on oatmeal raisin cookies and found one to try. With only two minor modifications -- adding more raisins and adding nutmeg (a little America's Test Kitchen tip) -- I literally ate five cookies once they were cool enough to touch. They were SO good. I made them again several times after that just to be sure my stomach wasn't lying to me. Yep. they were that good again and again -- crispy on the outside and not too thick or chewy.

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Apple Picking with Lucas and Theo

The last time we went apple picking was about three years ago somewhere near Boston on a rainy weekend with our good friends. Lucas was only about 16 months old and we made a triangle trip by train (Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C.) to visit some dear friends. One of my favorite things we did was go apple picking.

A couple of weekends ago we discovered Gabriel Farm, the cutest organic apple farm in Sebastopol. The family farm features eight varieties of Asian Pears, several varieties of Apples, Fuyu Persimmons, Lavender, Plums, and many sorts of berries. Sadly, due to the drought, the apple picking season was cut short, but I'm glad we made it on the last day of the season. I was so happy to have found this place -- it was just the right size for Lucas and Theo to run around and not get lost or in trouble, pick Fuji Apples (my all time fave!), take a stroll, and taste some of the best fruit we've ever had. Plus, we were able to meet up with Nana and Grandad there (they live about ten minutes away) which was a total bonus. We are definitely going to make this an annual tradition.

This pretty much sums up Theo and Lucas' personalities.

This too -- Lucas is always running and Theo is always eating.

I absolutely LOVE these shots of Theo -- he doesn't know I'm there and I spotted him examining his apple and then trying so hard to devour the heck out of it. Too cute!

Silly monkeys

Theo and Lucas adore Grandad.

If you get a chance to visit Gabriel Farm in Sebastopol, I'd highly recommend it. Fuyu Persimmon picking starts October 25th!

What are your plans for the weekend? We have a birthday party and a retirement party to attend, as well as hosting a movie night in our yard.

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Recipe: Best Granola Ever

I love making granola but haven't done so in a long time. And now I think I have found my favorite granola recipe ever. Ever. I literally ate half the granola from the baking sheet as soon as it was cooled down. It's a recipe from Erin Scott's new book Yummy Supper. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at her book signing last weekend at the Edible Schoolyard. She was super sweet and enthusiastic about me making her granola. In her book, she actually says that it's obnoxious to be so boastful about this recipe. But honestly, it really is the best ever and is now my go to granola recipe. So far my kids, my neighbor's kid, and a couple of my coworkers have said it was super tasty. I like to eat it plain, with almond milk, or on top of Greek yogurt.. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Reasons why I love this recipe so much:
+ It's gluten free (I'm not GF, but I do experiment a lot with gluten free baking/cooking)
+ It's super easy, portable, healthy, adaptable, and very forgiving
+ You can swap out different nuts and seeds based on your tastes or what you have available (I'll be making another batch without nuts so Lucas and Theo could bring to school)
+ It's only sweetened with honey

Oh, and couple of minor modifications I made only because it's what I had on hand:
+ I omitted the dry milk powder, but I will definitely try it the next time.
+ I added dried tart cherries (I loved them but my kids picked them out)
+ I added millet for some extra crunchy texture
+ I used whole almonds instead of slivered

+ Click here for a printable PDF
+ Photos by me
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Recipe: Apricot Galette

Lately, I have been baking these simple fresh fruit galettes for dinner parties at friends' homes. They're surprisingly easy to make and everyone always says they are beautiful and tasty. Inspired by an apricot and strawberry galette recipe by Caitlin Fleming, I decided to flip through a few of my cookbooks to find an easy pate brisee recipe for the dough (if you don't have time to make your own dough, I like the frozen pastry crust from Trader Joes). My fruit basket has been overflowing with apricots from the farmers market so that has been my choice of fruit. I love that you could use pretty much any kind of fruit (you may need to squeeze some lemon on some and watch out for extra juices on others like berries). Apricots are also nice for a galette because they're not overly sweet and they're not so juicy that they leak everywhere when done. After testing out a couple of recipes from a few cookbooks, I found the best tasting and easiest recipes to come from the Flour cookbook and the Tartine cookbook. Though I am in love with everything Tartine, I think many of the recipes are a bit complicated and intimidating. So I ended up mixing ingredients and techniques from both cookbooks to come up with this recipe. Hope you like it!

+ Click here for a printable PDF version

+ Check out this recipe for a yummy gluten free version by Snixy Kitchen