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Since we converse on here, why not chitchat and share elsewhere, no? Let us start pinning. Find my boards and I here. Like you may expect, a majority of my boards circle back to food & drink (duh!).

verlasso salmon hosts culinary cook-off, chef shola crowned champ

It goes without saying—but I must—that it is always a pleasure to spy Chef Shola Olunloyo concocting his next culinary masterpiece. 

The most recent mingling occurred at Samuels and Son Seafood's Gourmet Kitchen, when Verlasso Salmon hosted their sustainable seafood-infused Chef Challenge.

Who did Chef Shola battle-it-out against, you ask? Chef Terence Feury—who is also—another local culinary heavy-hitter that constantly wows are tastebuds.

Full tasting and cook-off report here.

a visit to the chestnut hill cheese shop

I recently spent a summery weekday morning haunting around the Chestnut Hill Cheese Shop. The operating duo (Daniel Weiss & John Ingersoll) are the kind of gentlemen you want slicing and shaving your cheese — friendly and knowledgeable, respectful of the product and incredibly helpful in pinpointing what you’re looking for.

Click here for my full tasting report of my recent visit. Be warned—co-owner Daniel does tip you off to many of his cheesy favorites.

recipe: brew-infused apple sticky buns

I recently scribed a guest post for In Search of Beer, Ryan Hudak's website that details his on-going feat for sampling new beers, all while sharing everything hop-associated, including brew news, event recaps, and even, recipes for cooking and baking with beer. 


Since I too am always on the hunt for the next best beer and strive to incorporate beer in everything possible (talking in dinner, in desserts, and of course, in cocktails), I decided to contribute editorial that tied my love for my PA Dutch culture with my obsession of baking–all of which had to be splashed with beer, of course.


Click here to read up on my time-consuming methods of crafting from-scratch Pennsylvania Dutch Sticky Buns–a recipe I particularly enhanced with fresh apples and extra-special bitter beer. If you can squeeze in the time, for all the glory of dough kneading and dough rising, I promise you that these sweet breads are always a crowd-pleasing hit.

holiday cookie swaps and bacon chocolate chunk biscotti

There are no elaborate rules to the holiday cookie swap that I host with my best friend. While we together take baking very seriously, an affair that is themed around a sugary spread of everyone's favorite cookies should never be a tense event.

So, if you're a cookie party virgin, do not skip asking for an invitation to our next sweet treat gathering. Whether you're an experienced kitchen crusader or you briefly dabble in dessert-making, no one acts as critics in this get-together, but instead, attendees appreciate each and every contribution, requesting recipes for this and that, aiming to simplify their holiday baking by providing having a fine, diverse take-home sampling for their upcoming parties–or simply, to steal bites from throughout the Christmas season.

For this year's holiday cookie party, I opted to whip up two brand-new recipes for our guests' pleasure. Sometimes, I have lofty baking ideas, and with slim time to actually concoct fine jewels of desserts, they typically end in disasters.

But, I promise you, the following two recipes are crowd-pleasers, perfect to take to any cookie share—even one of those that all bakers spend entire afternoons prepping for, designing their cookies and their plates, stressing over if their hard-worked contributions will be a raging success.

brunch at cafe luna of cambridge, massachusetts

Until I reached age 23, I never had brunch. Seriously.

I had breakfast, I had lunch, no brunch. I even, when working as a food writing intern in college, mentioned to my editor, "who really goes to brunch?" Her response? "Everyone."

Call me a late bloomer, but do know that while it took me far too long to embrace brunching habits, I am now incredibly hooked.

On a recent excursion to Boston, a pursuit with a purpose to explore another state's beer and attend a Beer Advocate fest (full report here), we stumbled upon a popular brunch spot in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

Cafe Luna, petite and packed with endless one-of-a-kind creations that would send any food lover's heart a-flutter, is a go-to spot for local students looking to snag weekend brunch (which also means, they always have quite a wait!). 

Thank god for the hospitality of one delightful manager, we were able to cozy up our six-top outdoors in the summer sun and enjoy a wide sweet and savory sampling. From our lineup of S’mores and Banana Split French Toast, Lemon Curd Topped Berry Waffles, Surf and Turf Eggs Benedict, and their signature “Everything But the Kitchen Sink” breakfast meat platter, we were able to experience a full showing of what the charmed cafe had to offer.

But, if you allow me to digress for one extra moment: The show-stoppers of CL are the sake-swirled Bloody Marys—you’ll forever be addicted and I must leave you with just that bold statement.

fried sweet bologna sandwich, served up at kutztown folk fest

I am a strange soul, especially when it comes to eating sausages.


I blame it on my past vegetarian diet; the consistency alone terrifies me. But, the taste, especially found in a finely crafted sausage blends, is something I go gaga for and for that reason alone, I continuously attempt to overcome my annoying quirk of straying away from tubes of mouthwatering meats.


So this year, when myself and my dear friend Melissa were attempting to sacrifice any healthy eating habits to explore all the Pennsylvania Dutch eats that Kutztown Folk Festival, I was stuck in a pickle. Was inhaling a hunk of bologna as bad as I thought? This particular (seemingly pleasure-some) piece was served up fried and thick, staring its sink-your-teeth-into-me consistency right in my scared face. 


The gang flipping the "patties" on the griddle were pretty darn jolly, too--how bad could this "can't-leave-the-fest-without-it" gut-buster be?


But, with my traditional grub lover by my side, an idea sparked. If you load anything with sauerkraut, particularly locally-butchered and -smoked meats, any first-time-noshing experience will be enjoyable (we promise). 

And on that fateful day, it was. Juicy and tender, packaged with a purpose, this bologna blew my mind (not exaggerating here, folks). Boasting with confidence, I must say that this Melissa-and-Amy variety of the 'wich plopped with sweet-and-sour "icing" on the "meat cake" steals the Kutztown show!


We suggest if ever going to a local German food fest, never skip the fried bologna, and don't forget a hearty squirt of mustard, either.