We all need a few "wow" recipes in our back pocket for dinner parties and treasured guests. If you're looking for one this holiday season I highly recommend this Pan-Seared Duck Breast with Sour Cherry-Port Sauce. It's a real showstopper, everyone loves it, and it's surprisingly easy to make. The key here is to use the highest quality ingredients. Since I'm presuming you'll make this for a fancy party be sure to go to a good butcher and ask for the freshest, highest quality d

This was a really fun one to film because it put me in the Christmas spirit. This Christmas Lasagna gets its name from the red, white, and green layers. I love it when the dish color coordinates with the holiday! I like to make lasagna during the holidays because it feeds a crowd and can be prepared ahead of time. It also is one of those rare dishes that pleases my whole family. My kids aren't terribly picky eaters, but everyone gets a little particular here and there and it'

Do we ever have enough pasta recipes? I don’t. Now that my children are older, I can make them a little more fun and interesting than just pasta with tomato sauce. This recipe is for a One Pan Creamy Tomato Spinach Pasta, the perfect weeknight meal that even manages to make spinach palatable to the most discerning eater.  I love the ease with which this recipe comes together. It’s so nice to have all the ingredients go into one pan. By the time you reach the last step it’s a

Pasta is a go-to in my house on weeknights. You can dress it up with all kinds of flavors and my kids always, always  eat it. My children are mostly past the age of being small, picky eaters, but they still always love a meal like this Chicken Alfredo Pasta. In a way it’s become comfort food for them because I’ve been making it since they were so little.  Making alfredo sauce can sound intimidating to some people, but I assure you it’s not. This is why I like to film these re

I almost can’t believe it’s taken me this long to film an episode about Chicken Piccata. I’m not lying when I say this is truly one of my family’s favorite recipes. My kids love it and request it regularly. I don’t think I could even calculate how many times I’ve made it at this point. The brilliance in this classic dish is the flavor of bright lemon and capers, a satisfying crispy chicken, and a simple starch like rice or pasta to soak it all up.  I start this recipe like I

I love a simple dinner that uses up leftovers in the fridge and in our house that’s Vegetable Fried Rice. Like most families, we started making this with the leftover rice we’d had from dinner or take-out the night before. We warmed it back up and added it to a skillet with egg, vegetables, and flavorings. It was so easy and it has remained popular in our family ever since.  The cool thing about this dish is that it can really hold almost any leftover vegetable you have in yo

This spring and summer I’m sharing a lot of classic recipes that satisfy and giving them a new twist. For this week’s episode I’m making this with classic summer tuna sandwich and turning it into Mediterranean Tuna Salad. We all love the classic version of tuna salad in our house. It’s makes for a great, easy meal no matter the time of day. My kids like it on toasted bread and served as a sandwich. It can also be served on a nice bed of lettuce or stuffed in an avocado. Somet

Sometimes a nice big plate of sticky wings is the single most satisfying thing you can eat. I really like to make these for snacks because my kids always have friends over and everyone gets really hungry after swimming. Also, if it’s a rainy day, they need something to keep them going while they’re inside hanging out watching sports!  This is a nice, easy recipe because you make the sticky sauce and coat the wings in a big bowl. It’s much easier than trying to baste them whil

I love sheet pan dinners because they make a meal so efficient. The ingredients are cooked on the same pan and the clean-up is so incredibly easy! This Shrimp with Fennel & Chickpeas is one of those sheet pan meals that sounds like it would be complicated because to the multiple ingredients, but it’s actually simple because it’s made on one single pan.   This recipe begins with preparing the ingredients in their bowls. Make sure everything is tossed evenly with the marinade s