My nearest and dearest friends hosted a beautiful baby shower for me last weekend on our rooftop. It felt so good to be surrounded by friends in the spirit of welcoming Oliver. I didn’t lift a finger and they took care of everything making it a picture perfect get together. The details were amazing without being too fussy and we all enjoyed a not-too-hot summer day surrounded by great company.

I’m in the stage of life where it seems like a lot of my friends are getting married or having babies which translates to a lot of showers (which are so fun!). It’s no secret that Pinterest has become a one stop shop for inspiration for small parties like this. I love using it as resource for party planning of any kind whether I’m looking for recipes or DIY decorating ideas. My wonderful friends found a lot of the recipes that they served at my shower using Pinterest and the food was crazy delicious. Our menu included baked Mac n’ Cheese, Wedge Salads, Heart-shaped Cornbread, Fresh Corn & Vegetable salads, Mexican Cokes, and an amazing home-made Lemon Poppyseed Cake.

I’ve been working on organizing my recipes on Pinterest aiming to create the perfect place to go for food inspiration and recipes.  Check out my page here where you’ll be able to snag a few recipes for your next party or weekly meal lineup.

Thanks Angie for sending over these photos!

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I had the awesome opportunity to make a visit to the Today Show this week and share a serious BBQ lineup. It was the Today Show’s first day back from the London Olympic coverage and an exciting day to be there. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that I’d be cooking with gold medalist (and 15 year old!!!) Katie Ledecky in addition to Al Roker. Katie was fresh off her Olympic gold win and on her way back home to Maryland to get ready for her sophomore year….in high school. I’ve never felt so old. It was amazing to see a gold medal and meet a gold medalist in person. The amount of work that must go in to perfecting your sport is incomprehensible. She was really lovely and sweet and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to cook for a champion. Let’s get this girl on a Wheaties box! 15 years old and a gold medalist?! I think we have a female Michael Phelps in the making. (FYI – she was 3 when Phelps won his first gold in the Sydney Olympics)

I always enjoy my time at the Today Show and this experience was no exception. I was excited to share such a fun recipe lineup that is perfect for the last few weeks of summer. The ribs are smoky and sweet incorporating both a rub and a sauce, which I’m a huge fan of. I have been making this corn salad for years and the baked beans are a great side dish that utilize pantry staples. It’s a delicious menu that can be pulled off indoors, while still embracing the classic flavors of summer BBQ. Find all of the recipes here.

Right after I wrapped up at the Today Show I was hospital bound to spend the day with our boy. The NICU is used to seeing me in grungy clothes with my hair in a messy ponytail and maybe a smidge of mascara. When I checked in on Monday, the front desk nurse had to do a double take and commented on how I was so “done up” that she hardly recognized me! Oh dear. These past two months filled with daily hospital visits are starting to weigh on me. Oliver is doing awesome and getting so close to being ready to come home. We’re hopefully days away from walking out of that hospital with a baby in our arms. I’m so excited I can hardly stand it.

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…for the 45th Pillsbury Bake-Off contest. I’ve always wanted to witness the world famous competition for home cooks and the experience didn’t disappoint. This cooking tradition has existed since 1949 and the prize money has worked its way up to 1 million dollars! The Bake-Off is now held every two years and is a dream for any home cook to be selected as one of the 100 finalists from the tens of thousands of entries.

The beginning of the event started off with a grand march where all of the cooks marched to their stations. Each person gets the same cooking equipment and tools to work with. They can’t bring anything into the room/cooking stadium with them, but Pillsbury provides their recipe and all of the ingredients. They have 3 hours to cook and 3 chances to make their dish. One will be used for tasting amongst the judges, the other for presentation, and the last recipe is usually used for tastings. Because they have quite a bit of time, the event is a blast and the competing cooks seemed to be more laid back that I had anticipated. They took pictures, answered questions, and were just extremely friendly. I walked the floor and tasted some fabulous food and even got to meet the Pillsbury Doughboy who gave me that trademark giggle when I poked his tummy!

The winner(s) were announced today and I would highly suggest checking out the recipes. These are the best of the best home cooks in America and for 1 million dollars the overall winning recipe is bound to be delicious!

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Something must be in the water because everyone I know seems to be having a baby! My good friend Casey is due in just over a month and we showered her this past weekend with gifts, games, and a whole lot of bacon. I headed up the food effort for the baby shower and had a blast.

I actually get a lot of questions from people about “what to cook for a shower.” There are a couple of recipes that I think are tried and true winners but it’s always fun to think outside of the box as well. Our game plan was brunch and I knew that I would be trekking food for 30 from one side of Manhattan to the other (literally). So in addition to picking my favorite recipes, I had to pick recipes that could be transported by only 2 people strategically packed in IKEA bags (thanks Robby). Trust me…this was tricky. After mapping out a decent game plan the menu was set. My sweet sister Kylie, who is also a big fan of mama to be Casey, designed the invitations and a menu for us that was framed and put on the food table. She’s also responsible for the adorable cake banner.

A few of the recipes were original and a few were favorites from friends. My personal favorites were the Savory Cheesecake and Candied Bacon on a Stick. The fruit salad with mint is a fantastic recipe found by Kathryn that I’ve been using ever since she brought it to a Central Park picnic. The Bacon, Cheddar, & Chive Biscuits and the Lemon Curd used in the tartlettes are both from season 1 of Kelsey’s Essentials. Because I will never make cake as good as Amy’s Bread and it’s Casey’s favorite, we all finished off the celebration with the most delicious and decadent Devil’s Food Cake in the world. Guests were sent home with a darling box of homemade Maple Nut Popcorn that was inspired by good ole’ fashioned Cracker Jacks.

Congrats Casey! We can’t wait to meet baby Harper!

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For anyone who lives in the Big Apple and is up for a (FREE) cooking class all about cookies held at the largest department store in the world and classic NYC landmark- join me at Macy’s tonight where I’ll be sharing my best tips and techniques for holiday cookies. I’ll be demo-ing a  couple of recipes and get into the specifics on how to throw an amazing cookie swap. The class will take place on the bottom floor in the Cellar Kitchen from 6:00 – 7:00 pm. It’s open to everyone and I’d love to see you all there!

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