Birthday season in our house comes on fast and furious, threatening to overwhelm as I teeter the line of wanting all three people in our house that celebrate a birthday in the span of one month to feel cherished and so loved without me losing my mind in the process. Gabe kicks off our birthday season and is the easiest out of the bunch to please. In fact the hardest part is getting him to answer me when I ask, “What do YOU want for your birthday?” He’s not one to think about himself for too long – one of the many things I love and admire about him. But he deserves the day to feel completely spoiled.

So with three days until the actual birthday (I’m not much of a pre-planner), with the helpful nudging of a friend (who is an amazing planner), we decided an informal gathering of a few friends to celebrate. Just the thing Gabe loves. The table was scattered with multiple bowls of chips in assorted varieties, and a warm cheese dip to accompany them. Our bar cart became a free for all for our friends to tap into their creativity to develop a cocktail recipe on the spot. There was also a heaping bowl of tangy dressed greens, garlic and miso bread knots, homemade cool ranch flavored party mix and pizza – not made by me but delivered in a beat up sedan to my front door.

Remember the part about me not losing my mind in the process? That’s where pizza delivery came in. As much as I resisted this notion and was a bit horrified to be serving cardboard scented pizza to Brandon and Molly (you know, the ones who own Delancey which is basically, in my completely not humble opinion, the best pizza created – the White Pie with bacon has my forever devotion), I succumbed to the ease.

In that simple yet hard (for me) act of taking one of the many to-dos off my plate for that day the roof didn’t cave in, I didn’t lose all my food credibility, and no one died. Sure it wasn’t the greatest pizza we’ve ever had but it fed our friends. And it helped me simply be in the moment to celebrate my husband, enjoy our friends and bring them around the table.

Sometimes when we come to the table there’s a feast of tagliatelle cooked until a bit of bite remains. It’s tangled with sausage and onions and capped with fragrant truffle salt. Next to that a zippy chickpea and wild pea salad with bitter radicchio and cherry tomatoes that pop when you bite. To the right of that bowl there’s pork tenderloin bathed in a white wine prune sauce and a towering cream-filled cake for dessert. Then there are times when we come to the table with cheese dip and pizza delivered by a college student hoping for a hefty tip. The important thing is to come to the table, fill the chairs, and savor the company.

This Kimchi Cheese Dip is a promise I made to you all several weeks ago. It’s the same recipe I developed live on our Facebook feed while Gabe and I showed you a couple of our favorite cocktails. It’s also the same dip from Gabe’s party and from the other day when I needed it just because. It’s nacho cheese with a spicy, funky kick and it’s completely addictive. And it’s a great excuse to gather at the table.

*This post is brought you by Me+My. I realize it’s a tricky thing to come and talk to you about such a delicious thing as Kimchi cheese dip and then mention digestive issues but the reality is many people experience some kind of digestive problem, which may be triggered by an enzyme deficiency caused by a combination of age, diet and lifestyle. Me+My and I believe that eating is one of life’s greatest pleasures and that in moderation we should be able to enjoy all the foods we love. Which is why sometimes there’s a place for an all-natural enzyme supplement that provides fast-acting relief while helping to break down food – like say when one eats far too much cheese dip. I mean hypothetically speaking.

Me+My would love for you to try Digest Results™ or Gluten Assist™ for 30 consecutive days and experience the confidence that comes with enjoying the foods you love without digestive discomfort. Pick up Me+My at your local Walmart or visit Trustygut.com for more information. You can also join the conversation on social media with hashtag #TrustYourGut to inspire others to take the 30-DayChallenge.

Thanks so much for supporting the businesses that help support this site. As always the words, recipe, and photos are mine.

Warm Kimchi Cheese Dip

Serves a crowd

Tuck into this dip with crispy bread, crackers or chips. Or slather it on bread for a blow-your- mind grilled cheese or use it on your next pan of nachos.

1 pound grated sharp cheddar

8 ounces cream cheese

2 cups (from a 14 ounce jar) roughly chopped kimchi

2 tablespoons Gochujang (Korean red chile paste) (available at most Asian markets)

2 scallions, thinly sliced

In a large skillet (preferably cast iron or I imagine non-stick would be great here too) add the cheese and melt over medium low heat. Stir often to prevent the cheese from burning.

Stir in the cream cheese until it’s just melted. Add the kimchi and Gochujang then stir well until the dip is completely melted.

Top with scallions and serve while warm. It’s still delicious room temperature but you can also rewarm it as it cools.

Chips, a good Saison, and one of my favorite burgers in Seattle. The makings of a mighty fine party. 

We’re in countdown mode. Some of us are counting down the remaining days of summer that lead to the first day of school with eagerness and delight and then there are others in our house who aren’t. It’s the time of year where we are packing in as much summer into our days as we can and remembering some of our favorite memories from the past three months.

Right now the novelty of those cool, gray days sounds inviting and cozy but enough of those and I’ll be thinking back with great longing to our sun-kissed shoulders and noses as we spent all day at the beach where I showed Roman how to body surf and let little crabs wriggle in between our fingers. And our recent three days sleeping under the stars and ate a sort of camping-style Grand Aioli with dirt under our fingernails and the sound of the waves lapping at the beach as our dinner soundtrack. I’ll long for the laziness of our days where we slept in until the sun peaking through the shades woke us up rather than our alarm clocks. Where “boredom” led us to many trips to the library and helped us discover a new-found love of weaving and yarn arts in general.  

Oh you know, just drinking beer and eating delicious (and spicy!) chips. One of my favorite pastimes.

Skillet’s Fried Chicken and Kale Sandwich with a side of mac and cheese topped with FSTG mulitgrain chips. A perfect pair.

Close to the top of our summer highlight list sits a recent block party that I hosted along with Food Should Taste Good. They believe in crafting better snacks and I can’t help but agree. We also both agree that flavor is king but that doesn’t mean that real and wholesome ingredients need to go out the door. They are committed to making great tasting snacks with real, simple ingredients and they also believe in bringing together people who have a passion for real, good food. That’s why they asked me to partner with them to host a summer soiree in my own backyard.

They looked to me to create the block party of my dreams and we did just that. Friends and local bloggers filled the patio at Hilliard’s while the Skillet Street Food truck was nearby. Because when you ask me to host a party beer, fried chicken, and chips are a must.

Gabe was there to capture the evening filled with laughter, new friends, old friends, great food, amazing beer and so much merriment that made me fall even deeper in love with this little community of ours.

Grilled peaches. The answer is always grilled peaches.

My tip: Start with the Pilsner, then move on to the Saison. The finish off whatever is in your husband’s glass.

I love gathering together new and old friends. Food gets us there, relationships keep us here. 

Molasses BBQ pulled pork chips w/ FSTG Sweet Potato Chips

All of the above photos were taken by my uber-talented husband, Gabe Rodriguez.

We still have a few more summer memories to add to our list. This week we’re welcoming family and friends to our home as we throw open the front door and ask them to help us warm our new home. I’m sure it comes as no surprise that the menu has already been planned and you can be sure the Hot Arugula Dip is on there.

We all know Spinach Dip but I am such a fan of Arugula that I use it in spinach’s place. In return there is a bit of peppery heat and more complexity to the dip. It’s not much of a looker but when hot cheese and chips are involved vanity is a silly thing to worry about.

I hope your summer is making a graceful exit as it’s mixed with a bit of “Yay! You’re almost gone!” and “Oh please don’t go!” Happy memories, a bit of longing for more but excitement about what’s ahead. I think it’s the best way to see something off.

Hot Arugula Dip

Serves 8-10 (as an appetizer)

2 tablespoons butter

½  medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic gloves, minced

8 oz arugula, washed, dried and tough stems removed

1/4 cup milk

4 ounces cream cheese

½ teaspoon black pepper

dash of hot sauce

2 dashes worcestershire sauce

4 ounces grated gruyere cheese

Pita chips or crackers, for dipping

Preheat oven to 425°F degrees.  Grease a small baking dish with butter.

In a large saute pan over medium low heat, add butter, onions and garlic. Sprinkle with salt. Saute for 10 minutes until soft and translucent. Add arugula, in batches as needed, sprinkling with salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper.  Allow to wilt and cook down.  Once wilted, transfer mixture to a bowl.

Warm milk in the same pan, over medium heat.  Mix in cream cheese and allow to melt.  Add back onions and arugula.  Season with black pepper, dashes of hot sauce and worcestershire sauce.   Slowly stir in gruyere cheese, about ½ cup at a time and allow to slowly melt.

Transfer to prepared baking dish and bake on the top rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and golden brown.

Serve warm with chips such as Food Should Taste Good Multigrain or Jalapeno Chips or sliced baguette.

*This post was sponsored by Food Should Taste Good because I can’t help but agree. Check out their family of great tasting food on their site and Facebook page.

Also, check out the great local BBQ I created with Food Should Taste Good. It's my dream BBQ situation using some of my Seattle favorites. 

I had the best intentions of sharing these photos from my trip to Louisiana right after I arrived home in March. But you know life sometimes alters the best laid plans and to be honest I’m still finding my rhythm with this space after being away from it in a scattered sort of a way. I poured all of my creative energy into the book last year and it left little to be shared in this space because my desire was to make the book a reflection of the best of my work at this time in my life. I am pretty damn proud of what I, and a team of great people, created but we’ll talk a lot more about all of that soon. For now let’s travel back in time to when I fell in love with Louisiana.

The wispy moss gracefully dangling from the trees, the smell; fresh and damp, the fire engine red platters towering with crawfish and the mayonnaise with TABASCO for dipping, the slender older gentleman who smiled with his eyes and forced me out of my seat and my comfort to get up and dance – I’m so glad he did, and the passion and history laced throughout the long life of TABASCO. I went on this trip with preconceived notions of this product coming from a seemingly large corporation what I found was a pride that has been passed through the generations in the same way the original recipe has. With its prolonged aging in wood barrels, the particulars with the type of pepper grown and the fact that the CEO tastes the mash (mix of aged mashed pepper and salt) from every barrel, every morning, you can understand why this product has thrived for generations and why this family is a passionate and interesting bunch.

I realize that a vegetable platter with such a simple dip as this is an odd way to mark such a bountiful and southern experience but like I mentioned in the last post; if it gets made again and again I feel a certain bit of duty to come and tell you about, no matter how delayed I am.

This dip was born out of a request to bring a “crudite platter” to a dinner party. At first I balked at its simplicity, wanting to contribute more than just vegetables but then I slowly wandered through the market looking for lesser known vegetable tray fixings and came up with something that made me *gasp* at the beauty and be reminded that food, on its own, with little or no manipulation from me is enough. More than enough.

*My trip to Louisiana and this post were sponsored by TABASCO. As always, the words and recipes are mine.

Spicy Garlic Dip for Fresh Vegetables

1 cup (8 ounces) creme fraiche or sour cream

1 garlic clove, finely minced

2-3 teaspoons Green Jalapeno TABASCO

2 tablespoons finely minced fresh herbs (such as chives, parsley, mint, tarragon and dill)

salt and pepper

Combine the creme fraiche, garlic, TABASCO, and fresh herbs in a small bowl. Season to taste.

Use whatever is in season. So many vegetables, when thinly sliced, can be eaten raw and taste sweet, fresh and bright. Beets add an unmistakable color as do radishes. Fennel is sweet and fun to dip its floppy tendrils into the spicy dip. I love endive; bitter and crisp as well as pea shoots which taste faintly of sweet peas, a bit grassy and also fun to manage its vibrant leaves into the creamy bath.