My Other Love

I like to say I have three passions in life: Books, makeup, and food.

My career choice, which I've mentioned before, shows the first. This blog is more than enough proof that I love makeup. But I don't know that I've really talked about food on here.

I love food. There. I said it. I don't love food in the "I'm going to eat my feelings and shovel as much in my mouth as I can at once" kind of way that so many Americans these days seem to be guilty of. I love food as art. I savor the way flavors meld together in my mouth, delight in making something with the perfect texture, and drool over pictures of delectable morsels. I make almost everything from scratch, and I get a satisfaction from this kind of food that I can never get from even the tastiest frozen or takeout foods.

I've only been in my apartment for 3 days, and I've already taken the kitchen by storm. I missed having a kitchen that was just mine, after the past year of stepping on my mom's toes whenever I was in the kitchen. (I will say she was quite gracious about having to share with me!) I wanted to share with you a few of the things I've made so far:

1. Homemade Spaghetti Sauce - the addition of a bit of brown sugar over white plus a splash of balsamic vinegar at the end really make this sauce special.

2. "Mexican" Scrambled Eggs and Bacon - I mix salsa right into the beaten egg mixture, and then sprinkle in some Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese when the eggs are about 75% set. This is one of my go-to breakfasts, but I did breakfast for dinner for me and CDBP the night I moved in.

3. Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries and Bananas - This is absolutely DIVINE. I use cinnamon instead of the Chinese 5 Spice and replace the normal milk with unsweetened vanilla almond milk. I also left out the nuts and the orange zest since I didn't have those on hand, but this is the kind of recipe that is soooo flexible. You could totally use dried fruit in the winter or other fresh fruits (peaches would be AMAZING).

4. Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes - These are a longtime favorite of mine, and CDBP requested them as a (belated) birthday dessert. I used to make them practically every other week when I was in college. I didn't have a single friend that didn't love them, and I'm pretty sure these babies were what made the guys I lived with a few summers ago put up with me so well!

5. Corn Chowder - Oh my what. This stuff was SO. FREAKING. GOOD. Topped with crispy bacon and sprinkling of cheddar cheese? DROOL. It's super easy to make but does require a decent amount of chopping (and grating a potato). I chopped all the veggies in the early afternoon that way when I went to make it that evening everything was ready for me. CDBP ate like 3 bowls of this stuff last night, and when I asked him what he thought of it all I got was a muffled "Mmmmmm" between shoveling spoonfuls into his mouth. I think he might have liked it ;)

Are any of you fellow foodies? Share your favorite recipes and blogs down below!!

XOXO Samantha