For weeks I’ve been studying pasta salad options, drooling over visions of Hawaii-style macaroni salad, a vinegar forward Italian pasta salad with olives and salami, or an herbaceous pesto salad packed full of fresh vegetables.

Weather: 60 degrees, steady rain What I’m listening to: Disney Channel During fishing season, I get a lot of requests for salmon and halibut recipes. I think back to all the summers past, scanning through the recipe box in my mind of flavors and fish and food memori...

I made a rustic blueberry rhubarb galette and it’s one of my favorite rhubarb preparations to date. I love making galettes because they’re quicker, simpler, and more freeform than making a traditional two crust fruit pie. Nothing about it needs to be perfect.

Foil packet meals are awesome for summer, whether you’re around the campfire, using your outdoor grill, or roasting them in the oven on a rainy day. Family and friends can all get involved in assembling their own packets, loading up on their favorite vegetables and getti...

During breakup season, we Alaskans break up with a lot of things. We break up with slushy roads and icy conditions. Good riddance. We break up with prolonged darkness and nights so black the constellations glow and the northern lights dance. We break up with the daily ordeal o...

A couple of weeks ago I got to spend four days up in Anchorage participating in a food styling photo shoot with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, cooking and styling some of the most incredible seafood and local Alaska Grown produce this fine state has to offer, alongside my...

Weather: 50 degrees, overcast What I’m listening to: Raging Fire, Phillip Phillips No camping trip is complete without s’mores around the campfire. Or at least that’s what I might have said prior to this last Memorial Day Weekend, the same weekend our famil...

Weather: 25 degrees, an inch or two of fresh snow What I’m listening to: Say Something, A Great Big World I was watching the second episode of ABC’s The Taste. The challenge for the cheftestants was to cook “your life on a plate.” One pla...

Weather: 1 degree, looks like it’s thinking about snowing What I’m listening to: Wild Rivers Horchata recipes vary widely from country to country and region to region. Some recipes call for nuts like almonds, others call for seeds or barley. The horchata that I l...

Weather: 34 degrees. Orange glow of sunset, clear skies. What I’m listening to: Rio – Music from the Motion Picture One of the things I miss most about California is the Mexican food. When I was in college in San Diego, I had authentic Baja-style Mexican food sev...

I had a night off from the restaurant, so I asked my wife what she wanted to do for ‘date night.’ “I want to make pizza,” she replied ahead of a long pause. “Mushroom pizza. With goat cheese.” My brain started buzzing with a recipe taking sh...

Tater tot casserole is not a dish I grew up with. I didn’t even know it was a thing. I also didn’t know that in places like Minnesota, it’s called tater tot hot dish.

If you’re looking for a show-stopping appetizer to serve at an upcoming holiday gathering, look no further than this crab artichoke dip.

My wife grew up making peanut butter balls every holiday season. She remembers mixing together the butter, peanut butter, and powdered sugar until it forms a dough that can be rolled into bite-sized balls.

Fair warning: this eggnog recipe contains raw eggs. It also contains lots of booze, which acts as a sterilizer and a preservative for the eggs and cream.

This soup really does stand out in the crowd. It’s exceptional. And, I bet you just might have some leftover Thanksgiving turkey in the fridge.