One of my favorite parts of coming to New York is the beautiful kitchen I get to work out of. Dark wood and granite tiles aside, it has an open flame stove, super high tech oven and all the little knicks and knacks a cooking lover would want - hand blender, food processor, juicer, panini maker, etcetc. Of the things that it doesn’t have (a grill, baking pans of all shapes & sizes), we definitely plan on adding in the near future or as soon as I move to NY. I love how easy the space is to clean, how the dishwasher actually works and that it’s open to the rest of the living room, so I can watch Food Network as I’m stirring up my latest batch of double chocolate chip cookies.

Last winter I spent three weeks in this little slice of heaven and I think the boyfriend and I both gained 10+ pounds in the process. No amount of running we do offsets the ridiculous amounts of butter and sugar we consume as a result of my baking adventures. Sooo I’ve decided to make a change for the better this holiday season and start researching/ creating gluten free or healthy alternatives to my favorite treats. Even though this is the quickest of all my trips so far, I’m hoping to whip up some goodies that the bf can vacuum store and either take as snacks on trips or just munch on between making mixtapes.

Here are some healthy recipes for brownies, twice-baked cantuccini and kale chips if you’re interested. It’s been a long time coming since people have recommended that I start a food/culinary blog so maybe that will become my second tumblr account :)

I’m off to bond with the oven as the bf whips up a surf & turf for dinner. Expect some grainy cell phone pictures to follow since I don’t have my SLR camera with me. xo