The Candid Appetite

Where Cooking Meets Photography

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Easy Dinner Recipes

Stuffed Cabbage Roll Stew

I have two stories to share with you today. Two stories that have pretty much inspired this particular recipe I'm sharing with you all today. The first is that my mom doesn't really like to cook. She'll be the first to admit this. When we were growing up—and before I started cooking at 13 and took over making dinner to help her out—she really just cooked for my sisters and I because she had to. With that being said, she had a certain amount of dishes that she makes very well. They are dishes she ...

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Chicken Spinach Artichoke Skillet Lasagna

I love me some lasagna but the truth is that I hate going through the entire process of actually making it at home. You have to make the meat filling, then the ricotta filling, then the sauce and then shred a bunch of cheese and then boil the noodles and THEN go about layering the thing and it's not even cooked yet. Then it finally goes into the oven and you still have to wait for it to cool down after it's cooked, before you slice and serve it. It's a whole ordeal, and I'm tired just typing and ...

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Shrimp Po’boy Salad

I've been traveling to New Orleans for over three years now every month to work with my friend Joy, and I can't even begin to describe the first time I visited. It's a magical place with warm people and delicious food. The first time I ate a po'boy was with Julian, down at the French Quarter. We each ordered one and then ate them as we walked to a museum and it was magical experience. I always say that po'boys are the world's simplest sandwich, they're made with soft white bread loaves, iceberg ...

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Reuben Sandwich Hot Dogs

The one good thing about summer is that it means grilling season is upon us and we get to take our cooking outdoors for a change. Now, I don't know about you, but I love grilling on warm summer evenings. Whenever I think about grilling, I think about hot dogs, which also makes me think about going to the beach, which makes me think about sandwiches on the sand by the water. I'm taking you on this long twisted path of visualization so that you understand where these Reuben Sandwich Hot Dogs are ...

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Breakfasts To Start Your Day

Kimchi Chilaquiles

I grew up eating chilaquiles all the time! It was one of my favorite things my mom made us on the weekends. I still go to her house and request them. She’d serve them with chorizo scrambled eggs and black beans and some breakfast potatoes. Talk about heaven on earth. They always remind me of…

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Cheers to the Weekend: Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake

It’s not like I need an excuse to eat cake in the morning, because I’m an adult and I can do what I want, but I just feel so much better when I have a legitimate reason to eat sweets for breakfast. Does that make sense? I feel like this Blackberry Lemon Coffee Cake is…

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Shakshuka Bread Bowls

I just recently got into making (and eating) shakshuka. I’ve been seeing it all over the internets and social medias for a while now, and definitely all of last year, and yet I never tried it because I’m the type of person that goes against the things that seem like they’re being pushed down my…

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The Classics: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

My thought is that you can never have too many coffee cake recipes. It’s that ultimate breakfast cake that you can get away with eating first thing in the morning. It always reminds me of elementary school. Getting a giant square slice of crumb cake with a carton of milk. It’s what dreams are made…

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BLT Eggs Benedict

BLT Eggs Benedict is what you get when you want brunch but also lunch, which is basically what brunch is I guess, but still, you know what I mean. It’s when you want a sandwich, but an open-faced sandwich. When you can’t decide between a Breakfast BLT or eggs benedict first thing in the morning….

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Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth

Butterscotch Meringue Pie

Butterscotch Meringue Pie

My husband has the biggest sweet tooth in the world, which sounds like a loaded statement, but it’s actually true. You’ll never find a bigger sweet tooth anywhere around. He specifically has a weakness for butterscotch— anything from pudding, ice cream, cookies, whatever it is it doesn’t matter as long as it’s butterscotch flavored. This…

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Pumpkin Sticky Bun Monkey Bread

Pumpkin Sticky Bun Monkey Bread

I’ve decided to fully give into Autumn this week because there’s no use in fighting it any more. I’d say today was the first chilly day here in Los Angeles (in a long time), which means it was really the first day where I actually felt like Fall has arrived. So it’s time to officially…

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Baked Neapolitan Doughnuts

I know that technically summer is over and we shouldn’t be thinking of or making anything with fresh strawberries at this point of the year, but I just can’t help it. In my defense though, California has some of the best strawberries around and they’re in season all year round, so it makes it a…

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The Classics: Cashew Millionaire Shortbread Bars

I can never be one of those bloggers that plans out their content with a calendar, and get it all figured out weeks or months in advance. I tend to not know what I’m making up until the last minute. This is mainly due to the fact that I usually shoot and post whatever I…

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Peanut Butter S’mores Hand Pies

It is way too hot these days to be dreaming about making s’mores outside on an open fire. The whole outside is like an open fire! LA is complaining about the heat every chance we get (myself included), and so I wanted to bring a classic summer dessert indoors. Away from the sun. Away from…

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Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars

When I was a kid, I would beg mom for money every time I heard the ice cream truck going around the neighborhood. I can’t tell you how many times I would run down the block so I could catch up with him. It was a constant game of trying to get out the door…

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Let’s Cheers to the Weekend!

Cheers to the Weekend: Roasted Sheet Pan Lomo Saltado

It’s time for another installment of my favorite ongoing series on the blog, Cheers to the Weekend! A) because it’s the weekend (finally) and B) because it’s been a while since the last one went up and that just won’t do. It’s also time for another much needed sheet pan dinner recipe. If you recall,…

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Cheers to the Weekend: Chocolate Walnut Tart

Everyone is always going on and on about pecans and chocolate or peanuts and chocolate or almonds and chocolate, but I think it’s high time we give walnuts their time to shine in the spotlight with chocolate. I’ve always been a fan of that combination, and I’ll admit it’s because my all-time favorite thing at…

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Cheers to the Weekend: Black Forest Fudge

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve made and shared a fudge recipe on here, and quite honestly I think this is my biggest regret in life. I figured the only respectable thing I can do to remedy this tragic situation is to share another decadent and delicious fudge recipe ASAP. If you recall, the…

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Cheers to the Weekend: One Skillet Cuban Chicken and Rice

Do you know how sometimes you just really don’t feel like washing dishes? Mostly because you’ve been working all day, but also because you’ve just slaved away for hours cooking dinner, and so the last thing you want to do is stand in front of the sink scrubbing away at the mess you just made….

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Cheers to the Weekend: Caramel Apple Slab Pie

The last slab pie I made on the blog, S’mores Slab Pie, was such a big hit that I decided I needed to try my hand on another variation. It just had to be done (but I’m most definitely not complaining about it). If there’s one thing I’ve learned through the years of blogging, it’s…

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Cheers to the Weekend: Cinnamon Roll Coffee Cake

I’m always so adamant and a firm believer that we all need a weekend cooking and/or baking project that’s a bit more labor intensive. Something that we wouldn’t really try during the week because we don’t have the time or patience after a long day’s work. The weekend is for trying out those new recipes…

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