Local: Umami Restaurant

This is a great spot to grab a bite, a drink, a 3-course meal, or a late night eat.  In short, There’s always a reason to end up here.  Sidenote: The fare is worth the climb, as Umami sits atop a 3-story building on the corner of 38th and Butler Street. Here’s what I recommend:…

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Cranberry Custard Pie with Gingersnap Crust

Each year my man & I undertake an epic 12 hours of feasting.  The day starts at my parent’s. Here, we cheers with hefty glasses of pale pink rose over the sounds of kickoff.  My siblings and I rotate in and out of the kitchen, helping with what we can & making sure all of…

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Bake: Spiced Apple Cider Donuts

Okay, It’s Officially Fall.  It took the steel city a hot second to make it here, but man… was it worth the wait.  It’s been speckled with weeks of glorious autumn afternoons, and then some gloomy stretches that dragged on.  These kinda days, necessitate comfort food.   On the menu: Spiced Apple Cider Donuts.  I used the…

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Autumn: Patio Days & Mulled Cider

Temperatures in Pittsburgh have been on the fritz.  We’ve had one of the warmest Fall’s that I can remember. Sadly, the weather seems to be making up for lost time and a chill is moving in quickly. Assuming it may be one of my last, I spent a long afternoon out back– reading my hard…

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Looking Back: A Morning at the Forsyth Park Inn

My family and I stayed the night in Savannah on our way to St. Augustine.  We always opt for a space that holds a bit of history in it’s walls. (Bonus if it happens to come with a host of ghost stories  & urban legends. )  The Forsyth Park Inn checked all of our boxes…

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Tune in: Fall Scary Movie Lineup

I’ve caught flack for my love of all things spooky for quite some time now.  It’s about time I just own up to it,  I live for a good scary movie.  Sometimes I’ll have an old horror film playing in the background while I cook, and it’s not until someone else is around that I…

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Local: Ineffable Ca Phe

Visit them on Facebook, or at 3920 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15224.   Just a turn off of butler and a little ride up the hill, and you’ll find this gem.  I biked from around 36th & Butler to here, and man– it was a great little way to make it feel like I had earned that…

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Bake: Fluffy Pumpkin Cookies with Praline Crumble

It’s that wonderful time of year again, where baking & feasting reign supreme.  I kicked off my cooking spree with these Fluffy pumpkin cookies.   They are so easy & incredibly satisfying. These treats are topped with my go-to easy icing, which is really just a 3:1 ratio of powdered sugar and your preferred coffee creamer….

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Eat & Drink: The Ice Plant, St. Augustine FL

Set in a 1927 industrial building, this eatery  features a farm to table restaurant and the bar is open for lunch and dinner. Serving grass-fed beef and burgers, local seafood, with vegetarian options and daily specials. Visit them here, online.  OR at 110 Riberia St, St. Augustine, FL 32084.

Autumn DIY: Ultra Healing Whipped Body Butter

As much of a treat as fall can be, it’s also a major period of transition for your skin. The best way to hang onto that glow, is to lock it in now.  Apply a layer of body butter after each and every shower and let it work it’s magic. Vitamin E and Jojoba Oil restore the…

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Getaway: Cottage Weekend with the Crew

For the entirety of my youth I spent my summers at a quaint lake in the countryside of PA.  I would lie on the dock and day dream of what was transpiring back in the city, what fun my friends were getting into.  My family saw our time at the lake as a sacred time…

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