You have probably heard the story already but my sister is the one who pushed me to start. After telling her over and over that I wanted to start a food blog. The last straw for her was when I told her I needed to get a good camera first. She told me to get off my ass and just do it.

Yeah, so I did, within 48 hours, I started DualFood. And while the look has changed over the years. The main reason why I started and why I blog each week hasn't changed. I wanted to share recipes with family and friends. And as readers of DualFood, I consider you my friend.

My friends who come back every week or every so often to read my stories, to make my recipes. I appreciate each and every one of you.

The last seven years, I have had my share of bumps in the road, there were ups and downs. But I'll just reflect on this year. For many, this year has been a huge struggle. Sending you virtual hugs if you're one of those people.

I got really really sick earlier this year and it turned out to be tuberculosis. I was sick for months, not getting answers and when I finally did, it was a huge relief. That relief didn't come until I got rid of the denial of the diagnosis though. I didn't want to believe it because they weren't able to figure it out for a long time so why should I believe them now? The maze of doctors, tests and having to take a huge amount of medication led me to not be able to work for 3+ months.

While I wouldn't wish this on anyone, my illness changed my perspective, for the better. I'm not worried about the little things that used to bother me. I'm over it. And truly, I'm grateful for you, my friends. And for my in real life friends who stuck by me. Because some couldn't, some weren't able to. And I don't fault them in any way, sometimes things come to an end. And that's okay too.

Because like one of my good friends has said so many times, life is too short for crappy food and crappy friends.

I finished all of my medication for the TB in October and just had a follow-up CT scan…which I'm hoping will be my last for a while. I have also thought about sharing with you all about my treatment and my hospital stay. It was my first time in an ER (as the patient) and my first time in the hospital (as the patient) and it opened up a whole new understanding for me, on our healthcare system and just dealing with the amount of doctors and nurses. I'm still letting that swirl in my head so you'll see it here if I decide to share.

Things I have learned over the years:

• You can't make anyone happy nor can anyone make you happy…YOU have to do that for yourself.
• You can't care what others think, it's such a waste of time.
• Make sure you do what you love, don't be a jerk (unless someone deserves it) and take care of yourself and the ones you love.
• Listen to your body when it tells you to slow down. This goes along with taking care of yourself.

As we get nearer to the end of 2016, I hope you'll enjoy this holiday season and have an awesome 2017 filled with happiness and good health!

The post Celebrating 7 Years of Blogging... appeared first on DualFood.

Three years…it's hard for me not to get all sentimental on you. I started DualFood to just share recipes with family and friends. Never in a million years did I think this would turn into a career for me nor did I ever think that a number of food bloggers would become my best friends. It's been so amazing and fun and inspiring…so I hope you bear with me as I reflect…

1. comments

Bloggers love feedback in the form of comments – I love hearing from people who try the recipes I develop and post. It's really neat to hear all about it and always great to get constructive criticism. I wanted to share with you the best ever pinterest caption I have got when someone pinned one of my recipes but I can't seem to find it so I dug up this comment I received last year on Easy Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes Recipe I posted. I chuckled out loud and seeing it again makes me laugh even harder.

To everyone who has left a comment whether it's here, on facebook or twitter or elsewhere, thank you!

2. cake stands vs. wooden boards

I adore cake stands…you can blame Martha Stewart for that. Watching her show when I was still in school (probably middle school), I remember an episode where she showed a bunch of her vintage cake stands. I think that's when it started. Before I started this blog, I had maybe 2 or 3? Now it's up to 17 but wooden cutting and bread boards outnumber them, thanks to my friends, Todd & Diane, I'm completely obsessed. I need to start a self-help group for them. Who wants to join me?

3. cupcakes

If you know me well, you know I make a ton of cupcakes. I was going to try to figure out how many dozen cupcakes I have made in the last three years but I can't even imagine…I'm sure it's way more than 50-80 dozen.

See the picture on the left in the collage? That's the photo from Best Homemade Chocolate Cake Ever! on DualFood and the ones on the right, Easy Blue & Chocolate Swirl Cupcakes and the Buick Encore Recipe in October. One of my goals last year was to improve my photography and really push myself. The big thing for me this year was to attend a Easy Avocado Smoothie Recipe and it really helped me to take better pictures (and less of them) as well as edit better. I'm not saying I'm some sort of expert now but I'm happy with my progress and I want to continue to grow.

4. it's always about the food and the recipes

I hope you really know how obsessed I am with food and it always comes back to the food for me. When I'm coming up with new ideas, trying a new twist on a classic or brainstorming with my chief taste tester, Curtis…it has to taste amazing. One of the most popular recipes this year has been these Easy Our Favorite Cheesesteak Recipe. I love the riffs others have done on them too.

Other huge favorites that get a bunch of views are my Easy Crockpot Whole Chicken Recipe and this recipe for Easy Loaded Baked Potato Soup Recipe.

5. what's next?

I usually end by making goals for the next year. My ultimate goal would be to have my photography published in a print magazine. And I want to definitely try my hand at those Five Things I'm Scared to Make. I want to continue to challenge and push myself with my photography and to not sweat the small stuff.

So what about you? Do you have any goals or resolutions for 2013? Anything you want to be sure to try or make in your kitchen?

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If you have been reading since the beginning or if this is your first post, thank you for visiting my blog. I have enjoyed sharing with you my favorite recipes and recipes I have tried throughout the year. What you see on this blog is what I making for dinner often times…I'm not making dishes just to blog about. I'll admit though, having this blog definitely pushes me to try new things and encourage my husband to try the new dishes with me. I'll continue to push myself into trying new things and trying out even more products and I hope to share with you my favorites.

I hope you'll continue to read along in my kitchen adventures in the new year…I'm excited. I even have some giveaways lined up for January and February. Now onto the year in review, I wanted to share you with the most popular recipes on DualFood in 2010:

#5 Easy Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Grilled Lemongrass Beef Recipe – this is my husband's most favorite Vietnamese dish

#4 Gourmet S'mores – oh those chocolate puddles and marshmallows were amazing!

#3 Cheese, Tomato & Tofu Sandwich with Avocados

#2 Cinnamon Banana Bread

#1 Spiedies – By far the most popular post here.

The most popular cake on DualFood for 2010 is this Baby Shower Cake Part II I made for our friends.

Here are some other recipes that I find myself making over and over again.

Easy Roasted Zucchini and Eggplant Lasagna Recipe – I made this for Christmas Eve dinner and my family loved it!

Black Beans and Rice Con Pollo

Tacos – If my husband had his way, he would have these tacos once a week or even more!

Crab Rangoon – This is my go to appetizer for get togethers.

I want to wish you and yours a very happy new year filled with hope and many opportunities and tons of great food! Let me know in the comments if you have tried any of these dishes. What's your all time favorite food you had this year? Is there anything else you want to see on DualFood? Any opinions or comments you would like to offer? I want to hear from you! Thanks again and until next year…

The post Happy New Year and 2010 in Review appeared first on DualFood.

I'm really excited, December 7, 2010 is my official one year blogiversary! I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I started DualFood. I want to thank you if you have been reading since the beginning or even if this is your first visit to DualFood. This whole blog started as an idea during a conversation with my sister, Connie. I think I have come a little ways since December 7, 2009! We won't talk about the first pictures I posted. Hehe.

Along the way, I have met so many awesome food bloggers in person as well as on twitter and facebook. I never knew that once I started blogging, I would get to be a part of such a wonderful community of amazing, helpful and talented food bloggers. I'm in awe of the recipes shared and the photographs that are so mouthwatering. I'm humbled by the talents and it's been an amazing experience.

Since it's a blogiversary and the one year mark only comes around once, I'm going to celebrate all month. We're going to have some awesome giveaways and some fun recipes. I hope you'll stay tuned.

I did want to kick off this month's celebration to tell you about an awesome project started by Paula of Vanilla Bean Baker. She is a super talented cookie decorator and an awesome person. I have never met her in person but I have tweeted with her many times and can just tell she is a very caring person.

She has this wonderful project that is starting on January 1, 2011 and ends on December 31, 2011 called Frosting for the Cause. That's right, 365 days! It'll be 365 days of handmade and decorated cookies or cupcakes and goal is to garner donations for cancer organizations and raise awareness.

It's very simple:

• As a baker or blogger, you can sign up and you will be assigned a day (I think all of January is filled up now).
• Bake your favorite sugar cookie recipe or cupcakes, photograph them, decorate them & photograph them while you're decorating them.
• Write a post about them including any steps or a tutorial.
• Include a story about a woman you know who has been affected by cancer.
• You will also commit to donate at least $25 to a cancer organization (there is a listing here) as well as donate your baked goods to your local women's cancer hospice.
• And that's it.

With 365 bakers and/or bloggers, this will raise over $9,000 for cancer! How awesome! It's important to remember that, the money will be donated from bakers like me will go directly to the chosen organizations. Frosting for the Cause is not collecting any donations as participants will donate directly to the women's cancer organization.

I'm excited about participating, I'm posting on January 3, 2011, as I was one of the first people to sign up! As some of you already know, I have written about my grandmother and how she is a breast cancer survivor. I have also participated in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure and have written all about it. It's a cause that's very important to me so when I heard Paula tweeting about this, I had to join. I will be making my monetary donation to the Central Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. If you participate, you get to pick the organization you donate to. I hope you'll join Paula and other bakers/bloggers and be one of the 365 participants.

Are you interested in joining? Exact details of the program as well as instructions on how to join are posted here. I emailed Paula recently asking her some details about the program and why she started this project, here's what she shared with me.

You asked if I was personally affected by cancer. I myself, thank God and knock on wood have not as yet had to face that…yet. I say yet because there is a history of cancer in my family. My father had cancer in his jaw bone, underwent debilitating and disfiguring surgery as a result. Five years into his recovery, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and passed away nine months later. My mother died from pancreatic cancer. My younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and will be in her third year of recovery this spring. This past month my oldest sister had cancerous tumors removed from her bowels.

My motivation for doing this? All that is mentioned in the above paragraph in addition to the fact that I feel it is important to give back. There are almost a countless number of bakers who have wonderful blogs. There are also so many wonderful causes currently running to support and raise awareness for cancer. I am not aware however of any such cause that is bringing together bakers/bloggers from Canada and the United States to not only share their skills with others but in doing so, raise funds and awareness for cancers affecting women only. Not to mention paying it forward in their own local areas by donating their baked goods that they created for their guest post. 365 donations of cookies and/or cupcakes to different women's hospices, cancer wards and/or cancer organizations across Canada and the U.S. It is my hope that by creating Frosting for the Cause, collectively we could achieve some good for others.

I just can't believe the prevalence of cancer in her family. I agree with her sentiment of giving back and doing something about women's cancers. If you're going to join (which I hope you do), I would love to know. Go over to Frosting for the Cause and sign up. Come back here and leave me a comment below. I just want to hear about what you're going to do. Are you going to decorate cookies or are you going to make some really cute cupcakes? I can't wait to see what 365 bakers/bloggers come up with! I hope you'll join and help Paula fill up the whole year!

Follow Frosting for the Cause on twitter.

The post A Blogiversary and Frosting for the Cause appeared first on DualFood.

We make the best stuffing recipe every year for Thanksgiving! It's part of our tradition! Our other tradition is to make two kinds of potatoes, including these Perfect Mashed Potatoes Recipe. Yes, it's a total CARBFEST!

Years ago, I found this recipe on AllRecipes (I did tweak it a little bit) and I have been making it ever since. It's a simple and straightforward recipe and I know your family and friends won't be able to resist it!

What makes this stuffing recipe a traditional bread stuffing?

There is a great debate on what makes the best stuffing recipe. But a traditional stuffing recipe includes bread, celery, onion and butter. It doesn't usually include apples or any fruits. And it definitely doesn't have any sausage.

What kind of bread should I use for this simple stuffing recipe?

One of the keys to this simple stuffing recipe and why it's the BEST stuffing recipe is the choice of bread. I like a good buttery homestyle bread that's baked by my grocery store bakery.

It's totally fine to use bread from the bread aisle, this stuffing recipe tastes great with storebought bread too! If you can find a bread that has butter baked on top, it will make this stuffing recipe even better!

I add one half of a French baguette to my stuffing but this is totally optional. I just like adding a different texture to my stuffing!

Can this simple stuffing recipe be made ahead of time?

You can make this homemade stuffing recipe ahead of time of course. You can cut up the bread and store it in a sealed container a couple of days ahead of time. I even cut up the vegetables and store them in the fridge until I'm ready to put it all together!

You can definitely bake this simple stuffing recipe ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator and reheat in the oven or in the microwave!

How much poultry seasoning do you put in stuffing?

For every one pound of bread (that's cut up into cubes), you'll need about 2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning to make the best stuffing recipe.

Best Stuffing Recipe Ingredients

• loaf of white bread
• French baguette (optional)
• unsalted butter
• sweet onion
• celery
• poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper
• low sodium chicken broth

How to make the best stuffing recipe

This is seriously the best stuffing recipe! I love how simple it is to put it together!

Cut up the bread (you can do this a few days ahead).

Melt butter in a dutch oven or large pot. Then cook the onions and celery.

Add salt, pepper and poultry seasoning.

And mix it up.

Add bread to the pot in batches. Mix thoroughly so all of the bread is coated. Pour half of the chicken broth at a time. Mix thoroughly so all of the bread is coated.

Pour into a baking dish and bake for 38 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.

This stuffing recipe is simply the best! It's soooo simple, straightforward and is packed full of flavor. You'll LOVE this when you make it!

Print

Traditional Bread and Celery Stuffing

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 1 pound loaf of white bread, preferably unsliced
• 1/2 medium-sized French baguette optional
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter 12 Tablespoons, plus additional for the baking dish
• 1 medium sweet onion diced small
• 4 stalks celery diced small
• 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup low sodium chicken broth

Instructions

• Grease a 9×13 baking dish with softened butter and turn oven on to 350 degrees F.
• Slice and then cube the load of bread and baguette.
• In a large pot or dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and celery and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until soft. Add poultry seasoning, salt and pepper.
• Gradually add in 1/3 of the bread cubes at a time. With each add, mix to ensure it gets evenly coated.
• Add in 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix well. Add the remaining chicken broth and mix well.
• Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 38 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Notes

Slightly modified from allrecipes.com.

I want to hear about your favorite stuffing and why. Is it a family tradition? What do you think of my favorite stuffing?

Pin it for Later

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