Author: alexrayeg

The smell of cinnamon apples danced around us, and Christmas music played softly in the background. The rising sun bounced off the vines and produced a golden hue that filled the kitchen. It was Thanksgiving morning at the McLeroy’s. In 2023, my Thanksgiving holiday felt like a Hallmark movie. My best friend Maya McLeroy had invited me to her house for the weekend. Her house happens to sit on 38 acres of land alongside their family vineyard and winery.

Maya’s mom, Kathleen, who runs the McLeroy family and the winery’s day-to-day operations, welcomed me in with open arms. Kathleen and the winemaker, aka her husband Brad, have been living on and operating Ayres Vineyard and Winery for over 20 years now.

In the year 2000, she and Brad packed up their Subaru Legacy and drove their very own “Oregon Trail” from Kansas City, Missouri, to Newberg, Oregon, and in 2001, they planted the first vines.

It was hard for me to choose my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal. The company was lovely, I had three different types of turkeys to choose from— I got to watch a turkey get deep fried for the first time— and there were over five different types of pies.

No matter what I ate, each dish was complimented by a nice shiny glass of Ayres wine.

 Katheleen gives credit to her dad for illuminating how meaningful it is to be able to serve her family’s own wine at holidays.

“There has been 25 years of time, growing vines, and the gathering of people here,” Katheleen says. “Drinking Ayres at Thanksgiving honors the passage of time and the importance of the tradition.”

I remember siting at the kids side of the table with Maya and her cousins, watching the sunset, eating my second slice of pie even though I wasn’t hungry at that point, and appreciating the warmth that lived amongst the McLeroy home.

“Holidays on the vineyard feel so meaningful,” Kathleen said. “They are a ton of work, but it’s all worth it.”

Science claims that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. So why not have it twice? I jump for joy whenever someone suggests breakfast for dinner.

The smell of maple sliding down a warm fluffy pancake feels like a hug. A breakfast sausage is the perfect compliment to the plate as it soaks up the leftover syrup. I become automatic best friends with whoever brings a pastry like a steamy flaky croissant or a biscuit. And no breakfast for dinner is complete without a cold glass of fresh squeezed apple juice.

A buttery tortilla gets stuffed with eggs, jalapeño, pico de gallo, and tortilla chips. Double the tortilla, double the fun! Next time you are craving breakfast for dinner, make these migas tacos.

You’ll need:

• Flour tortillas
• Eggs
• Pico de gallo
• Jalapeño
• Tortilla chips
• Your favorite salsa or queso!

What to do:

1. Warm your tortillas on a pan on the stove on medium heat. Watch for them to rise and start forming small bubbles. While you wait, you can dice your jalapeño Then, it’s time to flip them and repeat.
2. Remove the tortillas and pour a small amount of avocado oil into the pan. Crack your eggs in a separate bowl and whisk them till they are at your desired scrambled amount.
3. Pour your eggs into the pan, and let them sit until the bottom is slightly cooked through.Then start flipping and mixing the eggs around.
4. When you have cooked the eggs to your desired amount, I like a hard scramble personally, lay them on top of your tortillas.
5. Scoop and spoonful of pico de gallo onto each taco, and top them with a sprinkle of cilantro (if you wish.)
6. Grab a few tortilla chips in your hand, crush them up, and then garnish your tacos with the crushed chips.
7. Roll them up like you would swaddle a baby (you will love them like you love your own baby), dip into your favorite salsa, and enjoy!

My recipe is inspired by the migas tacos from Kerby Lane, Tacodeli, and Torchy’s Tacos. These restaurants are filled with good eats and some of my favorite memories of catching up with friends and family.

No matter where I am living, I will fill my kitchen table with lovely people and lovely Texas breakfast tacos.

There was a brown wooden fence that wrapped around my house in Austin, Texas. On one side, there sat a gate to my neighbor’s backyard. The gate was never locked. Each houses’ dogs would run back and forth through all the yards. Neighbors would walk back and forth to say hello, share a smile, and share some food. We called ourselves the “BNEs” (best neighbors ever.) We even have mugs that said it.

There was my house— which consisted of my dad, my mom, and I— and then next to us was Jason and Joanne, and next to them, sat Matt and Christie, and their son Landon. Across the street, lived Cathie, or we liked to call her our matriarch. We celebrated every large and small event together whether it was a birthday, promotion, graduation, or just a sunny day. And we spent almost every holiday together.

They taught me how to have “just cause” parties. One day, everyone was reminiscing on nostalgic cereals, so we decided to throw a spontaneous breakfast for dinner party. If someone had extra leftovers in the fridge, it called for a BNE hang out. When football season would roll around, neighbors would bounce from house to house getting drinks, more snacks, and catching the games throughout the day.

On days like that, the front doors would be left unlocked. Jason would always walk through the door with his famous rack of ribs that he had watched on the smoker the whole night before, like a mother watches a baby in its crib. Christie always brought her homemade sourdough or baked goods that would fill the house with the most warming of smells. We could rely on Cathie to bring the largest bowl of salad the world has ever seen. Yet there were never any leftovers. And Matt always came in with a bottle of fancy tequila in hand that he and my dad would sip on while they solved the world’s problems. Joanne brought the party. No matter the day, she had a smile with her that lit up the room.

I have not yet learned how to make sourdough, barbeque ribs, or tell good tequila from bad tequila. But the BNEs taught me how to celebrate “just cause.” There doesn’t need to be a formal occasion to make dinner for your friends or get takeout. I love filling my kitchen table with food and laughter thanks to the BNEs.

They say baking is like a science. That is why I have never been good at (or had the patience for) baking. With cooking, I like that I can guesstimate measurements or forget to set a timer and everything will be okay. I recently came across some recipes that were designed as infographics. The combination of concise writing and simplistic imagery made the information much more digestible. And probably helps make the end result more digestible too!

Bread 101

Pizza for Dummies

Rock and Roll with Cinnamon Rolls

Before shying away from an intimidating recipe, try and find an infographic that breaks it down. The kitchen can be a scary place, but with the right recipe and attitude, it can become your very own bakery.

Pop pop pop. If you close your eyes, can you hear that familiar sound of popcorn coming alive? Can you smell the butter?

Popcorn has always been a staple in my household. My family never ended a night without sitting on the couch together to watch a new or nostalgic movie or shows from HGTV or Food Network. These nights were often complimented with a bowl of popcorn in our laps.

I remember the first time my dad and I tried to cook popcorn without my mom’s supervision. We like to go big so we poured a little (a lot)  too many kernels in the pan. There wasn’t much popping before the lid in the pot went flying across the room. Half way popped kernels covered our wood floors.

I’ve grown since then. Here is my healthy and simple, yet delicious recipe for popcorn that goes with every movie night.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of kernels
• Avocado oil
• Salt

That’s it!

1. Pour enough oil into your pot to cover the bottom. Put your stove to medium-high heat.
2. Pour in your popcorn kernels. I personally love to use Trader Joe’s Organic Popping Corn. You will learn in these blogs that I am avid fan of Mr. Trader Joe.
3. When you hear the first kernel pop, cover the pot with a lid.
4. Stand by your pot and listen for when there are a couple seconds in between each pop and then turn off the heat.
5. Pour your freshly popped popcorn into your designated popcorn bowl (every family has a designated popcorn bowl.)
6. Add as much salt as your heart desires. When I am feeling fun, I spice it up with different seasonings such as garlic powder, red pepper flakes, or shredded parmesan.
7. Curl up in a blanket, put on your favorite show, and enjoy!

If done right, popcorn can be a very beneficial snack. Popcorn is a whole grain, high in fiber, full of antioxidants and vitamins such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and so much more. When you need popcorn asap and don’t have time to pop it yourself, I would turn to Lesser Evil Popcorn. They prioritize real and clean ingredients that allow their snacks to be organic, gluten free, and dietitian-approved. They strive to provide “goodness on-the-go.“

https://www.philrosenthalworld.com/

“Somebody Feed Phil” is a Netflix series that follows Phil Rosenthal as he becomes a tourist in new cities to try new cuisine. He chats with locals, dines in popular restaurants, and mingles with the chefs. The show consists of one hour long episodes that are filled with stunning cinematography and witty jokes. The episodes help inspire new bucket list items of places to see and things to eat. This show never fails to put a smile on my face.

Packing for any vacation isn’t complete without watching the “Somebody Feed Phil” episode where he travels to that location. My dad once waited over an hour to eat at Razza, a Jersey City pizza hot spot, because Phil told us it was worth it. I dragged myself out of bed on an early Sunday morning to make sure I didn’t have to wait for a counter seat at Camellia Grill in New Orleans because Phil loved it.

Phil made his mark in the television world  by creating the CBS sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond.” The show would go on to won 16 Primetime Emmys.

Rosenthal’s personality shines through the camera. He is the epitome of a goofy dad and husband. Phil shares his family with viewers and builds his family in every new city.

In the beginning seasons, Rosenthal would end the episode by video chatting his parents and reminiscing on the adventures he had that day. After the second season, his mom, Helen, passed away. The showed continued the video chatting tradition, and his dad, Max, began sharing a joke with everyone at the very end of each episode. In between season four and five, Max passed away, and so each episode in season five concluded with “A Joke for Max,” given by friends and family.

Watching this heartwarming show is like a hug. The cast is genuine and has a contagious optimism. I have learned so much about food culture from around the world thanks to Phil. Although I never got to sit on the Rosenthal bench in Central Park, I will happily sit on my couch and continue discovering new cuisine in new cities.

My favorite memory from last summer was eating chocolate. Not just any chocolate. Tony’s Chocolonely. I was sitting in my Airbnb. Not just any Airbnb. It was a house boat parked on a canal in Amsterdam. My boyfriend and I had spent the night prior on an overnight bus from London, and we spent the day being the epitome of tourists. When the sunset over the canal, we could barely keep our eyes open.

While I tried to shower off the travel, Nathan, my boyfriend, walked to the corner store and started gathering supplies for the picnic we had planned for the next day in Vondelpark. He came back with a chocolate bar I had never seen before, but we knew we couldn’t end the day without trying it. Pictured above you can find me protecting our picnic snacks (including Tony’s Chocolonley) from a local Amsterdam duck.

It was a Tony’s Chocolonely dark chocolate bar. We broke off the uneven pieces, and the rest was history. The chocolate was rich and smooth, but had crunchy pieces of brownie dispersed throughout it. Now, whenever we are shopping in the US and discover a Tony’s Chocolonely bar, a smile appears on our face. It reminds us of that one night in Amsterdam when we sat and digested the life long memories we were making.

When we were enjoying Tony’s Chocolonely in Amsterdam, we had no idea at the time that we discovered the chocolate in its motherland.

Teun van de Keuken is Tony himself and a Dutch TV journalist. In 2003, Keuken discovered that forced labor still existed in the cocoa industry. Him and his fellow journalists decided to take a stand. Keuken took advantage of the Dutch law called “fencing.” This meant that if you knew a product was made illegally and you purchase it, you are also responsible for the crime. Keuken filmed himself eating the chocolate he believed was made with illegal forms of labor and turned himself into the police as chocolate criminal.

After the case was eventually dismissed, Keuken and his crew crafted 5,000 fairtrade and traceable chocolate bars. Tony’s Chocolonely was born.

“Chocolate is one of the happiest products there are, but the realities hidden within the cocoa industry are not so sweet.”

The chocolate company has taken on a mission to end labor exploitation in the chocolate industry. In present day, Tony’s reports a total of 1.56 million cases of illegal child labor and 30,000 cases of forced labor on cocoa farms in West Africa.

To combat this crisis, Tony’s relies on three pillars of action.

• Creating awareness
• Leading by example
• Inspiring other chocolate brands to act

All the farms Tony’ sources cocoa from is covered by the Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System. CLMRS “identifies instances of child labor, finds alternative solutions and prevents the use of child labor by raising awareness.” The CLRMS works to remove a child from child labor within a period of 6 to 12 months after the case is discovered.

Tony’s communicates it’s mission through the physical shape of the chocolate bar. Every consumer gets a taste of their values and exquisite chocolate.

“It doesn’t make sense for chocolate bars to be divided into equal-sized chunks when there is so much inequality in the chocolate industry!”

These unique shapes are intentional and meant to remind customers that profits in the cocoa industry are unequally divided. The bottom of the bars represent the West African coastline, the chunks above represent the Gulf of Guinea.

Although Tony’s goes above and beyond in their flavors and tastes, their constant strives towards bettering the cocoa industry for all, will always set them apart from your average-joe chocolate.

Learn more about their mission and find out how to customize your own chocolate bar!

After a ten year hiatus, the Gillette family finally returned to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The last time we were in attendance, it was 2015, and I had the best seat in the house. I was atop my dad’s shoulders, and we ended the night watching Elton John perform.

Even though I would be watching all the performances from the ground this year, I was ready. In our sun dresses and floppy hats, we entered the gates of the festival lathered in sunscreen, with ponchos ready (just in case), and smiles plastered on our faces. We walked around the Fair Grounds Race Course, where the festival has been held annually since 1972, hearing jazz, blues, rock, pop, and everything in between. The music was interrupted from the growls of our stomachs. We had a small breakfast to prepare for the day full of eats we had ahead of us. We also did our research on all the new food options, as well as the old classics we had to try.

Come with me through a day full of Jazz Fest eats.

My parents started with a crawfish strudel which is crawfish tails, tomatoes, trinity (onion, bell pepper, and celery), and garlic are mixed with a splash of heavy cream and pepper jack cheese all wrapped up in phyllo dough. It is a fan favorite at the festival.

I decided I wanted a gyro sandwich with sauce on the side from Mona’s Café. I will always be a sauce on the side type of girl. As I unwrapped the sandwich, my mom shared the story of one of my parent’s first dates at Mona’s.

After listening to Cowboy Mouth sing a cover of Fat Bottomed Girls and becoming aware of how sweaty we were from the New Orleans humidity, we decided it was time for a sweet treat, aka my favorite time of the day.  We stopped at Firefly Pops for a gourmet popsicle made from Louisiana strawberries and dipped in chocolate. Their stand was nestled in the kid’s area of the festival which brought me back to my arts and crafts days at Jazz Fest.

We kept on moseying throughout the grounds hearing bands we had never heard of and immediately adding them to all our playlists. My parents, who claim to be pescatarian, found their weakness. Well, everyone’s weakness. Fried chicken. There’s not much to say about fried chicken. It’s always good.

The feast ended with a small cup of Yakamein, commonly known as Old Sober for it’s miraculous abilities to cure hangovers. Yakamein’s origins are traced to the 19th century where “Chinese immigrants worked alongside African Americans on plantations and railroads.” My dad was very excited to stumble upon a booth selling it.

After slurping up the hot soup in the hot sun, we made our way to Pearl Jam’s stage. We were so far away from the band that we felt the vibrations of their music more than we heard the lyrics. With the New Orleans sun setting behind us, we ended the night listening to Laufey. We walked away with full stomachs, sunburns, and an eagerness to be back next year.

My two roommates and I are sitting at our wooden brown kitchen table sharing stories and pasta. I remember one of the first times I ever cooked pasta, I was with my mom and we were volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House with a few other moms and daughters.

The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Texas’ mission is “to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and well-being of children and families.” Their goal is to provide a “home-away-from-home” for families with children in the hospital so they can be right by their side during that difficult time. My mom and I decided to put our cooking skills to the test by volunteering with their Meals from the Heart program.

Meals from the Heart

Meals from the Heart provides the family with food options on the RMHC campus, so they don’t have to deal with the hassle or financial burden of bringing their own food with them. RMHC provides the kitchen. The volunteers “choose the menu, purchase the ingredients, prepare the meal and serve [the] families.”

The Central Texas chapter was founded in 1985 on the idea that “nothing else should matter when a family is focused on the health of their child,” and since then, they have been able to support over 34 thousand families. Volunteering with them, helped me build community with my mom and the other volunteers, as well as it let me use my love of being in the kitchen to help others.

If you are interested in volunteering with RMHC, there are tons of campuses throughout the world, and they could always use an extra set of hands. Find your local RMHC here: https://rmhc.org/find-a-chapter. You can also donate from the comfort of your kitchen using this link: https://rmhc.org/donate

Pasta is one of the most fun meals to make, whether it is for you, your friends, or your local RMHC, because it is so simple and customizable. I am always spontaneously adjusting my pasta recipe, except for a couple constants. I always save some pasta water (aka liquid gold) to add into my pasta sauce, I always salt my pasta water, and I never stray away from two pasta brands.

Trader Joe’s Organic Fusilli Corti Bucati Pasta is always on my grocery list. Who doesn’t love a unique pasta shape? And it only has two simple ingredients: organic durum wheat semolina and water. Banza Pasta is also one of my go-to’s. All of their pasta, no matter the shape, is made from chickpeas and is packed with protein and fiber.

https://www.traderjoes.com/home/discover/stories/fall-products-2024

I hope you enjoyed my pasta and philanthropy recommendations. RMHC is very special to me for it’s mission and the memories I made with my mom. Next time you eat pasta, feel free to scroll through their website to learn about their 50 years of global impact for some food for thought. https://rmhc.org/rmhc-family-stories/50yearsimpact

Picture this. I’m at my sixth birthday party in my backyard. It’s a pool party, duh. My dad lights the candles that are placed atop of my light pink frosted strawberry birthday cake that has “Happy Birthday Alexandra” in script written on it. The cake is larger than my six-year-old head. It’s my time to shine. Everyone sings the song, I blow out my candles, and we dig in. Except the strawberry cake that I had been dreaming about was not very good. Not that I had the most sophisticated pallet at age six, but I gave my plate to my dad, and he helped me finish the slice off while I jumped back in the pool.

Over the years, I have come to the conclusion that cake would not be in my ranking of top five sweet treats. I would just always prefer something else. The birthday “cake” tradition can feel very restricting. As a girl who is celebrating her 21st birthday very soon, April 25, I have started brainstorming what other treats can replace a cake. Why do we even we use cakes to celebrate birthdays?

Apparently the Roman Empire was the first to do it. Romans made cakes out of flour, nuts, yeast, and honey for wedding celebrations, as well as the occasional 50th birthday. But only if the celebrant was famous, and not a woman. Women’s birthdays were not celebrated until around the 12th century.

An essential part of every birthday is blowing out the candles and making your big wish. The Ancient Greeks started this tradition by bringing moon-shaped cakes to the temple of Artemis, the goddess of the moon, and placing candles on top to make the cakes appear to glow like the moon. 

If candles are all you need to symbolize a birthday cake, I say we should start slapping candles on anything. Here are some of my favorite birthday “cake” alternatives that would still support the weight of your candles:

• Cookies
  • Perfect for mixing and mingling since they don’t require a plate or fork, and they provide great stability for one or more candles. I always love receiving a box of Tiff’s Treat cookies on my birthday. They are out of Austin, Texas (my hometown), can be delivered anywhere, and have such a cute story. 
• Ice cream/gelato
  • Even as a lactose intolerant girl, this is one of my favorites!
• Lemon bar
  • The citrus is so refreshing on a hot spring or summer day!
• Waffles
  • Who doesn’t love a brunch birthday!
• S’mores
  • Your campfire is just a glorified candle!
• Pie
  • “It’s healthy, it’s got fruit in it,” says my best friend.