At the Table

If there's been a real positive to staying home for the past two months, it's that I've gotten back into the kitchen. I mean I never really left. I never stopped being the one to manage dinnertime, but things had gotten a little too simplistic. Somewhere along the line during this stay-home time, I rediscovered how much fun it was to try new recipes. And this is as much for me as for you, I confess, but I've rounded up the printed copies and post-it tabbed cookbook pages to list the recipes I've tried for the first time. Of course I've omitted the ones I tried and wouldn't recommend. All of the recipes below, I'd definitely make again, and those Chocolate Chip Cookies? I've already made them three times! Oops.

The Pioneer Woman

• Chocolate Cake in a Mug - super easy & way better than it needed to be!

basically/bon appetit

• Triple Threat Onion Galette - a bit of work but fun to make. If you're an onion-lover like me...

Barefoot Contessa

• Overnight Mac & Cheese - delish! So easy to make ahead & then pop in the oven the next night. I've had requests to make it again.

Studio DIY

• Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies - my new go-to recipe. I actually bought a #20 scoop to make them the same size Kelly does. If you have Maldon flaked salt, use it.

Fine Cooking

• Slow-Cooker Beef Chili with Beer and Lime Sour Cream - very tasty & the lime sour cream was a revelation.

Damn Delicious

• Cajun Chicken Pasta - I wasn't sure about this one but it was SO good.

Smitten Kitchen

• Parsley Leaf Potatoes - these fall into the fun to make category, especially since we had plenty of flat-leaf parsley in the herb garden.

• Crispy Crumbled Potatoes - Not my norm to fry things like this, but they were delish & oh-so-worth-it.

• Cinnamon Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs - a spin on an old family favorite, gotta say these were even better, with that brown butter and all.

• Tomato and Sausage Risotto - SO good and I'm making it again this week.

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

• Baked Ranchero Eggs with Blistered Jack Cheese and Lime Crema - just tried this yesterday and we really enjoyed it. I cut the recipe down since there's just two of us.

• Gingerbread Spice Dutch Baby - fall-ish, yes, but it was quick, easy, and tasty.

Smitten Kitchen Every Day

• Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar - a favorite combo in a new way.

• Chicken and Rice, Street Cart Style [with Layered Yogurt Flatbreads from Smitten Kitchen] - ok, this was a bit of work but totally worth it. Note Smitten Kitchen has two Yogurt Flatbread recipes. I tried the one from her site without yeast. We liked it alot but I'll try the one from her book too just to compare. Marinate the chicken the day before and that will help with timing the day of.

• Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake/Pizza Beans - I never would have tried this one without all the rave reviews, but we really enjoyed it. I subbed canned, drained white beans, as the ones the recipe calls for are out of stock everywhere I tried.

So, that's alot of what I've been cooking up! DO tell.... what's the best new recipe you've tried? Has staying home gotten you back to cooking too, or no? Is there a Smitten Kitchen recipe you think I should try? What's been going on in your kitchen?