I've been incredibly lazy on the recipe/cooking front lately. On Sunday night, the thought of making guacamole was almost too much to bear--luckily I had a hungry and determined fiance available to cut avocados in half. So, as I'm sure you can imagine, I've been all about the easy way out. What do I already have? What can I whip up in just a few minutes that isn't totally boring? Enter egg salad bacon bites. Fancy enough to make as an appetizer for friends, but easy enough to make because you've probably got the ingredients in your fridge already.

We stopped by The Muddy Pig in St. Paul one snowy afternoon when Rob's brother, Sam, was visiting us a few weeks ago. It's a little hole-in-the-wall with a nice, simple, but high-quality menu and a great beer list, so it's exactly the kind of place that goes on the list when one of our brothers visits.

I got the Buffalo Chicken Salad and was really pleasantly surprised when they served me a big salad (with no croutons!) with a whole, juicy chicken breast on it. The seasoning was more of a dry-rub than a Buffalo sauce, which I wish I had known so I could have gotten balsamic vinaigrette instead of blue cheese, but whatever--it was delicious. Rob and Sam enjoyed sandwiches and a few beers and we had a great time.

This year, I'm bringing my Paleo take on Pigs in a Blanket! If you haven't noticed yet, my Paleo version of anything that is usually covered in bread is just wrapped in bacon instead. I also made a honey mustard sauce for dipping, because I think Super Bowl snacks are all about dipping, and I totally love a little homemade sauce to fancy up a dish. Happy Super Bowl weekend, friends, and go...team, go!

I have a confession: I don't own any fancy kitchen gadgets. I need one of those spiral things that turn vegetables into noodles, but I don't have one. While I want a juicer and an espresso maker with a steam wand and a food processor, I'm also in that weird liminal space between forgetting your kitchen things in storage and creating a wedding registry full of awesome stuff that other people will probably buy for you. Normal, right?

As you can probably tell already, I can't recommend this place enough. We take everyone who visits us here at least once, and then I daydream about it until we go back again. If you're ever in the area, make sure you stop by for breakfast or brunch one day; but don't you dare go without me!

Fall is coming to an close and I think we're finally entering the end of Pumpkin Everything Season--to me, Christmas and New Year's Eve feel more like chocolate and caramel things. But I didn't want to let it go without one more festive pumpkin recipe! And when Lavazza sent me some coffee to try out and challenged me to create a complimentary recipe, I knew these little pumpkin custards would be just perfect.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday--mostly because of the food--so it was not without a bit of anxiety that I experienced my first Paleo Thanksgiving a few years ago. My mom has always done a fantastic job coming up with Paleo-friendly Thanksgiving alternatives, so this year I used her as inspiration when Relay Foods asked me to make them a Paleo Thanksgiving-themed dish. It's full of sweet potatoes and sausage and love.

The Happy Gnome has recently become our favorite spot to have lunch. When Rob's brother Dan came to visit us a few weeks ago, Rob put together a list of places that had awesome beer selections. We stopped by The Happy Gnome for lunch and loved it so much that we were back again the next day for dinner. They have a huge selection of beers and quite a few hard ciders, as well, but it's the burgers that keep us coming back. Any burger that comes topped with pulled pork is fine by me. The adorable neighborhood and the fact that their mixed greens salad is so good that sometimes I actually want it instead of fries helps, too.

I always get a Bloody Mary and the Angus Cheeseburger without a bun or cheese, and Rob gets a beer and the Game Burger, which is bison and elk and comes with lingonberry mayo. Everything is good.


Service 4/5
Atmosphere 5/5
Prices & Specials 3/5
Paleo-Friendly 5/5

After we went apple picking the other weekend, we had a bunch of apples in our kitchen. Imagine that. I spent a few days slicing one up and dipping it in almond butter, but I really felt like we couldn't go through fall without a dish that at least somewhat resembled/tasted like an apple pie. So I made this Paleo Apple Pie-ish Crumble. That's the scientific term for it.

I've been really into squash this fall. Pumpkins, butternut squash, and acorn are definitely my favorites, but I have to say I just love acorn squash the most. They're the perfect shape and make a fantastic side dish, just by cutting one in half and roasting it up in the oven. I decided to get a little fancier and actually serve dinner in the squash the other night, and we loved it so much that I made it again that same week!