They are super yummy. And like all muffins, best served warm and slathered with butter. There’s a little lemon in there, and also: toasted coconut. Because almost everything tastes better with toasted coconut.

The recipe had me at streusel. Because I haven’t perfected frosting a cupcake, let alone a cake, a streusel is a good, probably even better alternative. Instead of buttercream or cream cheese frosting, I like topping cupcakes with streusel, which is a mixture of flour, butter, sugar and sometimes nuts. It forms a light, sweet, crusty topping that complements the flavors of the apples. Sure I might pounce on frosting in the future, but right now it’s streusel, baby.

The pork belly is prepared Filipino Style.  First, simmered with salt, bay leaves, garlic and onion, then deep fried over a low heat.  Right before serving, the pork belly is fried again at a higher heat – there is something truly magical when you’re left with the most tender pork belly and super crispy skin.

Tikka Masala is a flavorful silky sauce with cream and tomatoes. Not too hot, but rich and creamy. What was remarkable was that it was much easier to make than I thought. And some gross pantry insufficiencies lead to wonderful discoveries in substitutions–which I now call essential ingredients!!

I hope you all enjoyed Valentine’s day in whatever fashion you chose to celebrate! My day was mostly spent tinkering around the house at a rate of zero productivity. It has never actually occurred to me to celebrate Valentine’s day in my adult life, mostly because I experience a generally adverse reaction to the idea of engaging any activity that everyone else around me is also in the midst of.

During the month of January, my wife and I did the Whole30 challenge. The challenge is very similar to our current diet, but without any dairy, white potatoes, white rice, or sweeteners like honey and maple syrup. I felt great all month, but I did struggle with maintaining my weight (I’m a pretty skinny guy). In order to keep up a good amount of carbs, I spent a lot of time eating carb-heavy foods like sweet potatoes, parsnips, sun-dried tomatoes, squash, and plantains.

As a serious cilantrophobe, I’ve never been a fan of tortilla soup. Actually, to be fair, I’d only ever tried it once when my friends took me to “tortilla soup Tuesdays” at Houston’s Restaurant, but when the bowl came served with a heaping glob of that detestable herb, I’d seen enough. Or so I thought.

How many times have you bought something to cook and left it in your fridge and then totally forgot about it? When you finally do remember it, it has already gone bad. This will never be the case with Swiss chard. I bought this Swiss chard two weeks before I actually used it. Two weeks and it was still fresh. You wouldn’t expect that with a leafy green.

Every now and again my plans to go vegetarian are foiled by Mr Chipconnoisseur’s insatiable appetite for red meat. I cannot say I’m displeased about it, in fact I probably enjoy it as much as he does, especially in a rich saucy Bolognese like this one. But with the addition of smoky chorizo, this is definitely a dish best fit for a man’s heart stomach.

Chocolate Covered Rice Krispie Treat ‘Pops’ I’ve been pondering ideas for a Valentine’s Day treat this week, and all the latest dessert trends came to mind: Cake-Pops, Whoopie Pies, Fancy Cupcakes, etc. I wanted to make something slightly less predictable, but with a good amount of visual appeal. I decided to make heart shaped Rice Krispie Treats covered with chocolate and pink sprinkles, served on lollipop sticks. I thought for sure I had invented the next best dessert trend; but, as I do with most…