New look, new yaps

she loves a refresh, it's spring cleaning season after all

Mar 16, 2025

I started yapping about food online under a cheeky little title I pulled out of some *teenage trauma* very sporadically a couple years ago. I didn’t listen when Smash Mouth tried to warn us that “the years start coming, and they don’t stop coming” and to my surprise, time has truly flown by. And in said time, another couple of “not a chef’s” had the same name idea, my plans and priorities have shifted, my trauma’s been sifted, and frankly, it’s time to drop the little moniker. Because you know what—I love cooking, I’m confident enough to take up space in this industry now, and I’m willing to try, fail, succeed, and trip in front of you all. So queue the fresh look, my spring edit, if you will.

Since I had to rename and rebrand everything, I gave the food blog a little refresh and added “recipe cards” to each recipe post to make things easier and more helpful while you’re cooking. The cards allow for US/metric conversions, adjustable servings, and cook mode (this setting keeps your screen from going dark, how cool?) and SEO assistance on the back end, yay! Give them a peek and let me know how they feel, I’m maybe a little too excited about them because they make it feel more legit, no?

Additionally, I made some adjustments to the Substack to simplify Bits & Bites into its own newsletter space. While recipes and restaurant guides will maintain a permanent home on the blog, things around here will be looser vibes—food yaps from the week, bites I loved, round ups of the recent recipes shared on the blog, highlights for upcoming restaurant guides, the usual suspects.

Some other social platforms have been really messy lately and exhausting places to try to grow on but I’m just too excited about my recipes to let them die in an algorithm, so I’m working to smooth this out and appreciate you sticking through the bumps.

So with that—let’s chat about this week’s bits and bites

Luxe & Laid-Back — because life is about balance

Luxe: anchovy and radish toast with cultured butter

This week, one of my favorite wine bars in the city hosted a launch party for The Fishwife Cookbook featuring a few of the recipes from the book on their menu. The bar had a line around the corner and the tinned fish girlies backed up the kitchen so badly they had to stop taking orders—but not before I got my ‘chovy butter toast. Those deeply salty anchovies lend such a savory element to this creamy, buttery toast. Will be repeating this often at home.

Laid-Back: Trader Joe’s green olive flats

I was browsing the cheese counter at Whole Foods this week and found my favorite cheese on sale, so naturally I brought a whole wheel home and assessed my cracker stash for vehicles. In my quest to try new things, I had recently picked up a sleeve of these Green Olive Flats from Trader Joe’s and, oh my gosh, they are delicious and soo crispy. Perfect for a creamy cheese and under $4 for a sleeve? No notes.

Have you had any bites lately that you can’t get enough of & I should try too? Tell me, share the love, expand my palette, babes!

Recent Recipe Round Up

As my allergies have been alerting (or rather, destroying) me, Spring is almost here! The trees are starting to bloom, the wildflowers are popping, my serotonin is rising, and I’m getting ready for all her fresh flavors. But I don’t want to get too ahead of myself, especially with all this rain keeping us inside a bit longer, so I’m soaking up the last few bits of winter and enjoying some of the cozy bites I developed this season one more time. Give them a try before we dive into Spring together!

Mushroom Risotto

This Mushroom and Pancetta Risotto is my go to creamy, comfort dish that combines earthy mushrooms, savory pancetta, and fresh herbs for a rich, satisfying bite. It’s a simple and indulgent recipe that’s perfect for cozy nights and salty cravings.

Shrimp over Polenta with Herby Fennel Slaw

This shrimp with herby fennel and creamy polenta is an elegant dish that’s perfect for a cozy date night or intimate dinner gathering. The fresh, zesty flavors combined with the cozy, creamy polenta make it a comforting yet sophisticated choice for any occasion!

Shaved Fennel & Citrus Salad with Capers & Parm

This refreshing fennel and Cara Cara salad is a delicious balance of sweet and herbaceous with a salty bite from capers and parmesan—my ideal side dish or light appetizer meant to transport you straight to Italy!

Act surprised: my cookbook addiction collection grew a little bit this week…

As most of you know by now, my cookbook collection grows (almost) weekly. It is really hard to resist the perks of working at a cookbook shop and the free libraries around town. Some really charming ones came into my home this week and you should heavily consider adding them to your line up:

Fishwife Cookbook from Becca Millstein and Vilda Gonzalez—if you’re familiar with the adorable, bright colored packing and delicious tinned fish from Fishwife, you’re going to need a copy of their book. It’s equally as cute as their branding and has 80 recipes for meals, snacks, breakfasts, picnic bites using their fish that are as easy as they are delicious!

Coastal from Scott Clark & Betsy Andrews—Dad’s Luncheonette in Half Moon Bay has been on my restaurant list for years so I obviously snatched up a copy of their newly released cookbook as soon as it came in. Part free-spirited Californian recipes, part coastal road trip photo album, this gorgeous cookbook is filled with inspiring recipes and stories of the purveyors met along the way and the restaurants owner, a former Bay Area Michelin-star chef. This book instantly took me back to my teenage self, anxiously dreaming of trading the valley suburbs for the golden coast. It’s a California dream of a cookbook.

I know my collection is pretty big, but what’s your favorite go-to cookbook that I should add if it’s not already on my shelf or highlight on the blog?