Serenity & Spice

When I got to Camp Taco , I didn’t know what to expect. It was my first night away from home, but luckily I had my friend Christie with me. We were both totally stoked for the start of summer camp, and it's finally here in October.  It was 5:30 on a Sunday, but the camp was full of campers. The counselors were all super cool. We managed to get a bunk at the bar. And that’s when the head counselor Biff told us about the Ghoul of East Village.  Last Summer, he went on a rampage, killing everyone in his path. No one knew who he was, but the camp was left abandoned ever since. Recently, it had been leased by a local businessman, but the plans to reopen kept being rescheduled until now. Rumor has it, the first group of counselors mysteriously vanished.  That was so long ago we weren’t going to let it spoil our fun. Christie and I were ready to start our rad summer adventure. With what else, the white poblano cheese dip with housemade tortilla chips. The cheese dip was tasty bu...

There was a time when the world thought eating alone was good for your mental and emotional well being. It gave you a break from constantly interacting with other people. You didn’t feel like you had to smooze or make conversation.  You could just enjoy your food. I have eaten alone roughly 700 times this year, give or take, and most of those meals were filled with stress and crushing isolation.  At any moment, I could lose my job, my apartment, my boyfriend, and I almost did. That’s why, for the last post of the year, I wanted to make something delicious.  Shrimp Fra Diavolo is quite possibly one of my favorite dishes.  Spicy tomato sauce with succulent shrimp on a bed of linguine, or any variation thereof, makes my tummy happy. I used the recipe from Chili Pepper Madness . As spicy red peppers are hard to find this time of year, I used a teaspoon of Italian Bomba Hot Pepper Sauce from Trader Joe’s.  A little goes a long way, but so worth it. Who else thought ...