Somehow, someway my life has turned into a quest to try nearly every chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world. It might just be some way to compare my own recipes to those of others or maybe it's just I get sick of those recipes and want to try new ones. It also doesn't hurt that the holiday season is creeping up, and I'll need some new go-tos for the cookie tin. No one can resist a good chocolate chip cookie.  I found this recipe while browsing Pinterest for something completely unrelated. In fact, Pinterest showed it to me countless times in the pins I might enjoy section. Pretty much whispering in my ear "make these" every 2 seconds.

If you like piña coladas, then these ice pops might be for you.  I don't really know how the obsession my friends have with piña coladas began. But last summer it seemed to completely take over. It could have been a conversation about Yacht Rock or the day we spent poolside trying about 6 recipes until we got the right one. But I truly believe it was the chill weekend we stayed at the vintage hotel which, naturally, serves vintage cocktails.

I went back and forth about ever covering this on my blog, but ultimately I decided I'm incredibly proud of how it turned out so I really have no reason not to share. Why am I so proud you may ask? This is the very first cheesecake I have ever made on my own. That might be hard to believe for someone who bakes constantly, but it's true. It just always seemed like an overwhelming task to take on. But, this cheesecake was written in the stars. My dad loves cannolis. Every Christmas we nearly end up with the local Italian deli's whole inventory. 

Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook is probably my favorite cookbook. So it's not really surprising how excited I am for its follow up. But since that doesn't come out for a little while I have plenty of time to keep cooking my way through the OG cookbook. And there is one recipe that keeps popping up in my Twitter feed. I feel like Chrissy has literally favorited every single tweet featuring her Cacio E Pepe. I am pretty hesitant to try new pasta dishes.

Pasta salads are basically a 4th of July tradition. At least to me for a couple of reasons. First, the end of June/beginning of July the temperature begins to start hitting over 110 more frequently. This makes cooking or consuming heavy meals uncomfortable. Second, everything about pasta salad screams summer and al fresco eating. I mean BBQs, picnics, or even just casual meals at home can welcome a tasty pasta salad. And, I won't lie, as an Italian, I'm a fan of any dish featuring a good noodle or a really good antipasto.  Antipasto Pasta Salad combines two things I've joyously grown up eating. This is one of my favorite pasta salad recipes.

I guess you could say Memorial Day weekend was all about guacamole wars. I'm not exactly sure how or why that happened. I mean I have my tried and true go-to recipe any time I need to contribute guacamole to anything. I make it so much I have it memorized. Rather than sticking with that, I ended up beginning the weekend with Beyoncé's recipe and ending the weekend with this one from Joanna Gaines. I guess you could say having guacamole, rosé and watching the premiere of the Bachelorette has become quite the summer tradition. So what better time to try this?

It might be a cliché or make me "basic" but rosé is my favorite when it comes to wine. Reds are hard on my stomach and some whites can be a one-way sugary nightmare ticket to headache town. At least I know when it comes to most rosé's I have it made in the shade (especially at restaurants where there's added pressure). I should preface this by saying I am not a wine expert by any means. I, like most, learn through experimentation. Despite my friends trying to flood me with pina coladas, rosé is always my summer drink.

I forget where I saw these brownies first, but the second I saw them I knew I needed to make them. There are a couple reasons I was really excited to try these brownies. The biggest one being I had never made brownies or ganache from scratch before. Crazy right? I love to bake, but making brownies and ganache seemed daunting. Luckily, these brownies have completely changed my mind about that!