One of my main goals with From Her Kitchen is to give you ideas that are real. Real ideas that you actually want to make. For your real family. On a real weeknight that’s more than likely real-ly busy. I want to give you recipes that are customizable because picky eaters happen, whether they are in the form of tiny humans or adult-sized humans. I want to give you recipes that can easily be made vegetarian because that’s the number two question I get right behind, “What do you feed your family?” I want to give you recipes that don’t have any crazy ingredients because not everyone can buy mascarpone cheese, preserved lemons, or sumac.

The first time I tried sushi I was 22 years old. Considering I had decided I wanted to be a chef at the age of 16, this is surprising, right?. Do they even let people into culinary arts school that have never had sushi? I can just hear Gordon Ramsay now, “You’ve NEVER had SUSHI!?!?! The delectable culinary masterpiece of Japan?!? And you want to be a CHEF??! That’s preposterous – GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!!!” Because even if Gordon Ramsay actually had a culinary arts school, I could get into it in maybe a million years. If I was lucky. Ha!

On this Easter Eve, chances are pretty good that you have a fridge full of hard boiled eggs. Whether the kids in your family share a dozen to dye or each get their own individual dozen (yes this really happens in my family!), you (presumably the adult in this situation) are not only in charge of figuring out how to get a vinegary robin egg blue stain off your white counter top but also how to consume the evening’s fun art project that is indeed edible.

Are calzones authentic? I know I could just google this and probably find out from a surprisingly-factual wikipedia page, but I’m curious if anyone knows off the top of their head? No? I definitely know pizza is Italian (duh), and there are definitely rules to make correct Italian pizza. Then the Americans came in and started changing those rules, and we ended up with New York-style pizza, Chicago deep dish pizza, thin and crispy pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, and probably asparagus calzones. I guess I should look it up.

So why didn’t I just make asparagus pizza bursting with spring flavor instead of these? Because look at that CALZONE up there! That glowing golden brown with a slight salt and pepper crust? Pizza can do a lot of things, but it can’t have that beautiful top crust that you’re looking at up there. And I think calzones are fun – they’re dip-able and fairly portable. They also reheat really well. And Nathan likes calzones, so me being the nice wife that I am, you get calzones today instead of pizza.

I’m going to call it now… this blog could potentially end up with a lot of Mexican food on it. Why is this, you ask? Well long story not too short my husband and I grew up together in small-town Wyoming. We dated all through high school (yes, we are high school sweethearts), then my husband (then boyfriend) left on a church mission for two years to Mexico. Once he came home, he was pretty much a Mexican – he spoke Spanish like a Mexican (and still can!), had Mexican mannerisms, and wanted Mexican food endlessly. Me being the supportive girlfriend that I was at the time was happy to go along with it. I ate sopes, tacos, tortas, tacos, enchiladas, conchas, tacos, tacos, etc. because that’s what my newly returned boyfriend wanted.

I love sandwiches. Not the kind made out of Wonder Bread with a squirt of mayo, a few sad slices of pre-packaged deli turkey, and a piece of yellow-ish cheese. No, I love GOOD sandwiches. When we go out for dinner with my in-laws, my father-in-law will inevitably shake his head when I order a sandwich. Why on earth would I order a lame sandwich when I could have an incredible steak because, well, he’s footing the bill. I order the sandwich because I truly enjoy a good sandwich. Sandwiches made with toasty bread and flavor-packed individual ingredients married together with some top-notch condiments. I’m all about the sauce… a good sandwich is NOT dry. This sandwich is all of this + more.