Having a great dip in your back pocket is a great hack to make any party feel special. This is one of those dips -it’s basically made with ingredients you have in your pantry already because it’s pretty basic. It’s just the way it comes together that it tastes so good! I keep feta cheese in my freezer because it freezes really well and then it’s always ready to go! If you buy the crumbled feta, then it defrosts super fast too.

I made this for my baseball party, but it’s a great party dip because it literally goes with everything. I like the tangy feta with a pretzel, but it’s also awesome with carrots, celery, crackers, salami, the list goes on! Imagine how good it would be on a burger!

Feta Pretzel Dip

4 ounces feta cheese

4 ounces cream cheese

1 teaspoon worchestershire

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons milk (or more)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whip until well combined. Serve with pretzel bits, crackers or vegetables.

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When I was a kid, I thought banana nut was the grossest thing I’ve ever heard of. But as I realized banana nut was just banana bread with nuts in it, I came around. Now, when I see a banana nut muffin, I get excited. There’s something about banana nut that feels like fall to me too. I have no idea why. Is it the old bananas? The cinnamon? The chopped nuts? No idea. But here we are - fall + banana nut muffins.

I love these muffins because they are a great way to use up old bananas and they are great meal prep for breakfast. They are also super easy.

Banana Nut Muffins

makes 12

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

STEP 2

In the bowl of a stand mixer, blend the bananas, butters, sugars, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

STEP 3

Add in the flour and baking soda and mix until just combined.

STEP 4

Scoop batter into the prepared muffin tin to about 3/4 full.

STEP 5

Bake 20-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

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I went through a phase where almost every night we ate our dinner in meatball form. I cannot tell you how much I love to make a meatball. It’s such a simple dinner - and it’s done so easily - and cheap.

Bahn Mi is one of my favorite sandwiches ever and turning it into a meatball sub seemed like a natural. Especially because the meat does not need to be marinated - you can just mix all of the meat + flavorings and they become a well flavored meatball in minutes.

This seems like a lot of steps but not one of these steps are hard. Or time consuming. It’s especially handy because you can make up all of the vegetables and meatballs ahead of time - then just heat when it’s time to eat. It’s the perfect dinner for when there are one million sports events, after school activities, etc.

Bahn Mi Meatball Subs

serves 4

1 cup rice vinegar

1 cup water

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1 carrot, cut into matchsticks

2 lb ground pork

1 cup panko

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish

1 teaspoon sriracha

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger

1/2 jalapeno, chopped

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon sriracha

1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

brioche buns

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the sliced carrots and cucumber in a glass jar. In a small saucepan, combine vinegar, water, brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and let simmer until all sugar and salt is dissolved. Pour vinegar mixture over the carrots and cucumber and let sit while you make the rest.

STEP 2

In a bowl, combine the pork, panko, egg, chopped cilantro, sriracha, fish sauce, fresh grated ginger and jalapeño. Mix well with your hands and form into meatballs. Wet hands make the meatballs form more easily. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and pop in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until browned on top.

STEP 3

Mix together mayo, remaining sriracha, and remaining fish sauce.

STEP 4

When the meatballs are done, top the bun with the cooked meatballs, pickled vegetables, and the mayo sauce. Eat while hot!

HOT TIPS

• These meatballs freeze really well. Freeze once they are fully cooked and cooled. Reheat on the stove or in the microwave.

• Use your own discretion when adding jalapeño and sriracha. You know how much spice your family likes!

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Words cannot express how much I love this soup. It’s a perfect early fall soup - and a great aprés ski soup! It’s so fast to make and full of hearty and healthy vegetables. Obviously, my kids groan when they see the kale - you can leave it out - but it softens so much in the pot that it’s not super obvious and it’s so good for them if they’ll not pick it out!

I like to make this soup during the early fall because we are scrambling from one team sport to another team sport. Or activity. Or some volunteer job I didn’t remember I signed up for. I can make this early in the day and then have it done. Today I’m actually making it at 10am and popping it in the fridge. We are hosting a party tonight, one kid off to baseball and another off to swimming. I’ll bring this out when Adam is starving (he never eats enough at a party) and when the kids get home from practice. It heats up easy. I throw a loaf of bread on the side too.

White Bean & Sausage Soup

Serves 4

1 lb pork sausage

1 sweet onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup white wine

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can cannellini beans

4 cups kale, chopped (basically one small bunch)

28 oz  chopped tomatoes

2 cups chicken stock

1 can artichoke hearts

1 bell pepper, chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried basil

½ cup Parmesan cheese

STEP 1

In a large stock pan, brown sausage with onions and garlic. Add red pepper flakes and season with salt and pepper.

STEP 2

Deglaze the pan with white wine scraping any brown bits off the bottom as it cooks. (2 mins)

STEP 3

Add beans, kale, artichokes, tomato, red bell pepper, stock, and herbs.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook 15-20 minutes. 

STEP 4

Serve hot with parmesan cheese.

NOTES:

Swap out the kale for chard if it's easier to find or you have too much in the garden.

You can always add more stock to this soup and have it serve a large crowd on demand!

As a boy mom, I watched the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce interview and I thought: “Please find someone as smart and patient as Taylor is with Travis.” As a girl mom, I thought “Please find someone who looks at you the way Travis looks at Taylor.” If that wasn’t the cutest interview you’ve ever seen, then your heart must be a cold, dead rock. It was objectively adorable.

And inspiring. Taylor makes bread? Bread is time consuming. Bread is hard. My cousin makes some of the best bread I’ve ever had and I happen to know she spent YEARS working on her bread. If you live on Vashon, you’ve probably had her bread. I do not have the patience for bread.

But the thought of Lemon Blueberry was the spark I needed to level up my muffins right at the exact moment that blueberries are ready in the Pacific Northwest. Our here, blueberries are big. Like the size of a dime. I know I’ve had the back east variety and they are tiny little blueberries. This recipe works great with either version - but if you’re in the Northwest, like me, then go with more blueberries vs less. The big ones take up more room in the measuring cup - and then they also don’t distribute in the muffins easily. If you measure and add exactly 1/2 cup of our giant blueberries, you could end up with one berry per muffin. Be generous. Use 1/2 cup as a guideline.

Dying to know if I’m the only obsessive lady loving the Taylor/Travis relationship? I’m clearly not alone because the stream has like a bazillion views. But is everyone else not admitting it? Bake a muffin, watch the interview and get back to me.

Blueberry Lemon Streusel Muffins

makes 12

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

zest of 1/2 lemon (1 heaping teaspoon)

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup plain yogurt (or sour cream)

1/2 cup blueberries

TOPPING

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with non-stick spray.

In a small bowl (or measuring glass) whip together the oil, egg, milk, vanilla, and zest.

STEP 2

In a large bowl combine together the flour, sugar, and baking powder. Pour in half of the milk mixture and stir to combine. Then add the yogurt and blend together. Pour the last of the milk mixture and stir until combined. Add the blueberries.

Don’t over stir. The mixture will be a little lumpy, it’s fine.

STEP 3

In a food processor or a bowl, mix together the topping ingredients until it’s sandy. I just use a fork.

STEP 4

Fill muffin tins about 1/2 way and top each one with the topping mixture. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

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Once a week I play bridge. Except this summer where travel baseball has taken over my life and I’ve missed several weeks of play. Today, my girlfriends are coming over to play bridge and I’m so excited!

Usually while we play we have glasses of white wine and some sort of small snack. Today, I’m making my famous (and ridiculously simple) Smoked Salmon Dip. Not only because it’s easy and everyone loves it - but because it feels like a perfect summer appetizer.

It’s only a few ingredients, so use good ones. My smoked fish (I’m using trout) is from my boys going fishing earlier this summer so I know it’s delicious and fresh. Because you’re only using 1/2 pound - buy a good one! In Seattle, most grocers have great smoked fish but you can also head over to the docks at the base of Magnolia and pick up fish that you know came straight out of the sea.

Smoked Salmon Dip

1/2 pound smoked salmon (or trout)

8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

zest of 1/2 lemon

1/2 jalapeño, grated

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or more if needed)

salt + pepper

STEP 1

In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, except the mayonnaise and blend. Use a hand mixer, a stand mixer, a cuisinart, or a potato masher (heaven help your arm)

STEP 2

When blended, add the mayonnaise and blend until the texture is fluffy and creamy. Serve with crackers and cucumber slices.

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Turning any butter into an herbed butter is one of the easiest ways to make a meal seem fancier than it is. This simple version is just one herb - but the proportions are the same no matter what. If I’m using this on my clams, I often go over the top with adding herbs and end up with a 1:1 ratio vs a 2:1 which is much more common.

You can decide what you’re going to put into this! Garlic Dill is because the dill in my garden needed to have something done with it. I especially like to make these butters and then freeze them. Practically on demand, you end up with something fancy right when you need it.

OPTIONS

• Garlic Dill is perfect for seafood like salmon or clams

• Rosemary Garlic is great on a steak or on top of bread - add extra salt

• Garlic, Dill, Thyme, Basil is my go-to for clams and mussels

• Basil, Oregano, Rosemary has a great Italian steak thing going on - add red pepper flakes too

• Lemon, Garlic, Dill is also amazing on seafood - use the zest of the lemon

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Garlic Dill Compound Butter

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup chopped dill

1 teaspoon salt

1 clove garlic

Mash it all together and use immediately, spread it on bread, or freeze and melt on a steak or clams later.

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Every year my husband and my dad go fishing. They come home with coolers full of trout. The past few years, Lars has gone too. And the fish seems like it’s tripled. It’s a good fish when it’s fresh, but you can only eat so much fresh trout before you need to do something with it. So we smoke it.

And then all of that fish is now smoked trout that we have to do something with! Luckily, if you vacuum seal it and freeze it, you can keep it until the next years fish comes in. The boys go fishing again in a week and we still have a freezer full of fish so I am making it into a variety of dinners - including my favorite dinner ever - CHOWDER!

Chowder is my number one favorite soup. And probably my number one diner order when we’re on the West Coast. And often on the East Coast - but as a West Coast native, I think ours is better.

This chowder is inspired by our trip last summer to Sweden. When we were there we had the best fish soup I’ve ever had in my life. It was 90% because it had fennel and I adore fennel - but also, it was just a great classic fish soup.

I’ll share that exact recipe soon, but in the mean time - here is my version of this using distinctly West Coast ingredients (the trout). You can also check out my other chowder recipes that are linked below!

Smoked Trout Chowder

serves 4

1 cup chopped celery

1 chopped leek (cleaned and just the white part chopped)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 bulb fennel, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup flour

1 cup white wine

4 cups fish stock

1 tablespoon Pernod or ouzo

1 bay leaf

1 handful thyme (6-8 sprigs)

1 handful parsley (6-8 sprigs)

2 large filets smoked trout (about 1/2 pound)

STEP 1

In a large stock pan, heat the oil and cook the leek and celery over medium low heat until they are softened. Then add the fennel and garlic and cook until just lightly softened.

STEP 2

Add the flour, sprinkling it over the top and then stir and cook until a paste forms. Pour in the wine and stir until thickened.

STEP 3

Add the stock, bay, herbs, and Pernod. I like to tie the herbs up in a cheese cloth pouch so they don’t add leaves to the soup. Stir and let simmer.

STEP 4

Let everything come together for a few minutes then add the fish. Serve with the fronds of the fennel on top and eat hot.

NOTE: You can freeze this soup and reheat slowly on the stove which makes it the perfect emergency dinner

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Classic Clam Chowder

This is my classic clam chowder that is exactly like the best West Coast diner chowder you’ve ever had.

Click here

When I was 12 I decided I was going to be able to make the world’s best chocolate chip cookies. I made it my project every time I had extra time and I tried a zillion different things and a zillion different recipes. My family suffered through some really disgusting cookies before I discovered that it wasn’t about the ingredients, but the technique.

The two best tips I can give you - after way too many batches - are simple

1. Blend the sugar and butter until they are a paste. No lumps at all.

2. After adding the eggs and vanilla, whip that shit up. Do not stop until it has changed color. Changing color means the air has been incorporated and these cookies will be light and fluffy.

Ali Hedin’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 35

1 cup butter, room temperature

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cups brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups chocolate chips

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter and sugars until creamy and completely blended.

STEP 2

Add eggs and vanilla and whip until light and fluffy. Do not skimp on this step! Keep whipping it - you cannot over whip.  In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients.

STEP 3

Add in dry ingredients until just barely incorporated.  Then add in the chocolate chips and mix well.  It’s great if they break up a little bit.

STEP 4

Scoop dough onto a cookie sheet and bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are browned but the center is still light brown.  Let rest 5 minutes on a cookie sheet then transfer to a cooling rack.

Store in an airtight container for up to a week – but no longer!

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Every week I ask the family what they want for dinner. And every week Mr Hedin says “meatloaf.” Literally, every week. Everyone else groans. I end up making it every few weeks but not as often as Mr Hedin would like.

The problem with meatloaf is that it’s usually too thick to cook easily for dinner. I found that by flattening the loaf to a reasonable thickness, I can make this in about 30 minutes. Plus - I can pop the potatoes in the oven on a baking sheet next to the meatloaf and they are done at the same time (-ish). While it bakes, I usually make a green salad. But you could also throw some asparagus or broccoli in the oven with everything else.

Weeknight Meatloaf

Serves 4

2lb ground beef

1 cup ketchup

1 grated onion

1 tsp worchestershire

1 egg

1 cup bread crumbs

1 clove garlic, grated

¼ cup milk

½ lb potatoes, slice in half

4 sprigs rosemary

salt

STEP 1

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine together ground beef, ketchup, onion, worchestershire, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, and milk.

STEP 2

Form into a flat loaf on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.  Squeeze ketchup on top.  Bake 30 minutes until done all the way through.  I usually make sure the middle is not pink and then I know it’s done. Because it’s so thin, it should cook quickly. You can also use a thermometer and make sure your beef is at 180 degrees.

STEP 3

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss potatoes with rosemary and salt.  Bake 20-30 mins until crispy. I put both in the oven at the same time and they are done at the same time - usually!

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