What's Cooking? My new food blog!

I love good food, which is why I am always on the hunt for great restaurants and recipes. I wouldn't say I'm picky, but I do know good food. I often rate restaurants and recipes: Would I come back here again? Would I cook this again?

That's not always easy to answer. Sometimes the restaurant has great ambiance, but mediocre food, which could warrant a return visit. Maybe the appetizer was excellent but the main course was bland and served at room temperature (lukewarm is never ideal).

And sometimes the recipe simply needs to be tweaked.

I have always been the Monica Geller in my group of friends. I love to cook and I love to entertain. For me, cooking and baking is a way to show you care. So much effort goes into cooking a nice meal. Cooking takes planning, time, patience...

Since I moved to Atlanta, I've been cooking and baking a lot more, simply because it's more fun when you have people to cook for (now, I live with my man and his sons, who are with us every other week). And honestly, it's hard to justify spending $40+ on ingredients for one meal when you're the only one eating. So, I have been having a lot of fun whipping up tasty meals these days.

This week, I made banana bread; I added some chocolate chips since chocolate makes everything better. My best friend bought me Joanna Gaines' cookbook for my birthday and I decided to try this recipe first. I modified her recipe slightly (minus the white sugar, one less banana, added the chocolate...) and it came out so delicious. I am always nervous about trying recipes by "chefs" I'm not familiar with, I tend to stick with the professionals: Martha, Giada, Bobby..., but I will definitely make this again.

Last night, I decided to do a fun pasta picnic and a movie sitch at home with my guy. I whipped up Giada's Shrimp Fra Diavolo with angel hair. I love this dish because it's super simple and so good. The ingredients include, white wine, a can of diced tomatoes, shrimp, garlic, fresh herbs... Toss it with some pasta and you're set. We ate this while watching Netflix's "To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You."

And because I always need something sweet, I made these Funfetti cakeballs.