Happy Valentines’ Day from Kathey Raskin of Las Vegas! Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and I’ve got ideas, my friends. In Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, I love a good, home-cooked meal on Valentine’s Day. Did you know that the roots of Valentine’s Day go back to ancient times? The feast of Lupercalia paid honor to the Roman god of fertility. Today, the traditions of Valentine’s Day are broad, including exchanging cards, purchasing or making chocolates, sending flowers, buying jewelry, and enjoying romantic dinners. What are your favorite Valentine’s Day traditions? Is there anything new you want to try this year? Let your friends at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen know in the comments.

Lobster Capellini with Leek-Tarragon Cream Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter
• 4 larg...

Hello from Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and welcome to my website! My calendar says National Chocolate Cake Day is on the 27^th. Here in Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, every day would be chocolate cake day. So, let’s talk about the ways to celebrate it.  A white cake is not a substitution, and neither is a yellow cake. Part chocolate, part white? Don’t even waste my time. It must be all chocolate today. You can make dark chocolate, fudge, milk chocolate… but it must be chocolate. I have a three-part goal for you today. Bake a chocolate cake, decorate it to your liking, and EAT IT. That’s it. Good luck, and share your favorite chocolate cake recipe with Kathey Jo’s Kitchen below.

Classic Chocolate Cake

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 30 mins

Yield: 2 (9-inch) cakes (serves 12)

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups/...

It’s National Popcorn Day at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen! Well, it’s officially unofficial. Apparently, it’s always celebrated on January 19^th. I love these silly holidays that pop up. Not that I need an excuse to celebrate something celebrating food or eating! How do you like your popcorn? I like a good tub of movie theater popcorn: lots of butter and salt, with a cold drink on the side. Do you like to make your own popcorn on the stove, or do you use an air popper? What are your favorite toppings? I’ve included a few recommendations today to inspire you. Let Kathey Jo’s Kitchen know in the comments if yours is there, and if not, feel free to share it.

Your New Favorite Toppings: 1-5

1. Chorizo: Cook 1 cup diced chorizo in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until crisp; drain on paper towels...

This is Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and I’d like to welcome you to Kathey Jo’s Kitchen. I’m sure you cleaned your slate with the arrival of 2018. Here in Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, I’m doing my best. I started meal planning on Sundays before the work week, for one. I’m determined to keep my momentum going. I don’t expect results right away. That’s all we can expect of ourselves. There’s the idea of false hope syndrome that I became aware of before I decided to take my health more seriously. I internalized the good that I wanted my hard work to do for me, rather than making outrageous demands. What resolutions did you make for 2018? Feel free to share them in the comments below with your fellow Kathey Jo’s Kitchen fans.

Triple Berry Spinach Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 c...

At Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, Christmas is my favorite holiday, and my affection for the holidays are reflected in how I dress up my home. If you’re like me, you like to leave your decorations up for as long as you can. You also probably can’t resist adding new ornaments and decorations to your full slate of holiday design. But, then you’re left with plastic bits and bobs, pine needles, and who knows what else to pack or throw away for a whole year, so you can do it all again! So, today at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, we’ll discuss the most efficient ways to clean up after yourself, because we all have to do it eventually.

Artificial or Disposable Decorations

There are specialized storage bags available for your fake Christmas tree and the wreath for your door (if that’s what you use)...

It’s great to wake up late after staying up celebrating the new year. I know that’s how I feel at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen! The promise of a fresh start for everybody is hanging over everyone’s hungover head like a halo. You’re probably mentally preparing yourself for getting back to the gym, eating healthy again, and preparing yourself for the inevitable failure at both. But, I think with the upcoming year, I truly believe that you can do it. If you’re like me, then you know that New Year’s Day is your first cheat day of the year. It’s a scientific fact. Therefore, indulge to your heart’s content with the recipes I’m sharing with my friends here at Kathey Jo’s below.

A Pitcher Full of Bloody Mary

Prep Time: 5mins

Yield: 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup well chilled vodka
• 32 ounces v...

Do you make the time in the morning to have breakfast? Sometimes, it’s hard to get the day going especially if I skip breakfast. I knew that had to stop, so I found a few options for make-ahead breakfasts. That’s right, these recipes here at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen can be reheated if you’re on the go. Nobody expects you to sit down and have a full-on English breakfast, but you owe it to your health to put something in your stomach before you go about your day. What’s your favorite, non-drive thru, breakfast food? Share it in the comments with the rest of Kathey Jo’s Kitchen.

Butternut Squash, Sage, and Parmesan Pasties

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup chilled butter, cut into small pieces
• 6-8 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 8 ounces butternut ...

Hello, Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas here today bringing you new recipes for everyone’s favorite treat—cookies! As you know, we love cookies here at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen! I love putting up the decorations with his color scheme, and his style embodies Christmas to me. He’s the jolly, inescapable iconic symbol of the holiday. You can’t think of the holidays without imagining Santa on his sleigh making his way towards your home, singing songs like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and watching the overabundance of Christmas movies that are being played on a loop in the days leading up to Christmas. I’m going to share a few of my favorite Santa cookie recipes with you. Post your Santa cookie recipes, or tips and tricks in the comments below...

This is Kathleen Raskin of Las Vegas, and I’d like to welcome you to my website. Happy Bittersweet Chocolate Day from Kathey Jo’s Kitchen! Jo Brand said, “anything is good if it’s made of chocolate.” Milk chocolate is probably the most popular flavor that you’ll find on the shelf at your local grocery store, but with the initiation of adventurous tongues, different flavors of chocolate are starting to dominate. Bittersweet chocolate is what’s always recommended for baking, and there’s a reason for that. What distinguishes bittersweet chocolate from other chocolates is that it’s sweeter form of dark chocolate. It’s darker, and richer than other chocolates. What’s your favorite chocolate-centric recipe? Let the rest of Kathey Jo’s Kitchen know in the comments.

Bitte...

This is Kathey Raskin of Las Vegas, and I’d like to welcome you to Kathey Jo’s Kitchen. Although New Year’s Day 2018 falls on a Monday, there’s no reason why you can’t have Sunday brunch the day before. Today at Kathey Jo’s Kitchen, we’ll discuss a few more brunch dishes today. Brunch is a wonderful meal to look forward to. There are some who say it was a movement created by chefs to use up weeks-old ingredients, as noted by Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential. If you haven’t read it, he claims it’s a scheme for restaurant owners to make quick cash by preying on unsuspecting customers. The book came out over 17 years ago, and I can tell you I’ve been to fabulous brunches over the years that haven’t let me down...