Baked ↓

banana cake!

Banana Bread (that eats like a cake)


This got this wonderful banana bread recipe from my dear friend and fellow artist Jennifer Bock-Nelson. Sorry I don’t have an image of the mini loaves themselves, but I did manage to snap a photo of it all wrapped up for Christmas giving. At the request of Bridget, one of the lucky bread recipients, here’s [...]

Pumpkin Pie

Easy Traditional Pumpkin Pie


As I checked in our blog today, searching for the pumpkin pie recipe we made two Thanksgivings ago, I was appalled to find nary a trace of it, as if such deliciosity had ne’er occurred! I did a cursory web search, trying to find something that approximated what we’d made previously, but everything seemed to have too [...]

pie goodness

Pie Season!


Mark’s birthday fell on Labor Day this year and we had friends in town for the long weekend. Saturday was one of those beautiful later summer days and apples were already out at a couple of the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market stalls. So naturally I bought a 25 lb bag. The last of the raspberries [...]

Pizza a la City O City

Designer Imposters #1: Pizza a la Denver’s City O’ City


On our recent Southwest road trip, we found ourselves hurling through the Rockies in the early dark of night, heading toward Denver. The drive started pleasantly, heading Northeast out of Arches National Park in Utah, along the Colorado River. The mountains were unbelievably large. I mean, there are mountains, and then there are mountains. But [...]

Quesadilla

Dear Daiya,


As you’ve probably come to know, we try to avoid most processed, pre-packaged foods, favoring instead fresh local foods, when possible. Orange juice and soy creamer have largely been our worst repeat offenders. Until the advent of Daiya ™, that is. (pictured: quesadillas + baked mac & cheese) I swear, we were happily off the [...]

Spicy Tofu Omelette

2nd Annual Breakfast Day!–> Spicy Tofu Omelette and Blueberry Muffins


Last year, when Mark volunteered to spend a Sunday doing our taxes, I decided to contribute by making breakfasts over the course of the day. The menu included Buttermilk Pancakes and Tofu Chard Quiche. I decided to uphold the tradition this year and make some breakfast-y comfort food in several courses. Since I had a [...]

Southwest Stack

Southwest Stack


Pacing listlessly at the bottom of a deep drop in our recent creativity, Amy pulled this little marvel out of thin air: a layer of crispy baked, garlicky sweet potatoes, a layer of refried chili beans, a layer of taco chik’n, a layer of avocado and finely diced onions and tomatoes, all topped with salsa–the [...]

Pretzels and chili

Chili – Redux


Now that we’ve posted the majority of our culinary masterworks, things have slowed down a bit here at IV. In the midst of the winter holidays, it seems this goes doubly so, as we turn to many of our old favorites. It probably goes without saying, but we’re big chili buffs. Amy’s mom also loves [...]

Diggin' in to spanksgiving feast!

Spanksgiving in Reykjavik!


This year, Amy and I spent our first Spanksgiving abroad. While it was a bummer to be away from our friends and families, it was really great to spend it with some of our new friends here in Reykjavik. While it’s a fairly obvious fact that other countries don’t celebrate the same Thanksgiving as we [...]

Abigail's "Hot Potato" and Tomato Gratin

Abigail’s “Hot Potato” and Tomato Gratin


Our friend Abigail: a. not only has the most amazing garden this side of the Mississippi b. can also generally be found whipping up something amazing in the kitchen.  Mark and I were trying to figure out what do do with our enormous yield of tomatoes (those green tomatoes in the last post are ripening [...]