The Full Kitchen

Culinary Adventures in a Tiny California Kitchen

High Altitude Caramel Adventure

January 21, 2020 by Alyssa D in dessert

The Martha Stewart recipe promised soft, chewy caramels. I’d never made caramel in any form before ever, and followed the steps precisely using a handy candy thermometer.

But the solid brick that resulted was no match for the sharpest knife in my Colorado kitchen. Utterly crushed by the wasted ingredients and effort, I blamed myself. Must have done something wrong.

Spicy Bourbon Cocktail Adventure

May 12, 2018 by Alyssa D in drinks

Gina and I sat at Blue Smoke’s bar on East 27th Street in New York City, studying the drink list, wondering which cocktails to splurge on.

This was about a decade ago, and it wasn’t our first visit to the barbecue restaurant from Danny Meyer’s group. I don’t remember much about the previous meal we’d had — the deviled eggs stood out as being yummy — but it was bourbon time.