This past week, I knew I wouldn't be home and wasn't sure what ingredients I'd have access to or if I'd have access to a kitchen. So, I planned this week's recipes early and looked up recipes with few ingredients, mainly Tik-Tok and Pinterest recipes, since I knew those would require minimal effort. 🥄📱📌

I made all five Tik-Tok/Pinterest recipes in one evening and had a recipe test with our friends Lalo and Myriam afterward. They all ranked their favorites in different orders, but what is certain is that we all enjoyed the trendy grape recipes so much. 🍇 I'm so thankful they let me use their kitchen to whip up six recipes in one evening. Myriam also showed me how to make her version of Hard Rock Cafe nachos… and they were gone in just a few minutes. I will definitely be making this easy recipe for movie nights at home. 🍿🎬

I also spent time with one of my college best friends, Xidan. We cooked together after work, and she showed me how to make her salted duck. My favorite thing to eat as a kid was roasted duck, believe it or not. So, I was excited to make duck from scratch. It was delicious, and I can't wait to make it at home soon. 🦆👩‍🍳

I'm so thankful for friends sharing recipes and opening up their kitchens to me and my recipe adventures. 💖🏡🍽️

Recipe Request and Recommendation Corner 📬

My friend’s homemade recipes ❤️ 

Recipes Made So Far This Year:

Goal: To try seven new recipes each week 🗓️, aiming for 365 this year!

 Number of Recipes Made this Week: 7

Number of New Recipes Tested as of 8/4: 274

Weeks Achieving Seven or More New Recipes: 30 out of 31 ✅

This Week’s Recipe Test Summary

Impress Someone🌟

Nothing this week.

Would Make Again 👍

Xidan’s Salted Duck 🦆 (recipe below)

It takes a few days to prep, but it is delicious and so easy to make.

Myriam’s Nachos (recipe below)

I want some of these right now. So simple, but so yummy.

Candy Grapes Recipe (Jello Grapes) from KITCHEN FUN with my three sons 🍇

I was really curious about this recipe since I have seen it on social media and it was surprisingly good. I only made them with strawberry jello, but it was very good. I will be trying other flavors soon. These were Lalo’s favorite.

Frozen Tajin Grapes from Kale Junkie ❄️🍇

These were my favorite and Myriam’s as well. I feel like these are perfect to store in your freezer and pull out as a snack for an afternoon with friends by the pool.

Coconut Lover’s Rice Krispy Treats from Barefeet Kitchen 🥥🍚

These were basically just rice crispies with coconut, but were still good and an easy treat.

Marshmallow Popcorn from your homebased mom 🍿

If you are home and suddenly craving caramel popcorn, make this recipe. It tastes just like caramel popcorn and you only need microwave popcorn and a couple of other ingredients that you should have at home.

Would Not Make Again 👎

These recipes didn’t live up to expectations or weren’t to my taste

S’mores Bark from Tasty 🍫

I thought these took too many steps for what it tasted like. I’d rather just have a s’more.

I’d love to hear your thoughts, suggestions, or any recipe requests you might have. Just respond directly to this email.

See you next week. Keep cooking! 👋 

Vale from ValeCooks