Hope you’re having a wonderful week! Even though it’s still been 90 degrees here in LA, I’m starting to feel the fall vibes (mostly from seeing all the Halloween candy on the shelves at the store lol).

Something shifts for me after Labor Day. It finally starts to feel like a new season, and I get excited to revisit recipes I haven’t made in a while. I also start craving soup, which is one of my favorite things to eat this time of year.

So today I’m sharing my three all-time favorite soups. If I had to pick just three from every soup recipe I’ve ever made, these are the ones I’d choose. They’re the recipes I come back to again and again, and I’m so excited to share them with you!

But first, here’s a recipe for my grandpa’s Korean pickled radishes. They explode with flavor and are the kind of thing I can never stop eating. I love having a jar in my fridge, and I hope you give them a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support!

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Grandpa’s Korean pickled radishes

A simple and healthy snack we’ve been making in my family for years and years. The radishes explode with flavor from the inside out.

Korean Marinated Pickled Radishes

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You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

My Starting Soup Lineup 🍲

I’ve made a lot of soups over the years, but these are the three I keep coming back to. Which one I make really just depends on the mood I’m in…

When I’m feeling like something hearty and comforting:

This is my mom’s pastina soup with basil chicken meatballs, and it’s pure comfort. You start with basil chicken meatballs, which you just bake on a sheet tray and then add straight to the soup, so there’s no standing over a pan browning them. The broth is a simple chicken base built on onion and garlic, and then in goes the pastina, those tiny star-shaped pasta. If you can’t find it, feel free to sub any other little pasta or orzo. At the very end you stir in escarole, which is a slightly bitter green, and you want to cook it just until it wilts so it keeps a little crunch. It adds such a fresh finish to a soup that’s otherwise so cozy. Plenty of Parmesan on top, always.

You can find the recipe here.

When I’m feeling like something healthy and nourishing:

My favorite healthy lentil soup has been on repeat in my house for over ten years now. I always come back to it because it’s so easy to make and it just feels good to eat. You build it with onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, then add a bunch of warm, flavorful spices (cumin, turmeric, and thyme) before the lentils go in. At the end you mix in baby spinach, which turns bright green, and finish with lemon so it has a fresh, tangy pop. It also reheats beautifully, so I usually make it knowing I’ll be happy about leftovers all week.

You can find the recipe here.

When I’m feeling like something spicy and nostalgic:

My grandpa’s Korean soup is one of the dishes he always made when he came to visit. My grandparents lived in San Diego when I was growing up and we were up in Orinda, in the East Bay near San Francisco. Whenever they made the drive up, they would cook something incredible, and this soup was always in the rotation.

Last year my mom and I finally perfected the recipe. The version we had written down never felt quite right, so we worked on it together until it tasted the way I remembered it.

It’s packed with vegetables: a ton of daikon radish, a whole bunch of scallions, and lots of bean sprouts, plus beef and garlic. The heat comes from gochujang, a Korean red pepper paste, and gochugaru, a Korean chili pepper powder. Then there are eight eggs beaten into the soup at the end, which adds even more protein. If this one is in my fridge, I’m genuinely excited to keep eating the leftovers. It’s spicy and nourishing and tastes like my childhood.

You can find the recipe here.

One honorary mention that’s just as nostalgic for me: my grandpa’s jjigae, a hearty Korean stew, which is in my cookbook on page 68.

So there you have it, my top three soups for fall and the ones I come back to year after year. I hope you try them out!

I’m also starting to think about new soup recipes to create this fall, so if there’s a favorite you think I should make, please let me know. I’m always looking for inspiration!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Love,

Maxine

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week! Doug and I just got back from Sicily and absolutely loved it. We ate so much incredible food, and of course, the pasta was a highlight. One thing I love about Italy is that the pasta is always cooked to al dente perfection. Even if a particular sauce isn’t my favorite, I can count on the pasta itself being excellent.

Today, I thought I’d tell you all about our trip, including the cities we explored, where we stayed, and, of course, our favorite meals along the way.

First, here’s a recipe for creamy chicken and broccoli pasta my mom and I recently made. It comes together in just 30 minutes and is perfect for busy school nights when you need something easy and delicious that the whole family will love. The luscious sauce is made with whole milk, broccoli, and shredded chicken. The leftovers reheat like a dream, so make a big batch and enjoy it for days to come.

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Get Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Creamy Chicken and Broccoli Pasta

This pasta comes together in just 30 minutes and is the perfect easy dinner for a busy school night. Make sure to save any leftovers, as they reheat like a dream.

Creamy Chicken And Broccoli Pasta

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You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

A Week in Sicily: All of Our Favorite Spots

Sicily is a pretty big island with two major airports: one is in Palermo, the capital, in the northwest, and the other in Catania, the second-largest city, on the eastern coast. Since we wanted to explore a few different parts of the island, we decided to fly into Palermo, drive across to Catania with a stop along the way, and fly home from there.

Palermo

We only spent one night in Palermo. We were surprised by how big and bustling the city was, with beautiful architecture that reminded me of Paris.

On the day we landed, we lounged by the pool at our hotel, and then in the evening, we headed into the city for an aperitivo at dal Barone, a really cute wine bar. It had such a nice vibe, with everyone seated outside along the sidewalk. I love how in Europe people are always spilling out onto the streets, eating and drinking.

Doug ordered a glass of wine, and it was so delicious that I ended up getting one too, even though I don’t usually drink. We also shared a toast with burrata and anchovy.

Then we headed to dinner at Aja Mola, a seafood restaurant, where we ordered an appetizer, two pastas, and a sea bass. Both pastas were fantastic and perfectly al dente.

Even though we only spent 24 hours in Palermo, we loved it. The big-city feel was a cool contrast to the rest of the island, where we mostly stayed in smaller cities along the coast.

Cefalù

The next day, we made our way to Cefalù, a small city on the northern coast of Sicily, about midway between Palermo and our last destination, Noto.

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week! Doug and I were just in Sicily, and I posted a little vlog about how we travel together. Someone commented that they’re heading to Europe for the first time in a few weeks and asked if I had any travel tips. So today, I thought it would be fun to share my top tips for planning (and enjoying!) a long travel day, including my favorite hack for making the time fly by and getting ahead of jet lag.

First, here’s a recipe for crispy chicken thighs with spicy lime sauce I recently made. The secret to getting the crispiest chicken is starting it skin-side down in a cold pan and cooking it slow and low so the fat renders and the skin crisps up. I serve them with a tangy, sweet spicy Vietnamese-inspired sauce. The result is mind-blowingly good. I hope you give them a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Crispy Chicken Thighs with Spicy Lime Sauce

The secret to the crispiest chicken thighs is starting them skin-side down in a cold skillet. Serve with a bright, tangy Vietnamese inspired cilantro lime sauce.

Crispy Chicken Thighs With Spicy Lime Sauce

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You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

How to Survive (and Thrive) on a Long Travel Day ✈️

I’ve always found travel days fun and exciting, and I don’t really dread long flights. Here are a few things I do to make the whole process easier and smoother.

Pack light (if you can) 🧳

Of course, if you’re someone who likes to have a ton of stuff when you travel, you can disregard this one. But Doug and I always bring just a carry-on suitcase, even if we’re going on a multi-week trip. We both have international carry-on-size suitcases that meet the requirements for most airlines.

Not checking a bag makes the travel day so much more seamless because you cut out the time it takes to check a suitcase and wait for it at baggage claim. It’s also nice not having to haul a heavy bag around if you’re making multiple stops during your trip.

I find that the less I pack, the more likely I am to pick up souvenirs and clothes along the way. I love looking for unique clothing when I’m outside the country, especially pieces you’re less likely to see other people wearing back home.

One hack I swear by: I always bring my Tumi Just In Case tote bag. It folds down into a tiny pouch and takes up almost no space. Even if my carry-on is completely full when I leave, I know I’ll have some extra room for anything I buy. On the way home, any overflow goes into the tote, along with my backpack, which I then collapse and squeeze into the tote.

Sometimes, if I really end up with a crazy amount of stuff, like I did in Japan, I’ll check a bag on the way home.

In addition to my carry-on, I bring a backpack with everything I’ll want access to during the flight since it goes under the seat in front of me: phone charger, snacks, glasses, and so on.

Download entertainment before you leave 📺

The night before a trip, I always do a full sweep of the streaming platforms to figure out what I’m excited to watch. (I have all the subscriptions because I love TV, lol.) I download a mix of scripted shows and reality TV so I have a nice balance between something immersive that requires more attention and something casual I can half-watch. I never know what I’ll be in the mood for.

Of course, you can always watch whatever is available on the plane, but I find that having shows I’m genuinely excited about makes the time go by quickly.

This time, I downloaded a bunch of episodes from season three of Couples Therapy on Paramount+ because I’d heard it was the best season. You basically get to watch other couples’ therapy sessions, and I’ve found it so fascinating. I loved it so much that I ended up downloading two more seasons while I was on the trip for the flight home, and somehow watched three full seasons over the course of a week. Definitely recommend if you’re looking for something binge-worthy!

Invest in a great neck pillow and eye mask 😴

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re doing well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer! Doug and I planned an end-of-summer trip to Sicily, and we’re actually here right now having such a wonderful time. We went to Puglia in July and loved it so much that we couldn’t resist taking another trip to Italy. The food is incredible, of course, and we both love the laid-back culture. Neither of us had been to Sicily before, but it’s been high on our list for a while. We can’t wait to share all of our recommendations when we’re back.

Before we left, I started noticing the schools in our neighborhood getting busy again and kids walking around in their uniforms. Even though I don’t have kids, I can definitely feel the energy of a new school year. Growing up, I always loved back-to-school shopping and picking out new notebooks, paper, and pens. There’s something so energizing and exciting about this time of year.

But I know it can also be hectic as we transition into fall, especially if you’re juggling a full-time job and trying to get dinner on the table for your family after a long day. So today, I’m sharing five easy recipes that are perfect for busy weeknights. Most are kid-friendly and come together in 40 minutes or less.

First, here’s a recipe for a healthy zucchini soup I recently made. It tastes surprisingly creamy, even though there’s no cream! Made with zucchini, onion, garlic, and plenty of fresh basil, it’s especially delicious in the summer when zucchini is in season. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and serve with olive oil-fried bread. I hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Buttered noodles like a Michelin star chef

The key to the best buttered noodles is to finish cooking the pasta in a pan with cold butter and pasta water, which emulsifies into a glossy, silky sauce.

You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

Buttered Noodles Like A Michelin Star Chef

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5 Easy Dinners for Busy Weeknights 🍽️

✨ Creamy Chicken Enchilada Skillet ✨

This recipe comes together in one skillet, so cleanup is super quick and easy. It has both chicken and beans for protein and feels hearty without being heavy. The creamy sauce is made with whole milk, green chiles, and enchilada sauce. Sliced corn tortillas get folded into the sauce and soften in the oven, then everything is topped with a delicious layer of melted cheese. I loved this one when I first made it and can’t wait to make it again. Just writing about it is making my mouth water! The best part is that any leftovers reheat beautifully for lunch the next day.

You can find the recipe here.

✨ Broccoli Mac and Cheese ✨

This is one of my favorite ways to eat mac and cheese because it feels so balanced. There’s an entire pound of broccoli mixed in with the pasta and sauce. I keep the sauce simple with just cheddar, but add garlic powder, mustard powder, and paprika for a little more depth and complexity. I love how saucy it is while the noodles still stay al dente, which, as you know, is a must for me.

You can find the recipe here.

✨ Benihana Hibachi Bowl ✨

This is one of those recipes to turn to when you feel like you have absolutely no energy to cook. It comes together in just 25 minutes with minimal effort but still packs in so much flavor.

Growing up, we celebrated all my birthdays at Benihana, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. This recipe captures the flavors of their signature hibachi chicken, and the sautéed zucchini and onion with garlic and butter are very similar to the vegetables they serve. Don’t skip the rice because it soaks up all that delicious buttery soy sauce.

You can find the recipe here.

✨ Mom’s Meatloaf ✨

My mom had been begging me to share this recipe, and I finally did a few months ago. It’s something we ate all the time when I was growing up, and it’s healthy and incredibly easy to make. We always use half ground beef and half ground turkey or chicken, though my mom recommends chicken.

The two unexpected ingredients are rolled oats and V8 Juice. We also add a generous amount of finely diced onion, which gives the meatloaf a nice texture pop. If you prefer softer onions, you can sauté them until caramelized first. And of course, we coat the whole thing in ketchup. I highly recommend serving each slice with even more ketchup on the side for dipping.

You can find the recipe here.

✨ Egg Roll Bowl with Wonton Crisps ✨

This one-bowl recipe is perfect for when you truly don’t have time to cook because it takes just 15 minutes! I use a bag of coleslaw mix to minimize the chopping, then add ground chicken or turkey (though you could use pork if you prefer), ginger, garlic, and water chestnuts. You’ll also make your own wonton crisps, which are so simple but make the whole bowl feel extra special.

You can find the recipe here.

I hope these recipes make your back-to-school weeknights a little easier and more delicious.

Wishing you a relaxing weekend!

Love,

Maxine

Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you had a great week! My mom was in town last week, and we had so much fun cooking together, as always. I can’t wait to share everything we made with you over the next few weeks. Doug was in New York for most of the week, but when he got back on Friday, the three of us went to dinner at Funke in LA. It was our first time trying it, and we really enjoyed it. We already love Mother Wolf, so we had high expectations since it’s also Chef Evan Funke’s restaurant. The pasta was cooked to al dente perfection, and we left very full and happy.

Today, I’m sharing a step-by-step guide to creating your own vision board. It’s one of the first things I did after I was laid off from my corporate job in 2022 and decided to pursue Maxi’s Kitchen full time. At the time, I’d built a following of about 100k while working in tech, but there was so much more I hoped to accomplish. I was so determined to turn my dream into a reality, and creating a vision board felt like the perfect place to start.

Looking back at my vision board is pretty wild. I’m surprised by how many of the things I put on it have come true. So a couple weekends ago, I decided to make a new one, this time focused on what I’m hoping to achieve over the next three to five years.

I think of it a bit like making a birthday wish. I can’t tell you exactly what’s on my board or it might not come true ;)! But hopefully, in five or so years, I’ll be able to show it to you. In the meantime, I can give you a few glimpses and walk you through exactly how I put it together so you can create your own.

First, here’s a recipe for my grandpa’s Korean fried rice with bacon, onion, and napa cabbage. He was such a talented cook, and this was one of the dishes he made all the time. Gochujang (a spicy fermented Korean condiment) and soy sauce give the rice a delicious sweet-and-savory depth of flavor. I hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Grandpa’s Korean Fried Rice

This is a quick and simple recipe my grandpa made all the time. It’s packed with cabbage and is so flavorful and delicious.

Grandpa’s Korean Fried Rice

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How I Create a Vision Board ✨

Start with the vision

Plant the seed in your mind and let it marinate for a few days. When you think about your life three, five, or even ten years from now, what are your wildest dreams? Maybe you want to become a talk show host, buy a house, travel the world, or become a parent. Or maybe it’s something smaller, like finally getting that purse you’ve been eyeing.

Even if a goal feels unrealistic or out of reach, if it’s something you genuinely want in your heart and soul, write it down.

I had six items on my list, which felt like the right amount and was similar to my first vision board. But there’s no perfect number. It can be more or less.

I kept my list in the Notes app on my phone, though you could just as easily write yours in a journal or wherever you like to keep ideas.

Choose your medium

I used a foam board, which I highly recommend because it stands up on its own. A poster board or any other sturdy paper works just as well.

Once you have your list of goals, find an image to represent each one. It can be a photo, an illustration, something you find online, or even a picture cut out of a magazine. The important thing is having a visual representation of each goal so you can imagine it becoming reality.

This time, I had a little more creative energy and time, so I drew my own illustrations with a ballpoint pen and colored pencils. I also used some beautiful paper and decorative tape that I’d saved from our trip to Japan.

That said, it definitely doesn’t have to become a big art project. The first time around, I simply printed photos and glued them to the board with some stickers.

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you’re having a great week! Doug and I are soaking up summer at home in LA, which for us mostly means sticking to our routine. Even though I work for myself and could technically make any schedule I want, almost a decade in the corporate world conditioned me to a traditional work week. So I still front-load the heavy stuff Monday through Friday and try to protect Saturday and Sunday so they feel like a real weekend.

Saturdays are the day I look forward to most. When we’re home, we have a routine we follow almost every week, and even though it shifts a little depending on what’s going on, there are a few things we never skip. I find it so relaxing to know how the day will unfold and, more importantly, what we’ll be eating. So today I thought I’d give you a little window into a typical Saturday, along with a few of our favorite spots around LA, including a newer discovery in Koreatown that we’ve been loving.

First, here’s a recipe for a Korean zucchini pancake, which has the crispiest edges thanks to some rice flour in the batter and a drizzle of toasted sesame oil. It’s so good that my mom and I have been making it on repeat. I hope you give it a try!

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Order Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Korean zucchini pancake

The secret to the crispiest edges on this zucchini pancake is a little rice flour in the batter. Adding a drizzle of sesame oil while it cooks creates a shattering crunch.

Korean Zucchini Pancake

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You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

A Typical Saturday in Los Angeles ☀️

Morning matcha and journaling 🍵📝

We usually wake up around 7:30 am, feed Kimchi, and take her for a walk around the neighborhood. She absolutely loves riding in the car, so afterward we load her in and head out for matcha. We almost always go out for matcha, even during the week (unless I’m doing Pilates). It’s one of my favorite morning rituals.

We live in Los Feliz, right next to Silver Lake, and our two favorite neighborhood spots are Kettl and Yala. Doug and I both love journaling in the mornings, so we’ll bring our notebooks and sit with Kimchi while we drink our matcha.

I started journaling about a year ago and have found it incredibly helpful. I begin with two or three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, putting down whatever comes to mind. It helps me organize my thoughts, plan my day, and harness any creative ideas floating around in my head. I feel like I have a much better sense of how I’m feeling and what I want to accomplish once I’ve put pen to paper. This practice also helps me tap into a more positive, nurturing, and calming self-voice.

I always end by writing three self-love affirmations. It helps me stay in a positive headspace, especially because I can sometimes be a little hard on myself.

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Full recipe + printable recipe card below. Enjoy!

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Hope you had a great week! A few weekends ago, Doug and I went to our niece Sophie’s birthday party where they served incredibly delicious chicken tenders and fries. I hadn’t had chicken tenders in so long, and I was reminded of just how good they are. How have I been sleeping on them all this time?!

Those tenders inspired me to create my own recipe. I wanted them to be kid friendly because I know many of the people who follow my cooking have kids, but I also wanted to give them a twist so they’d feel elegant and interesting enough for grown-ups.

I made a creamy lemon-Parmesan dipping sauce similar to the one I serve with artichokes. To keep it a little lighter, I used a combination of sour cream and mayonnaise, then added plenty of fresh lemon juice, grated Parmesan, and black pepper. It paired so well with the chicken, though of course you can always serve ketchup on the side for the kids. You can find the recipe here.

For the chicken tenders, I baked them in the oven, and they came out so crispy. Doug and I loved them so much that I felt inspired to dedicate this entire newsletter to baked crispy chicken. It’s one of my favorite things to make, and chicken cutlets are the dish my dad requests most often for dinner. Honestly, what’s not to love?

So today, I’m sharing all my tips for making the crispiest, most flavorful baked chicken tenders and cutlets. I’ll walk you through the oven method I learned from my mom and guide you through every step.

First, here’s a recipe for a Parmesan caprese dip I made last week. It’s an easy, elegant appetizer made with fresh cherry tomatoes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, and olive oil. It reminds me a bit of red pesto and is so delicious spooned onto crostini with fresh basil on top.

As always, my cookbook Maxi’s Kitchen is now available for purchase at your local bookstore or online:

Get Your Copy

Thank you so much for your support 🤍

What I Cooked Last Week! ↓

Parmesan caprese dip

Whenever I make this dip for friends, they always ask for the recipe. It’s an easy, elegant appetizer, made with fresh tomatoes, Parmigiano-Reggiano, garlic, and olive oil.

Parmesan Caprese Dip

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You can download the PDF recipe above and watch the video here :)

The Ultimate Crispy Chicken Guide 🍗

You can absolutely make crispy breaded chicken by shallow-frying it in a pan, but I love baking it because it’s a little healthier and so much easier. You don’t have to worry about oil splattering everywhere or the breading burning before the chicken is cooked through. It’s not that I don’t appreciate fried chicken, this is simply my preferred method at home. That said, never say never. Now that I’m writing about it, I’m craving a fried chicken cutlet, lol.

Convection is your friend

I always recommend using the convection setting if your oven has one. Convection circulates hot air throughout the oven, encouraging more even cooking while also speeding things up by about 25%. It works similarly to an air fryer. (An air fryer is really just a powerful mini convection oven!)

If you don’t have a convection setting, simply increase the oven temperature by 25°F and broil the chicken for the last minute or so to get some extra browning, if you like.

For convection, preheat the oven to 425°F. For regular bake, preheat it to 450°F.

A wire rack makes all the difference

If you have a wire rack, place it inside a rimmed baking sheet. This allows the hot air to circulate around the chicken so the bottoms crisp up too, without needing to flip them halfway through cooking. Be sure to spray the rack with oil so the chicken doesn’t stick. (It may still stick a little, but a spatula will release it easily.) For easier cleanup, line the baking sheet underneath the rack with foil.

Season the chicken before breading

If you’re making chicken cutlets, pound them to an even thickness so they cook quickly and evenly. You can use either a meat mallet or a heavy skillet. If you like, you can also cut the cutlets into smaller pieces.

Seasoning is just as important as the breading. For cutlets, I generously season both sides with salt and pepper after pounding them out. For tenders, I toss them in a bowl with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and paprika, making sure every piece is evenly coated.

The three-bowl dredging station

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