Wanted to do a fun summer project for myself - I always struggle to come up with ideas I can keep going, but I thought it could be fun to combine cooking and illustration with some of my favorite recipes!

I decided about two years ago that horrendous cooking should no longer be my go-to.. I’m no Julia Child, but after watching The Kitchen on the Food Network I’ve learned SO much!

Sunny Anderson’s Shrimp Boil Sheet Pan

May I present my first of my fave recipes - it’s Sunny Anderson’s sheet pan shrimp boil!!

It’s so insanely easy AND every time I feed it to people I already know I’m going to have to send them the link to the recipe - it’s THAT good and, like, legit summer vibes.

Get the recipe here.

Illustration artwork, cooking recipe, summer 2022 illustrator, Sunny Anderson's Shrimp Boil Sheet Pan recipe, food network, the kitchen

Joanna Gaines’ Jojo’s Biscuits

May I present my second of my fave recipes - it’s Joanna Gaines’ JoJos Biscuit Recipe from Magnolia cookbook Vol.1! One of my first “fun” recipes to try - our family is a collection of ‘bread eaters’ and to impress them with a good biscuit is no small feat. They store frozen so easily they are now our go-to biscuits! I’ve made larger batches to take to family farm days, Easter brunch ..and, if I’m being honest, probably a million more things. Can’t recommend this recipe enough if you’ve got it in your heart to be the Biscuit Hero *sung in Jukebox Hero format*

Get the recipe here.

Illustration artwork, cooking recipe, summer 2022 illustrator, Joanna Gaines biscuit recipe, baking, biscuit recipe

Andrew Rea’s Arepa Con Queso

When Encanto came out on Disney+ it obviously rocked the Presley household (like so many with toddlers) - not only does Lin-Manuel Miranda just spin gold with each passing day, the characters are so lovable. After watching it on repeat with the kids for several days in a row I just HAD to know what an arepa tastes like. If you follow my other account’s stories for long enough you may have been around for several other rounds of trying things from the kids’ shows (one that comes to mind was the time we made latkes). It took me a shockingly long time to find an arepa recipe so perhaps it’s one of those things like “fam secret” but then I found the Binging with Babish! He posted a video of making arepas con queso because of Encanto and it legit has like 4-5 ingredients so I said YES PLEASE.

I’ll tell you, arepas con queso has become of Caroline’s more requested side dishes! I’ll occasionally make them and anyone who comes over for dinner and tries one is apprehensive and then pleasantly surprised!! Admittedly, I’ve also dipped one in guac and it was kind of life changing.

Get the recipe here.