Sweet & Savory is a cooking and entertaining resource for classic dishes, cooking tutorials and entertaining.
Hey, hey, welcome to my virtual kitchen!
My name is Shinee, and I’m so happy to have you here!
I believe anyone can cook restaurant-quality food at home!
And that’s why here on Sweet & Savory, my goal is to help you to become a confident cook!
I do all the researching and testing for you… so you can confidently cook and bake the classic dishes you love.
- My recipes are well tested in my home kitchen and approved by my family and friends.
- I share all the tips and secrets I learned along the way, so you can easily recreate them in your kitchen.
- Every recipe is easy to follow with lots of tips for success and step-by-step photos/videos to guide you through every step of the way.
And most importantly, I teach you the “why”-s behind the technique, so you can easily add your own twist to the dishes, as you become more confident with your skills.
Don’t take my word for it though. Check out what my readers say about delicious, yet gorgeous food they’ve made at home:
“Thank you for this amazing (chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling) recipe. Made it for my friend’s birthday cake and it turned out incredible. Was absolutely a hit.”
“My second ever attempt at macarons… They look amazing! Thank you so much for this recipe, instructions were perfect and I can’t believe how fantastic they look. Not to mention, taste great.”
“Just want to let you know that I tried your bacon chicken meatballs served with the sauce for our usual party night. Everyone loved the meatballs, especially the sauce! We almost dipped the sauce on every bite of the meatballs.”
NOW, A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME…
I’m a small town girl with big city cravings…
Living in rural North Dakota and not having access to many restaurants and bakeries, I craved impressive desserts on special occasions and big city flavors in my everyday life. You see, one thing (and probably the only thing) I absolutely loved living in Los Angeles is the diverse food I’ve experienced there. From pretty macaron shops to neighborhood Italian restaurants, I got to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
Now, since my favorite bakery is more than 100 miles away, I had to learn to bake gourmet desserts from scratch. And instead of driving to the next town (30 miles away!) for a nice meal, I wanted quick n’ easy yet special dinners that I can make right in my own kitchen.
Through numerous trials and errors and consulting my trusted cookbooks, I’ve created approachable recipes with easy-to-follow directions to satisfy my cravings for gourmet eats.
I don’t miss big city food anymore (well, maybe a little…) because now I can impress my friends and family with a batch of beautiful macarons and celebrate birthdays with homemade layer cake from scratch, right here in my own kitchen. Nothing makes me happier and more accomplished than seeing my loved ones enjoy my beautiful- and delicious– creations.
I live with my husband, Garrat, and 2 little boys, Grant and George.
- Garrat is a rancher by day, a handyman on demand, a plant nerd all year-round and my #1 taste-tester in the kitchen.
- Farmer Grant is my 4-year-old son who is very into farming! He has very good appetite and loves to eat everything from mushrooms to blueberry cake and everything in between!
- George is my 2-year-old son. He’s my youngest taste-tester and absolutely loves his job! It’s impossible to name all his favorite food, because he loves to eat! He’s also an aspiring farmer.
…Besides spending countless hours in the kitchen, traveling is another passion of mine. In fact, I uprooted myself from my homeland, Mongolia, a decade ago to explore the world. How and why I settled in ND is a whole another story for another day. But you can read some of my travel journals right here.
Now your turn. Don’t be a stranger, introduce yourself in the comments below and tell me something about you. I’d love to get to know you too.
Thanks so much for stopping by! It’s an absolute pleasure having you here.
P.S. If we’re not connected on Facebook yet, please come join me over there and watch my short n’ sweet video recipes. I’m also very active on Instagram, sharing tips and tricks, cooking demos, and general behind the scenes stuff. Come join me there, if you’re into that kind of stuff.
xo,
Shinee
Judy says
Please send me emails so I can search for recipes. Thanks
D Wright Downs says
So glad to have found this page. I have been cooking and baking since I knew what food smelled like but officially since I was 8 and in 4-H. Yes, I too grew up rurally and loved it. Six cows per person in my county in Western NY. I enlisted in the Army when I was in my late 20’s and spent 7 years in Germany where I learned how to cook European food from the kitchens of restaurants run my Omma’s, Nonni’s and other matriarchs in a number of countries. Now it is just my husband and my service K9 so I mostly cook small amounts but have so many cookbooks and still collect recipes. I decorate cakes and cookies just for fun now. I make dog biscuits for my aging GSD. Have to decide if I will be training another Service K9 when I need one.
Shinee says
Hi, D Wright!! So happy to have you here!! Welcome!! Hope you’ll try some of my recipes and please let me know if you do. Best!
Robbins says
I was inspired to try something new when I saw oysters in the grocery stores this week. I came across your recipe and decided to be courageous!! It was very easy to follow and so delicious! My family LOVED it and I felt like a rock star!! Thank you!!
Shinee says
Yay, so happy to hear that, Robbins!! Thank you SO much for trying my recipe and for your feedback!
Mike Lawler says
Having a hard time figuring reverse sear cooking times for my 14 # boneless prime rib. In the review section you told a person with 16# prime to cook 5.5 hours and a person with 20# 5.5 hours those time do not corrolate. Comes out different times per pound.
I was estimating 4- 4.5 hours to get to 120 degrees, 30 minutes rest time, then sear, want to eat at 1 to 130pm. so I was going to start @ 8:30 am. What do you think?
Shinee says
Hi, Mike. Thanks for reaching out. You’re correct, I’d estimate about 4-4.5 hours for 14pound roast to reach 120°F as well.
The reason there’s a little difference in cooking time between 16lbs and 20lbs is that for the most part, the roast is likely the similar thickness, and it’ll take about the same time to cook to the center. Hope that makes sense. Please let us know how it turns out! Merry Christmas!
Kay Sweeney says
I feel like even at my age (63) I can learn more about cooking from you. I look forward to it!
Shinee says
Aww, thank you so much, Kay! So happy you found my little corner of the internet. Welcome! Please let me know if you try any of my recipes.
Georgia M Koremenos says
Very impressed with you life and very beautiful family. Your success is working together and God bless you for it. I can’t wait to get started on your recipes. I used the Ham and Potato soup; very good. I am Greek and love to cook for anybody and my family, so I’m used to doing it all from scratch. Thanks for this opportunity and you and your family stay well and happy.
Shinee says
Thank you so very much for a lovely feedback, Georgia!!!
JANET PEARCE-EULA says
I didn’t want to thaw bananas in microwave so I used my box grater to shred bananas. They thawed quickly and I mashed them with potato masher.
2 loaves are in the oven.
Shinee says
That’s brilliant, Janet. Thanks for sharing! Hope you loved the banana breads!
Brian says
Looking forward to enjoying your site
Shinee says
Welcome, and thank you, Brian!
Ginger says
I’m looking forward to trying out your recipes
Shinee says
Welcome and thank you, Ginger! Let me know if you try any of my recipes.
Val says
As I was reading the reviews ,I was amazed by so many people from different cultures. I am an Assyrian from north western state of Azerbaijan in Iran bordering to the north with Russia and west with Turkey. Our cuisine is heavily influenced by Russian cuisine and your Russian cake was my most favorite pastry of all. Thank you for sharing it.
Shinee says
Hi and welcome, Val! So happy you came across my little corner on the internet. I agree with you, we have a lot of people with different cultures and backgrounds here in this community. Your story sounds very similar to mine. Though I’m not from Russia, we had a huge influence from Russian culture in Mongolia. You’ll see a lot of Russian and slavic recipes on my site. Hope you’ll enjoy. And please let me know if you try any of my recipes.