Welcome to Sweet & Savory by Shinee
- Are you throwing another party and need some inspiration for your menu?
- Perhaps, you’re looking for a gorgeous homemade layer cake for a birthday party, or elegant pastry for a bridal shower?
- Or are you having a laid-back game-day gathering with friends and looking for an amazing appetizer menu?
Well, you’ve come to the right place!
Sweet & Savory by Shinee is the place to help you throw the most delicious party where your guests’ll rave about that beautiful cake you’ve made, those dainty little macarons you’ve successfully baked in your own kitchen, and where your amazing game-day spread leaves your guests happy and satisfied (no matter whose team wins).
I believe food brings people closer. Making a special day even more special with beautiful gourmet food- surrounded with family and a good laughter– should never be daunting. That’s why I’m committed to making made-from-scratch gourmet easy and approachable. You can now add extra joy to any kind of gathering with delicious gourmet food. Culinary degree not required! If you follow my directions, you’ll get perfect results every time. If I can do it, you can do it!
Don’t take my word for it though. Check out what my readers say about delicious, yet gorgeous food they’ve made for special occasions:
“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.”
See? Now you too can treat your loved ones with homemade gourmet for any occasion without breaking a sweat. Imagine those big smiles on everyone’s face at the party as you bring out that beautiful cake YOU’ve made!
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.
…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.
- Me and my husband at Yellowstone National Park
I live with my husband, Garrat. He is a rancher by day, a handyman on demand, a plant nerd all year-round and my #1 taste-tester in the kitchen.
In January, 2016, we welcomed our son Grant into this world, and now, we’re a happy family of 3. You can read more about our little guy here.
Oh and one more thing… If you make any of my recipes, I’d love to see how it turns out. Make sure to submit your photo here to contribute to our community corner, where I feature all of your creations. Nothing feels more rewarding than seeing all your creations!! You too can check out what others have made right here on our community page.
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 also share some behind the scene photos on Instagram, if you’re into that kind of stuff. 😉
xo,
Shinee
Please send me YouTube link
Hi, Sharafat. Here’s the link to my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ShineeD. Thanks!
Hi Shinee,
I have never been a baker until this “quarantine” thing! Now Im making muffins and macarons each week. I just did a batch of chocolate with nutella buttercream today and they turned out great, using all of your tips and your measurements for the macaron cookie. I live in the DC Baltimore area. My husband is in the restaurant business and I work for the Univ Of MD. we are avid cooks and foodies… can’t wait to try some of your savory recipes next. Thank you for sharing your time and your passion. cynda
Hi, Cynda!! Welcome to the baking world!!! So glad you’re enjoying baking and making the best out of the current situation!! I just saw your photo of macarons you e-mailed me, and they look absolutely beautiful!!! You’re naturally talented! Thank you for visiting my site.
Your tips and steps have helped tremendously. So glad I found your site. My husbands favorite macaron filling was your lemon buttercream!! Just wanted to let you know!! Hope all is well in North Dakota… and thank you again for sharing your time, love and passion with us.
Yay, that lemon buttercream is my favorite too!!! Spring is finally in the air here in ND.
Regarding your 3 ingredient chocolate cherry cake. Can this cake be frozen?
Hi, I too am an Asian-American in ND (my family is from India, my wife from Philippines). Nice to meet u!
Welcome. Thanks for stopping by, Dick.
Hi and thank you for sharing your recipes and i look forward to trying many of them
You’re welcome, Patricia. And thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. Please let me know if you try any of my recipes, or if you have any questions.
Looking forward to all your recipes 👍🏻🌹
Thank you, Brenda. If you try any of my recipes, please come back and leave us your feedback. 🙂
Hi Shines,
I just signed up to your website. Your recipes look stunning! I am new to baking (1 1/2 years) and have never made a cheesecake. Am planning on making your German Chocolate Cheesecake. It looks so, so AWESOME! I notice it reads to only let cool for one hour. Other recipes I have seen read to put cheesecakes in the fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight even. Why is this so? Thank you and God bless,
Brenda
Hi Shinee,
My husband and I tried your How to Make a Perfect Prime Rib using the Reverse Searing Method. It turned out perfectly. We made it for Mother’s Day and we are using your recipe again for a delayed Father’s Day dinner tomorrow on Sunday. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. It’s already become a family favorite.
Pat
Hi Shinee
I found you on Pinterest on my search for macaron recipes. Came up on your red velvet Macaroni recipe and gave it a shot. They are in the oven as I speak. However I skipped the cream of tartar and have a feeling that my batter is under mixed. This is the fifth time I am making Macarons. Have my fingers crossed. Let’s see. Will keep you posted.
Amrita
Hi, Amrita! Hope your macarons turned out good. Thank you for stopping by and saying “hi”! 🙂
Hi ,I just came across your site and i like your recipe here which you made it easier to follow because of detailed tips and step by step procedure. I will surely try them.
I am from the Philippines and a mother of four grown up kids who loves to eat.
Thank you
Myrna
Hi, Myrna. So happy you’re enjoying my site. Thank you for your comment, and let me know if you make any of my recipes. Cheers!
Hi Shinee,
How fun you are from Mongolia. Our daughter, almost 16, is from Almaty Kazakhstan! We live in Massachusetts. I made your pistachio macarons and loved them. I am now addicted and want to make more. I will be trying some of your other flavors.
Kathy
Hi, Kathy! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed those macarons, and yes, they’re quite addicting! And how interesting your daughter is from Kazakhstan! We have so many cultural similarities with kazakhs!
Looking forward to try out your piroshki recipe, and some of your others. I lived in Russia and miss my babushka’s cooking. I’d love it if you have a really good Plov recipe!
Hi, Catie! Thank you for reaching out. Hope you’ll enjoy those piroshki, they’re my favorite comfort food. I know, babushka’s cooking is the best, and I can only imagine how much you miss it. And plov is one of my favorites too! I’ll work on getting the recipe up on the blog later this year.
My granddaughter has been driving me crazy to make her macarons and I am tired of paying $2+ per cookie at the stores !! This recipe sounds delish to me but I would like some recipes with other cookie & cream filling flavors. Do you have other flavor recipes as well somewhere ?
Hi, Marquetta. Unfortunately, I don’t have cookie & cream flavored macarons, but you can check out all my macaron flavors here: https://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/category/desserts/french-macarons/
Do you know of any meringue cookie recipes? We had a store chain here in town for a period but new chains came in and they closed for lack of business . They had sold the meringue cookies every December now the replacement stores know nothing about the cookies. They were a commercially available cookie but I do not recall the outfit that produced them. Your divinity recipe looks marvelous!
I want to make your peanut brittle recipe, but my microwave is 1100 watt. What would be your suggestion, so that I can make this great recipe?
Hi, Mini. I’d try reducing the timing of each session by 15 seconds. Or do it at 90% power. Hope this helps.
I dont do parties but we love making my grand kids and family sweet desserts for snacks and Holidays always looking for new recipes. thanks for allowing me to be apart of your group.
Welcome, Alice. Happy to have you around. Let me know if you make any of my recipes. It’s always fun to treat the family with sweets. 🙂
Can I make the microwave peanut brittle in my 900 watt microwave?
Hi, Paula. I think you can, but you’ll need to adjust the timing. I’d increase the time for each session by 15-30 seconds, so that mixture reaches the correct temp.
Hi Shinee…
Got all excited to make your Sauage Stuffing for Thanksgiving in my 6-quart Bluetooth Instant Pot.
Rant into trouble at the next to last step, the 7-minute cook cycle, My Instant Pot went into Overheat mode 🙁
I cleared the pots cleaned the bottom of Burton stuffing, put the mixture back in and had the same problem.
Cleared the pot again, waited for everything to cool down, tried a third time and same issue. So I finished the dish in big pan in my oven, 300 degrees for 20 minutes. It was delicious!
Any advice on avoiding the Overheat failsafe?
Hi, Gil! Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that you had trouble with the stuffing. To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed about inconsistency between the models of Instant Pot. I have LUX50 v2 6-in-1 Instant Pot, which doesn’t have overheat mode and/or burnt warning. And my stuffing doesn’t burn with this specific recipe, other than a thin layer sticks to the bottom. My suggestion: does your IP have a high and low pressure? If so, maybe cooking on low pressure will help?
Thanks Shinee – I’ll try it on Low Pressure next time.
Great. Let me know how it turns out at low pressure. I’m sure it’ll work out better.
Shinee like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinee ?
Just wondering if this is where you got the inspiration for your name. However, I will admit that they spell it SHINee not Shinee. Oh wells, just thought I’d put in my two cents!
Hehe, Maria, no, Shinee is my given name. It’s a Mongolian name and spelling just happened to be similar to that band. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.
Your recipes are very good and You have a beautiful family so is your smile 🙂
Thank you so much!
I found your blog when I was troubleshooting Macarons. I haven’t actually made them again since my last failure (it’s lovely though to have failures still be delicious, isn’t it?!), but I will be trying the recipes here to see if they solve my macaron issues.
Hey, April! So glad you found my blog, and welcome! 🙂 Yeah, even failed macarons are tasty treats, which is awesome. Hope you’ll get your perfect macarons soon, and let me know if there’s anything I can help you to troubleshoot further.
Hi Shinee – I just found your site when searching for steelhead trout recipes. I made your pan seared steelhead with lemon & garlic sauce tonight, and it was a hit – and I’m sure we’ll be having it again soon! Although I’m a little old lady who has been cooking forever, I’m not great at it, and tend to get stuck in boring ruts… so I appreciate learning from someone younger with a flair for the unusual. Thanks!
Beth, I’m so glad you’ve tried that trout recipe and happy to hear it was hit! I hope you try other recipes too, and let me know if there’s anything I can help with.
I found your blog through the no-flour almond cookies recipe. Haven’t tried it yet but judging from the photos on Pinterest they can’t go wrong:-D Enjoyed reading about your food adventures, they sound so similar to [email protected][email protected]! I love making gourmet deserts on the fly:-) So gonna check out the recipes soon and will def be coming back for more;-)
Hi, SherryShi! Those almond cookies are reader favorite. I get lots of rave reviews on that recipe. I hope you’ll love them too. So happy you’ve found my blog, and I hope you try some of my recipes. Always feel welcome to leave your feedback, if you try any of my recipes. Enjoy!
We just came back fromFrance and my teenage daughter became addicted to very pricey and delicious Laduree macaroons. Her favorite are pistachio . Thanks for tips and recipe will be making soon.
Sofia
Hi, Sofia! So glad you found my blog. Pistachio macarons were one my top favorites at Laduree!! Hope you’ll make and enjoy those dainty treats! Let me know if you need any help. 🙂
So happy to found your blog????
Welcome, Murun! Hope you enjoy my recipes. 🙂
what I like the most about your blog is you do not try too hard. for a leaner in bakers 101 , I can easily try your recipes with success if I must say myself.
Thanks for giving me new love of all things cooking..
Aww, Rosi! This is the sweetest comment! Thank you! And I’m so glad you’re loving my recipes. 🙂
Hi Shinee! I have been following your blog for a while now. i love your recipes, and your gorgeous pictures really draw me in and make me want to rush in the kitchen and cook something sweet from your blog. In one word, your blog is splendid!
I m excited to find another food blogger who is so international as you are. 🙂 I m from Bulgaria and i understand some Russian too! 🙂
Thought i ll stop by and say Hello! I would be glad to connect with you and keep in touch! 🙂
Neli
Aww, thanks so much, Neli! You’re so kind! Thank you for stopping by and for your sweet compliment. Will definitely be in touch! 🙂
Hi Shinee
Came upon your blog by chance. Fabulous. Keep it up…
Thanks so much, Saba! 🙂
I’m so glad we’ve connected thru blogging! I love your work, and the new site looks fabulous!
I look forward to keep in touch with you through food!
xoxo
Kayiu 🙂
Kayiu, such a pleasure “meeting” as well. Thanks so much!
Awesome blog! Start trying your recipes right away 😀
Thank you so much, Tsolmon! Let me know when you try my recipes. 🙂
like your website~
Thank you, JiaYin!
Hi Shinee,
Just wanted to say thank you for all the great recipes, I love your blog. I will most definitely try some of your recipes, they look great.
Hi, Dee! I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog. Thanks for your comment! Happy baking/cooking! 🙂
I don’t know how I found this BLOG, but I am in LOVE. I made the Lemon Macaroon’s as my first recipe, I have never made Macaroon’s in my life. They turned out amazing. Thank you, I am hooked. Can’t wait to make something new.
Thanks for sharing.
Vanessa
Saskatchewan, Canada
Hi, Vanessa! I’m so happy that you found my blog, and more importantly you made the macarons! They are best, aren’t they? Thanks so much for such a sweet comment, and hope to see you around. 🙂
Just saw your blog and really like it… – i have sign up for weekly updates – thanks for sharing your recipes and step by step pictures….they are really helpful for starters in baking….
Hi, Linda! Welcome and thank you! I’m glad that you like my recipes and instructions. If you ever have a question, feel free to leave a comment and ask.
My BFF is Mongolian!
I love your blog, I think we have similar taste. Def. following~
That’s so cool! Thank you, Gina, for stopping by and following! See you around. 🙂
Frog legs were weirdest thing I ate too! 🙂 I will definitely try your recipes and let you know how they come out 🙂
Sounds good, Jargalan! Will look forward to your picture. 🙂