Lizzie’s Digs
Liz smiling in her kitchen, wearing a bright Lucha Libre apron

Welcome to my kitchen

Good food, good friends, and a table with room for one more.

Simple food, set out beautifully, and shared with people you like. That's the whole idea.

Recipes, kitchen notes, and a few adventures along the way.

See the recipesSay hi

Lizzie’s Digs

Happy Halloween

Liz in her kitchen in a bright Lucha Libre apron

About me

Hi, I'm Liz.

I like a kitchen that feels used — a pot on the back burner, music low, and enough food for whoever walks in. This little site is my table: what's on the stove, and an easy way to say hello.

For me, cooking is less about perfection and more about the gathering: the chopping and the tasting, the music, the friend who wanders in and picks up a knife. Here you'll find what's on my stove, the tables I love to set, and a few good things I've picked up along the way.

Foodie, nature photographer and cyclist. If I'm not in the kitchen, I'm probably out on my bike or behind a camera.

Seasonal notes

In the Kitchen This Season

This time of year I want everything warm: something simmering on the back burner, squash roasting in the oven, a bowl of apples on the counter just because it looks cheerful.

Fall entertaining doesn't have to be fussy. Pick one dish to make from scratch, buy the rest without guilt, and put your effort into the table. A few small pumpkins, real napkins and a good playlist do half the work for you.

A Note on Fall Entertaining

  • Set the table the night before; it's the best stress reliever I know.
  • Serve one thing warm, one thing cold, and one thing crunchy.
  • Let guests build their own plates. People love a toppings bar.
  • Keep a pot of warm cider on the stove.
  • Clean as you go, then leave the last dishes for tomorrow.
  • An autumn place setting with a pumpkin-print tablecloth, pumpkin napkin and small pumpkins in the center
    Autumn on the table. Pumpkins, a woven charger and the good napkins.
  • A pile of homegrown squash, zucchini, potatoes and beets laid out on gravel
    The garden's harvest: squash in every shape, potatoes and a few beets.
  • A big blue bowl full of freshly shucked sweet corn, with husks piled beside it inside an RV
    Corn day in the RV. Shuck it all, then make a party of it.
  • A bowl of fresh-cut corn kernels next to a black pan of bare corn cobs
    Kernels cut and cobs saved. Summer, put away for later.

From my kitchen

Recipes

These are the dishes that keep showing up at my table. Full recipes are on the way; for now, here's a little taste of each.

  • A tall cheesecake topped with fresh raspberries on a cake stand

    Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake

    Crowned with fresh raspberries, with a pink swirl in every slice.

    Recipe coming from Liz

  • Two baking trays of heart-shaped cookies with heart cutouts

    Heart Jam Cookies

    Linzer-style hearts, a whole tray at a time. Little windows of jam.

    Recipe coming from Liz

  • A bowl of fresh-cut sweet corn kernels beside the cobs

    Sweet Corn, Fresh off the Cob

    Cut straight from the cob, the sweetest taste of summer.

    Recipe coming from Liz

  • An overhead view of a big Christmas dessert board with cookies, candy canes and sweets

    Christmas Dessert Board

    Cookies, candy canes, pretzels and sweets, all on one board.

    Recipe coming from Liz

  • A plate of tamales with refried beans, tortilla chips, salsa and crema

    Tamales with Mango Salsa and Crema

    Tamales with beans, chips, salsa and a spoonful of crema.

    Recipe coming from Liz

  • Sliced steak and seared scallops on a white plate with sweet potato mash

    Steak and Seared Scallops

    Surf and turf at home, with a golden sweet potato mash.

    Recipe coming from Liz

Away from the stove

Kitchen Adventures

Some of my favorite meals happened far from my own stove. Travel is the best cooking class there is: you taste something new, come home and try to make it your own.

Liz in a bright striped fiesta dress and a flower crown
Cinco de Mayo night on the Making Waves cruise. When there's a theme, you dress for it.
Liz smiling in sunglasses with the ocean behind her
Nothing but blue water and nowhere to be.
Liz smiling in sunglasses outdoors in Miami
Miami, before we sailed. Sunglasses on, appetite ready.
Liz in Tucson with her dog Dozer
Tucson, with my best boy Dozer on welcome duty.
Liz laughing and saluting the camera
Tucson fun. Good friends make every trip better.
Liz in a sun hat pointing out over the terraces of Machu Picchu, with green peaks and blue sky behind her
Machu Picchu, pointing the way. Every nature photographer needs this view once.
A colorful painted sugar-skull mural framed by an arch of glowing lights, with a velvet bench and a terracotta planter
The prettiest seat in the restaurant: a neon-lit sugar-skull mural with a velvet bench.

In good company

Cooking with the Pros

In May 2025 we sailed on Chefs Making Waves, a food-and-wine festival at sea aboard the Norwegian Gem, from Miami to Cozumel. Picture four days of cooking demos, chef-hosted dinners and tastings, with some of the best-known chefs in the country wandering the ship and happy to say hello. The first night was a Cinco de Mayo party, so the flower crowns came out.

  • Liz in a fiesta dress and flower crown with Chef Robert Irvine
    With Chef Robert Irvine on the Making Waves cruise. As friendly in person as he is on TV.
  • Liz in a striped fiesta dress with a friend and a chef in a white linen suit
    Meeting the chefs on the Making Waves cruise. Everyone was dressed for the fiesta.

What I Brought Home From the Cruise

  • Taste as you go. Every chef said it.
  • Prep everything before the heat goes on.
  • A great dish is more about balance than about fancy ingredients.
  • Have fun with it. The best cooks clearly were.

At the table

Entertaining

My favorite part of cooking is who's sitting at the table. Here are a few ways I like to gather people.

  • A dinner table set with tamales, rice, beans, salad and red napkins

    Tamale Night

    Red napkins, a striped runner and tamales for everyone.

    A kitchen island buffet of tamales, beans and salsas
    Set it out buffet style and let everyone help themselves.
  • A birthday cake, a Happy Birthday card and gift bags on a table in the forest

    Birthday at the Campsite

    Candles, gift bags and cake under the trees.

  • A close-up of a dessert board with cookies, pretzels and candies

    The Dessert Board

    Build it big, build it pretty, and let everyone graze.

  • A long dining table set for Easter with floral plates and napkins

    An Easter Table

    A long table, flowered plates and spring napkins. Easter, set for a crowd.

  • Setting a Fall Table

    • Layer a soft cloth with real napkins.
    • Keep the centerpiece low so everyone can see each other.
    • Mix your dishes, since matching is overrated.
    • Add a candle even at lunch.

  • Stocking a Happy Pantry

    • Good olive oil.
    • Limes, onions and garlic.
    • Dried chiles and cumin.
    • A stack of corn tortillas.
    • Canned tomatoes.
    • Something sweet for unexpected company.

  • Hosting a Tasting Night

    • Pick three or four things to compare.
    • Small pours in little carafes.
    • Water and plain crackers between tastes.
    • A card for everyone to jot their favorite.

Liz's kitchen favorites

Good Things

A few things that make cooking and hosting easier and prettier. Nothing fancy, just the good stuff.

  • A well-seasoned cast-iron pan

    It does tortillas, eggs and everything in between.

  • Small white bowls

    Salsas, toppings, nuts. They make everything look like a spread.

  • Cloth napkins

    The easiest way to make a weeknight feel like company.

  • A big wooden board

    For toppings, cheese, bread, or whatever's around.

  • Fresh herbs in a jar of water

    Cilantro lasts longer and it looks lovely on the counter.

  • A playlist you love

    The secret ingredient for every gathering.

Say hi

Say hi

A recipe question, a hello, or whatever’s on your mind. I like hearing from people.

Have a recipe question, a table idea, or a favorite dish I should try? I'd love to hear it.