Roasted Garlic Recipe: The Only One You Need
If you’ve never made roasted garlic before, your life is about to get a whole lot more delicious. I don’t say that lightly. There are kitchen skills that feel fancy or intimidating (looking at you, laminated pastry), and then there are kitchen skills that make you...Cherry Dessert Cobbler
Let me paint you a scene: It’s been one of those days—you know the ones. You’ve hit your caffeine limit by noon, the group chat is on fire with drama you don’t have the emotional bandwidth for, and your kids are arguing over who breathed on whom. Again. You’re...Blueberry Lemon Muffins Recipe
Is there anything more comforting than a muffin? I’m not talking about those dry, forgettable bran pucks sitting behind the gas station counter. I mean the kind of muffin that makes your kitchen smell like a bakery and your heart feel like it’s being hugged. The kind...Raspberry White Chocolate Scones (with lemon glaze)
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life, it’s that the best things are almost always a little messy—kids, relationships, healing, motherhood, trauma recovery… and yes, these raspberry white chocolate scones. This is not the recipe you pull out when you want...Pickled Garlic Scapes
Garlic scapes are one of those fleeting seasonal treasures that appear at farmers’ markets and in garden beds just as summer is stretching her legs. Twisty, curly, and bright green, they look like a vegetable drawn by Dr. Seuss—and they taste just as magical. The...The Reuben: A Love Letter to a Classic Sandwich
There are few sandwiches in the world that inspire as much devotion as the Reuben. At first glance, it’s a humble creation: rye bread, Swiss cheese, pastrami or corned beef, sauerkraut, and often a smear of Russian or Thousand Island dressing. But one bite of its...Bacon Jam: The Spread You Didn’t Know You Needed
Let’s get one thing straight: bacon jam is not your typical jam. There’s no fruit (unless you count a splash of apple cider vinegar), and it’s not going on toast with peanut butter—unless you’re a true culinary daredevil. This rich, savory-sweet spread is like the...Mental Health Treatment – Still Stigmatized
It doesn’t matter how much I smile or how well I’m doing, there will always be someone asking me whether I’m still taking medication. ‘Are you still on that stuff? I wish you weren’t.’ I stifle my desire to snarkily respond ‘Yes I am, and that’s not all’. Do I...
Cleaning House – Dirty Dishes and Dusty Floors
I Have A Dream Pristine, swept floors – floors which seem to go for miles as your eyes trace the interlocking wood planks down to the bay windows on the other side of the house. The smell of baking. A garden, pruned and detailed. Weeded meticulously. Counter tops that...
When It’s Time to Recharge
Always Someday Before kids, I always thought that there would be a time for writing. Somewhere off on the horizon when I was done with the all-consuming (life sucking?) office job, when I caught up on things and organized my life. The funniest of my delusions included...About the Neurotic Exotic
Deana is a West Coast freelance writer. She has a business background, but traded it all in for babies, diapers and pharmaceuticals. Born of a composed Canadian mother, and fiery (read: perfectly neurotic) European father, the Neurotic Exotic platform lends itself to highlighting the joys of domesticity and simple pleasures amid the craziness of today.