Shrimp and Pork Pot Stickers with Soy-Vinegar Dipping Sauce

Shrimp and Pork Pot Stickers - chopped pork and shrimp with shallots and ginger plus whole pieces of shrimp stuffed into a gyoza wrapper and simultaneously fried to a crispy brown on one side, while the rest of the dumpling is steamed and tender.

These pot stickers, or gyoza, are filled with a delicious mixture of ground pork and shrimp. Just before wrapping up the dumplings, you add a nice fat chunk of shrimp before enclosing the mixture up in a thin wrapper.

Chocolate and Caramel Tiny Tarts | #choctoberfest

These chocolate and caramel tiny tarts are prepared in little Mason jar lids, which makes them so much fun to serve. They are like little truffle candy bars that you can eat with a spoon.

These chocolate and caramel tiny tarts are super easy to make, and because they are so small, it's easy to exercise portion control... well... maybe not.... I may have had two in one sitting....

When chocolate and caramel get married, I have a really hard time resisting.

Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies {Small Batch} | #Choctoberfest

These Chocolate Cherry Chunk Cookies are deeply chocolaty. The dough is bittersweet, and the cookies are filled with semisweet chocolate chips and dried cherries.

What I love about this recipe for chocolate cherry chunk cookies is that it is "small batch." It yields just eight cookies, which means that I won't be finishing off three dozen cookies in one sitting.

Lasagne for Two {or Three}

When you want classic lasagne for dinner, but do not want to make a full casserole of this hearty dish, make this lasagne for two.

This lasagne for two is wonderful for folks living alone, newlyweds and empty nesters, as well as families with small children. It would also be a wonderful treat to deliver to couples who are bringing home a new baby.

Steamed Bao Buns | World Bread Day

These Steamed Bao Buns (Chinese Steamed Rolls also know as Gua Bao) are classic light and fluffy dim sum breads that are typically filled with Chinese barbecue pork and pickled vegetables. 

These Bao buns are easy to find in the frozen food section of fully stocked Chinese markets, but I thought it would be fun to make my own. Think of them as soft and fat taco shells or folded hamburger buns.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic and Parmesan

This grilled eggplant with garlic and parmesan is so easy to make, and the grilled eggplant, contrasted with the crispy Parmesan cheese and panko bread crumb topping will turn you into an eggplant fan, even if you weren't one before.

I have never been much of an eggplant fan, but this Italian style grilled eggplant changed my entire perspective about the vegetable.

Mexican Hot Chocolate No Churn Ice Cream | #Choctoberfest

This Mexican hot chocolate no churn ice cream makes the most of the flavors of traditional Mexican hot chocolate, such as cinnamon, vanilla, and chiles to create this tasty dessert.

Mexican hot chocolate is usually made by dissolving bars of Mexican drinking chocolate in hot milk or water by using a molinillo, a wooden tool that you hand spin in your cup to dissolve the chocolate and froth the drink.