December 23, 2014 Dear Santa, I’ll be honest. This year has been tough here near home and out in the world in general. Some days it feels like the world will never be at peace. There’s too much hidden underneath, too much hatred and misunderstanding, too much anger. The TV is filled with bad news,…
December 23, 2014 As a little girl my favorite part of Christmas was making holiday candy with my grandparents. My grandfather always made his “secret recipe” delicious fudge. I couldn’t wait to help make the recipe, and of course eat it! As I grew up and passed the tradition on to my family, now my children…
December 24, 2014 Christmas Eve is spent decorating cookies, hanging out with family, and of course wondering where in the world Santa might be visiting. My children are still enthralled with the notion that during the day of December 24th, Santa is off in exotic locations, slowly making his way, home by home, to the…
December 29, 2014 So, Christmas is over. It seems like it took forever to prepare for Christmas. There was all the shopping and baking and decorating to do. Then in just a few hours worth of present opening and visiting with family, the holiday was over until next year. All that’s left is a slight mess…
December 29, 2014 Maybe you are planning to spend the last night of the year with your children huddled around the television set or perhaps you are tired from the holidays and simply want to stay in. Whatever the reason, there’s no need to think that spending New Year’s Eve at home is a bummer. There…
January 2, 2015 The holidays are over! New Year’s resolutions have been made. And we all say it is time to go on a diet, or at the very least we vow to eat healthier. Unfortunately, it can sometimes seem difficult to find fresh fruit and vegetables at this time of the year. It’s time to turn to…
January 9, 2015 The start of every year brings food experts shouting out what they think the new food trends will be. Restaurants plan to use more foods grown locally. Coconut oil and avocado oil will be replacing olive oil (coconut to add a bit of sweetness and avocado to add an earthy taste to food)….
January 19, 2015 Is your vehicle a disaster? Do you have piles of flyers and mail in your backseat? Perhaps your children left juice boxes or empty snack packs in the cupholders? Are you embarrassed to let an “outsider” climb into your passenger seat? If so, it might be a great time to tackle the mess…
January 9, 2015 Now that the holidays are gone, it’s time to get back into the habit of eating healthier. I certainly believe it’s OK to enjoy Christmas cookies and candy during the holiday season as long as it doesn’t stretch into the New Year. When that happens, my jeans start getting a little bit tighter than…
January 16, 2015 I love cabbage. In fact, lately I’m obsessed with it! I’ve made cabbage soup, Chinese dishes with cabbage, and I’ve even had it grilled with butter and a little salt and pepper. Did you know cabbage is healthy and contains more Vitamin C than an orange? Unfortunately, cabbage isn’t a flavor everyone likes, especially…
January 29, 2015 The early part of the New Year holds us inside with its cold weather and shorter days. We can run ourselves ragged with the daily grind while germs float around in our homes, at school and at work. Give your immune system a boost with these easy, delicious and entirely sippable drinks….
January 23, 2015 Christmas may be over but the thought of making fudge will haunt me all year. Year after year I try to make fudge and it never turns out. As I watched my husband bite into a piece and it crumbled to the floor, I decided I really needed to learn how to make…
January 21, 2015 Do you love chocolate chip cookie dough right out of the bowl? Or perhaps a scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream? If you answered yes, then prepare yourself for the the ultimate treat, cheesecake infused with homemade chocolate chip cookie dough! With a little help from Very Best Baking and Taste of Home I…
January 23, 2015 Eating healthy is a priority for me this year. I’m trying to be more aware of the products I buy and what I prepare for meals for my family. It takes time to read ingredient labels and search out healthier alternatives. Many times, the healthy alternative is much more expensive than the…
January 30, 2015 Seattle or New England. Everyone has their favorite. And this year, it seems you either love both teams and therefore would be satisfied with just a good game, or you dislike both teams, so you don’t really care about the game (just the commercials). Either way, SuperBowl is also about the snacks!…
February 6, 2015 My husband loves red velvet cake, I do not. Which means I don’t make it. But for this Valentine’s Day, I wanted to at least attempt to make the cake. From what I have heard and read, it is so easy to mess up this recipe. Because of the strong cocoa taste,…
February 13, 2015 While I was searching for red velvet cake recipes a couple of weeks ago, the same website, BuzzFeed, had over the top desserts for Valentine’s Day. Most of them were ooey gooey chocolate recipes like brownies, caramel brownie sundaes and chocolate cheesecake. I opted to go for one with less calories: churro bites. This is so…
February 4, 2015 Is your Facebook wall constantly flooded with yummy recipes that your friends and family find? Well, mine is that’s for sure! Being that I bake for our restaurant I am constantly being tagged for some kind of dessert to try. One of the latest desserts I was this delicious looking butter pecan cake. I…
February 6, 2015 I don’t eat a lot of snacks but my husband has a large enough sweet tooth for both of us. One of his favorite snacks of all time is chocolate chip bars. Since he’s working on trying to eat healthier, we decided to take a look at our original recipe and see…
February 11, 2015 It’s a familiar scene – the “most romantic day of the year” ends in a fight, hurt feelings and, possibly, tears. For whatever reason, many of us get upset because that special person in our life has failed to make us think that we are important or loved by them because (gasp) they didn’t…
March 2, 2015 Despite the fact that the prices of everyday grocery items continue to creep upwards, a trip to the supermarket doesn’t have to break your budget. By sticking to some common thrifty rules, you can end of saving more than ever before. Here are ten easy ways to save on groceries. Make a…
February 23, 2015 I’m always on the lookout for ways to get my kids to eat healthy. Integrating fruits and vegetables into our snacks and meals is the perfect way to make sure they are getting essential vitamins and minerals. For their lunches, I always pack a fruit and who can’t resist the adorable Cuties…
February 18, 2015 Do you ever need a quick dessert in a pinch and don’t know what to make? I know that happens to me quite often and I don’t like making something out of a box. At the last event I attended, the host hinted that everyone loved my baby turtle cheesecakes (recipe posted…
March 13, 2015 Who doesn’t like a Turtle? Not the slow, crawling kind. The sweet candy kind. The ooey, gooey, chocolatey, carameley kind. Even though this no-bake turtle upside down cake recipe looks complicated it really isn’t. Ingredients Chocolate Ganache 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips ½ cup heavy cream Salted Caramel ¾ cup heavy cream, room…
February 20, 2015 I can tell that St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon because my Pinterest feed is full of artificially green dyed foods. I see the same phenomena before Valentine’s Day with pink treats and goodies. While I love the festive look of bright pink cupcakes and green smoothies, I’d prefer not to…
February 27, 2015 Ever wonder what spatchcocking is? How long should you boil an egg for a soft boiled or a hard boiled? How about the proper way to cut an onion? Or mince a garlic. How do you shock vegetables to keep them from cooking too long? Even how to hold a knife the…
March 6, 2015 So many people are going dairy free, perhaps from allergy or a desire to be vegan. Since they can’t have the cream cheese, many of them have given up on a carrot cake. But with this cinnamon glazed carrot cake recipe, they will forget that a cream cheese is a must for the…
March 25, 2015 Do you buy cabbage year round or only think of it as March’s corned beef and cabbage meal? Cabbage is rich in nutrients and antioxidants and very low calorie. Why not start adding it to your meals more often? Here are 5 great ideas to ways to incorporate cabbage to your recipes year round….
March 4, 2015 Are you sick of winter? I know I am! This time of year I start thinking about some of my favorite summer time desserts, especially ones that might have fresh or even frozen fruits that I can get my kids to eat. This blueberry pie recipe is quick, easy and so delicious….
March 27, 2015 Are you planning an Easter dinner? Traditional or modern or both? Whatever you choose, you are bound to include colored eggs and a main dish consisting of ham or lamb. Or even this year try goose as your main dish. I love deviled eggs, but the same old deviled eggs or egg dish can get boring….
March 20, 2015 We have a treat for all you Starbucks lovers, especially if you take your latte with a baked treat. The lemon loaf recipe (which many kids beg for when standing in line) has been leaked for everyone to try at home! Ingredients Loaf: 1 ½ cups flour ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon…
March 6, 2015 If I was able, I’d buy all of my food organic. Unfortunately, my store doesn’t carry everything I want to buy in an organic option. Even if they did, my grocery budget isn’t large enough for me to be able to buy everything organic. So, what foods should you buy organic? Which…
March 16, 2015 Spring is the perfect time of year to review your diet, remove the bad and add the good. It’s not about eating less; it’s about eating more of the foods that will give your body the healthy energy it craves. Here are six ways to get your diet in shape for the…
March 17, 2015 March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. While the fierce winds blow, there is something to be said about visiting the local farmers market this time of year. The first fresh items are harvested and we can take advantage of this month’s seasonal produce in many forms, including appetizers,…
March 19, 2015 Banana cake is something I had never tried to bake until now. I’ve found lots of uses for those brown bananas that I forget to eat – like banana bread or banana cream pie – but this is definitely a recipe I wish I would’ve started making a long time ago. This…
April 10, 2015 With their top 20 spring recipes, bbcgoodfood gives us delicious dishes for a brighter day. A light take on many meals, including pastas, casseroles and even a quiche, can be found on the list and many of these recipes include mint and/or asparagus and/or spring onions. A pea, mint and spring onion soup is…
April 3, 2015 In Which Sweet 16 Team Will Get Just Dessert, written by Jon Gold, sweet desserts are paired with the top 16 teams in the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Not what you would think. It wasn’t something with cheese for Wisconsin or bourbon for Kentucky. Rather a funny take on what best “sweet” food describes…
May 1, 2015 Everyone knows that an artichoke is really a flower that has not yet opened. The next edible flower you might be familiar with is the squash blossom. But do you know there are other kinds of flowers you can cook with? The problem is knowing what is safe to eat and what can…
April 3, 2015 My kids are not picky eaters for the most part. With the exception of a few vegetables like zucchini and eggplant, they pretty much eat what I put in front of them. However, that doesn’t mean that if given the choice they wouldn’t choose to eat just about anything but vegetables. Easy…
April 17, 2015 I finally broke out the Pizzelle Maker that I got as a gift at Christmas. Boy, oh, boy, I sure had fun with it and created an amazing dessert for my first time! A pizzelle is an Italian waffle cookie. They can be hard and crisp or soft and chewy depending on…
April 15, 2015 One of my very favorite spring and summer time desserts is lemon meringue pie. It is so light and airy, sweet yet tart. This is an old recipe that shows you the way this pie should be made, without using a pudding mix! Pie Shell (Or you can also purchase an already made…
April 24, 2015 Cinco de Mayo = party time! And what screams Mexican party food more than a queso fundido? The definition of queso fundido is molten cheese. It is an old Mexican appetizer (the original version was cheese flambéed which, of course, included booze) that has recently been sweeping the country. I first stumbled…
April 17, 2015 Breakfast is one of the most important meals of the day. Your body really needs a healthy breakfast to have the energy it needs to get you through until evening. I enjoy making hot breakfasts for myself and the kids when I have time. Weekday mornings tend to be really crazy and cooking…
May 8, 2015 Some people say you use more calories to digest a stalk of celery than the amount of calories that the vegetable provides! So, does that mean I can lose weight by just eating celery. Hardly … but it doesn’t matter. I happen to love celery, both raw and cooked. Celery is defined as a…
April 29, 2015 I keep seeing all of these lemon cakes on Facebook and decided I wanted to try a lemon cake with a frosting instead of a glaze. This one turned out amazing! I also think this recipe would make cupcakes that would have your friends and family begging for more! Lemon Cake Ingredients…