Even Better Than the Original Chex Mix

My mother is an incredibly generous cook. When I was growing up, I swear at least once a week she made her signature Tollhouse Cookies to give away. At Christmastime, our kitchen became a veritable cookie factory. These days, she lives 3,000 miles away. But when she flies in, she always arrives with a batchContinue reading “Even Better Than the Original Chex Mix”

Harvest Trail Mix

We all need snacks, right? Something to get us through an afternoon slump or the mid-morning tummy growlings. But we also all know that helping ourselves to the doughnut tray or seeking out a Snickers isn’t really the way to go. Enter: trail mix. With an investment of just a few minutes, anyone can stirContinue reading “Harvest Trail Mix”

Simple Snickerdoodles

Sometime since becoming a mom, I was introduced to the joy of Snickerdoodles. They’re a sugar cookie, but with cinnamon, too. The best versions are light and buttery, the perfect after-school snack or end to a lovely meal. Over the summer, I sampled oh-so-many recipes, in search of my absolute favorite. In the end, IContinue reading “Simple Snickerdoodles”

Ginger Crinkles

Looking back through my mother’s cookbooks, I can find at least three dog-eared Ginger Cookie recipes plus one for Gingerbread Cake, oh and there’s a Spice Cake recipe as well. I distinctly recall each of these desserts and I remember loving them all. So this year, as winter set in and I began craving the homey, holiday tastes ofContinue reading “Ginger Crinkles”

Carrot-Chip Sheet Cake

Some of my kids’ favorite muffins are chock full of carrots, pineapple and coconut. So it stands to reason that they’d like carrots in their desserts, too. This recipe is one part sheet cake, one part quick bread. It’s carrot cake without the cream cheese icing. Any way you slice it, though, it’s all around delicious. MakesContinue reading “Carrot-Chip Sheet Cake”

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

  I’ve heard raves of my Paprika Potatoes recipe ever since I posted it. So now here’s an equally easy, equally tasty, nutritionally even better recipe using sweet potatoes. You know what makes this recipe stand out? You get to leave the potato skins on, saving minutes and increasing goodness. Time to fire up that oven.Continue reading “Roasted Sweet Potato Fries”

Celebrating the Season

For my family, this week began with Halloween, continued with two kid birthdays and will end with back-to-back parties on Friday and Saturday. And, as we all know, it only gets crazier from here. I have, pretty much every year, dreaded these busy months of travel and connections, of events and hosting, of anticipation and tears andContinue reading “Celebrating the Season”

Cookbook Review — 100 Days of Real Food: Fast and Fabulous

  When I flip through Lisa Leake’s second cookbook, “100 Days of Real Food: Fast and Fabulous,” I can’t help but think of my own kitchen, my own cooking and my own website’s stash of favorite recipes. Like in Lisa’s house, there are no natural flavors in my cabinets, my family knows which snack crackerContinue reading “Cookbook Review — 100 Days of Real Food: Fast and Fabulous”

Blue Cheese Herb Spread

I love having an easy app on the table when hungry hubby and on-their-way-to-cranky kids all pile into the kitchen at the end of the day. I typically have a good half-hour of cooking left when this convergence occurs, but with a plate full of pesto cheese straws or a fresh batch of salsa at the ready, IContinue reading “Blue Cheese Herb Spread”

Pesto Cheese Straws

This was a banner year for the basil in our garden, so of course I set out to make as much pesto as I could. But while my food processor whirred and whirred week after week, I began to wonder about the different ways to eat all this green goodness. Yes, we mix it withContinue reading “Pesto Cheese Straws”