Set aside some fresh seasonal fruit for these strawberry-peach margaritas. They are light and refreshing, perfect for sipping on a warm summer night! Summer fruits have started arriving at local grocery stores and farmers markets! Two of my favorites are strawberries and peaches, and I buy these by the pound each week. There are so …
Fruit
Honor the mothers in your life with this beautiful, decadent cherry cheesecake pastry braid drizzled with chocolate glaze. Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms, moms-to-be, step-moms, pet moms, or anyone who acts as a motherly figure to another person. Whether you choose to spend the day surrounded by your family, or you want them …
With flavors of pineapple, coconut, mango and lime, you'll transport yourself to the Caribbean with this easy tropical fruit salad. My mom and I joke that we were born in the wrong country. We love tropical everything. Tropical flowers, tropical weather, tropical music, and especially tropical flavors. If you walked into my mother's basement, you'd …
For your next picnic, make a batch of this blackberry lemonade. It's sweet, and tart, and very refreshing! I've found yet another reason to be excited about spring and warmer temperatures: picnic season! Liam and I have already had one "snack picnic." We packed up some snacks (Goldfish, dried fruit, some cookies, and milk boxes), …
Get kids into the kitchen early to expose them to new flavors and healthy eating. This cherry-apple smoothie is so easy, even a preschooler can help! Have you been through either the infant/toddler aisle or the kids' snack aisle at a local grocery store lately? Have you seen those pouches? Some are just fruits, some …
Celebrate the end of winter — and the arrival of fresh spring produce — with this martini made with seasonal Meyer lemons and rosemary. Spring is officially here! Mother Nature must have missed the memo, because we got 3 inches of snow on Friday, the Spring Equinox. DO NOT LIKE. Don't misunderstand me, I sort of like …
Baking cakes puts me in my happy place. I hope the moist, tender crumb of these cupcakes and the bright citrus filling and frosting will put you in a happy place, too. Compensation was provided by Gallo Family Vineyards via Sunday Supper, LLC. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author, and are not …
It's Pi(e) Day! I teamed up with 20 food bloggers to celebrate. I made a delicious vanilla-scented peach-blueberry pie in a sweet pie crust. Welcome to Pi(e) Day hosted by Terri from Love and Confections! Pi Day is celebrated every March 14 by math fans around the world - and also bakers and pastry chefs. Pi …
Today's #SundaySupper is all about retro foods — dishes that were popular in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Bananas foster is a classic 1950s dessert, with sautéed bananas, caramel rum sauce and vanilla ice cream. Today, the Sunday Supper group is traveling back in time to celebrate dishes popular in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. …
Can't wait any longer for summer? Make yourself some banana liqueur: infuse light rum with the flavor of banana, then whip up a batch of tropical cocktails. As I write this post, it's snowing. Again. The news reporter said this is the 25th "weather event" we've had this winter. I'm kind of done with winter. …
Lemon curd is a spread similar to a custard made with eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar and butter. Don't buy it at the store when it's so easy to make at home! Lemon curd is really hard to find in a regular grocery store, did you know that? I've only ever found it in …
Kick up traditional cinnamon rolls by replacing the cinnamon filling with cinnamon caramel apple chunks. You'll never buy the canned rolls again. I've been away from the What's Baking group for several months now, thanks to unemployment and moving. But when I saw that the group voted on "baking bread" as this round's theme, I got …
I'm celebrating Galentine's Day with this take on chocolate-covered strawberries: cream puffs filled with strawberry pastry cream and drizzled in chocolate. Happy Galentine's Day! What is Galentine's Day, you ask? It's a fictional celebration from the television show "Parks and Recreation." It's the best day of the year. Celebrated on February 13th, women leave their husbands and their boyfriends …
Whole wheat apple spice mini muffins are a healthy, tasty treat, and the perfect size for little toddler mouths! It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Going back to work, Ice Cream Week, getting back into a fitness routine ... I haven't had much time to bake, so Snack Share Wednesday has either been cut-up …
Bring out a tray of these boozy strawberry shortcake dessert shooters at your next get-together and you'll be the hit of the party! I love entertaining. From a sit-down dinner for four, to a party for 50, I love planning, decorating and cooking the food. When planning a large party, I find that making trays …
Treat yourself to an indulgent breakfast: rich French toast topped with blackberry sauce! Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream or a sprinkling of confectioners sugar. Child-free mornings are meant for indulging: extra sleep, and leisurely, "grown-up" breakfasts. What's a grown-up breakfast? Pretty much anything that takes longer than 30 seconds in a microwave to …
Plums contain lots of natural pectin, so making preserves is easy! Vanilla-plum preserves make a delicious topping for your breakfast! I first heard about these vanilla-spiced plum preserves YEARS ago in an issue of Food Network Magazine. I saved the recipe, and have been dying to make it ever since. That said, I'm a little intimidated by canning. And …
Savor the flavor of sweet summer cherries all year long! Make dried cherries in your oven, then keep them in an airtight container for a taste of summer, even in the winter! There are so many reasons that summer is my favorite season: warm weather, long days full of sunshine, swimming, barbecues, flip flops, and abundant …
Fresh raspberry puree creates a pretty pink, fruity swirl inside this tender, buttery pound cake. My foodie friend, Colleen from Souffle Bombay, was thinking about just what cookbook it was that made her fall in love with cooking recently, then she decided to ask the same question to a number of her foodie friends, myself …
Low-fat baked peach donuts: vanilla batter studded with diced fresh peaches! Using coconut milk and dairy-free butter substitute make these an indulgent treat for those with milk allergies! It's Snack Share Wednesday again! Even though I'm temporarily unemployed, Liam still attends daycare three days a week, for a couple of reasons. The first is that we …
Dark chocolate morsels and fresh cherries sweeten up hearty whole grain muffins for a delicious breakfast or snack! It's What's Baking time again, and this time our host, Yudith of Blissfully Delicious, has chosen baking with summer produce. I've chosen to bake with fresh sweet cherries. Cherries were never on my "favorite fruits" list. That …
A flavorful, filling dessert, ready in less than 15 minutes, for just over 120 calories! Cinnamon vanilla roasted peaches with honey cream. So, are you ready for something light and healthy after yesterday's calorie-fest? I found a yummy-sounding recipe for grilled peaches with honey cream in one of my old issues of Cooking Light. The …
Baked blueberry oatmeal bars are delicious and filling, making them a great option for breakfast or a mid-day snack. When my son was in daycare, the school encouraged families to contribute to snack share, to give the kids an opportunity to share their favorite healthy home snacks. My son shared some whole grain cinnamon chips, …
Sorry to start this post off on a somber note, but today is the one-year anniversary of the loss of my baby. We never did find out why my water broke just 19 weeks into the pregnancy. According to the autopsy and genetic testing, the baby was a perfectly healthy little boy. We named him …
Happy Pie Day! (3.14 = March 14th) OK, yes, I made a tart, not a pie. What's the difference? Both have a crust, a filling, and can be sweet or savory. Pies typically have a tender crust, with sloped sides. A tart, on the other hand, typically has a crisp, crumbly crust, and straight sides. …
Dear Winter: What's up with you? The past few years, you've been pretty mild, sometimes a little chilly, but that never lasted long. This year? Let's just say, I don't remember moving to Antarctica. The cold shoulder is getting old. Let's move on and try again next year, okay? Signed, The Redhead Baker. Spring can't …
My toddler is being a little backwards. I tried introducing purees when he was about six months old. He wanted none of it: no purees, no spoon-feeding. I later discovered that his issue was, he didn't want ME feeding him purees. Mommy was for milk only. Even then, though, he showed a much greater preference …
I was so excited when I went to the farmers market the last Saturday in August — honeycrisp apples were back! If you've never had this newer variety of apple, you're really missing out. They are both tart, and sweet with a honey-like flavor. Aside from eating them out-of-hand, honeycrisps are also excellent baking apples! …
As I mentioned last week, it felt like the summer was getting away from me, and I hadn't really had the opportunity to take the fresh summer produce and do something with it besides snack on it. I visited the Frecon Farms stand at the local farmers' market, and bought lots of blueberries and peaches. …
The summer almost got away from me. Here it is, nearing the end, and all I had done with the delicious summer produce was snack on it. Not that that's a bad thing. But I knew that, before summer was over, I wanted to take that beautiful fruit and transform it into something else delicious. …
Monday morning again, huh? Are you as "thrilled" about it as I am? The past weekend was BEAUTIFUL, in every way. The weather, the food, taking Liam out for a fun adventure ... After nearly a month of temperatures in the high 90s plus humidity, the mid-80s over the weekend was just gorgeous. The food? …
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend my first-ever food bloggers conference, The Big Summer Potluck. It was not what I expected. I had heard about other blogger conferences, which had sessions on search engine optimization, social media tools, and how to take better photos. This conference was not like that at all. …
It's recipe swap time again, hosted by A Taste of Home Cooking! This round's theme was desserts—right up my alley! Before we get to the food, I want to make sure you are aware that Google will be retiring Reader, their RSS reader. That means if you follow my, or any other, blog with Google …
It's A Taste of Home Cooking's Recipe Swap time again — Blogger's Choice Edition! I was assigned Jaida's blog, Sweet Beginnings. I've made a few of her recipes before, including Buffalo Chicken Bites and Chicken Shawarma sandwiches. We received our blog assignments on the same day I usually sit down to make my two-week meal plan. I …
Only two weeks left of 12 weeks of Christmas treats (hosted by Meal Planning Magic)! Is Christmas really that close? Eeek, I need to start my shopping! One of the things that I look forward to every fall/winter is eating a caramel apple. In fact, one of the best wedding favors I ever received was …
It's blackberry season! Did you know that blackberries are related to roses? I did not, until just now, when I was searching for things to write about blakberries. I also just learned that blackberries are not true berries, according to the scientific definition (a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary, examples being grapes, avocado, …
July is National Ice Cream month, so of course I had to celebrate with some homemade ice cream! But, oh, what recipe to choose?? I will never pass up flavors like chocolate chip cookie dough, chocolate peanut butter cup, or even straight-up chocolate. But lately, I've been craving a flavor that I "made" at a …
I recently participated in a discussion among other food bloggers about the food at casual dining chain restaurants. Places like The Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, or Applebees. The food is decent, but doesn't always quite live up to your expectations. The discussion turned into a question: "Have you ever eaten at a chain restaurant and thought, 'I …
Blueberry season is in full swing! I picked up four pints during my last trip to Trader Joe's — yes, four pints! There are so many applications, both sweet and savory. Add them to pancakes, cook them down to a compote and serve over waffles, add them to muffins, steep in rice vinegar to use …
I have to confess, I'm not the most mature person. The first time I heard the term "jerk" in reference to how food is prepared (oh, four or five years ago), I giggled and thought to myself, "Prepared BY jerks or FOR jerks?" Yeah, really original, I'm sure. I later learned that the word jerk …