A Taste Treat: Tropical Lemon Bars

When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars!  Usually lemon desserts are not at the top of my must-indulge list.  But today, I felt the need for the sweet, tart gooeyness that only a lemon bar can provide.  I adapted a classic (and easy!) lemon bar recipe to have a tropical twist.

This plate says, "What can you do with a lemon?"
How "parfait" for my new lemon bar recipe! 

"Pinkalicious" Raspberry Cupcakes

Yes, yes, I know some of you may say, why are you sharing a recipe that includes boxed cake mix?  Well, I say to you, naysayers, Giada does it!  And if it's good enough for Giada, it's just fine for me. 

Breakfast in Bed: Chocolate-Banana Oatmeal

Sometimes before I go to sleep, I put my hair in a side-braid and pretend that when I wake up, my maid will have brought me tea and eggs in little egg cups and toast all on a tray with white linens.  You know, Downton Abbey style?  But, since I live instead with a harried husband and a precocious two-year-old and alas no lady's maid, I shall look for alternative means of having a delightful breakfast.

Dinner Time: Beef Stew

On a cool February Sunday, homey and satisfying beef stew is the perfect slow-simmering, make-the-house-smell-divine kind of meal to enjoy with your family.  

Dinner Time: Southwest Pulled Chicken

My current favorite sandwich also involves one of the simplest crockpot tricks ever.  Somehow a deceptively easy meal just tastes better than one that required 47 steps and 103 ingredients.  This sweet yet zesty pulled chicken is delicious on a simple bun (if you're a purist), but I take it to the another level of yummy by adding a slightly spicy Southwest slaw.  

Dinner Time: Spaghetti Carbonara

If I had a little Italian Nonna, I bet she would have made this for me on a chilly Sunday evening.  Spaghetti carbonara is Italian soul food, grandma-style.  It is pasta with a warming hug and a pinch on the cheeks.

With a few pantry staples and fresh bacon and eggs, this simple yet decadent dinner is just a boil, sizzle and whisk away.  In just a few minutes, you'll feel like you've been carried away to a cozy Roman farmhouse.

Birthday Cake

It seems just about everyone has their own very favorite birthday cake.  Maybe it was the plain old boxed white cake mix your mom made on your special day?  Or perhaps you indulge in German chocolate from your favorite bakery?  In recent years, red velvet has become my signature birthday cake.  It's the one decadent treat I look forward to every January 20th.

A Sweet Treat: Banana Pecan Cake

If you made resolutions that involve any of the following: will power, bikinis, marathons, skinny jeans, salads.  STOP READING NOW!

And for the rest of you, let's eat cake!

Breakfast Break: Caramel Apple Oatmeal

Even here in Southern California, the land of perpetual sunshine, it's been quite chilly lately.  When I wake up and see frost on the windows, I need something warm and cozy for breakfast.  My favorite Trader Joe's quick-cook steel cut oats are wonderfully nutty and belly-filling on a cold morning, but during the holidays I like to add an extra decadent touch.  

Dinner Time: Chinese Chicken Salad

Sometimes amid all the heaviness of winter foods, a nice crunchy, summery salad provides the perfect cure to your casserole overload or post-Thanksgiving puffiness.  One of my dear friends recently gave me a version of this recipe and its bright colors and fresh taste were just what I needed on a gray December day. 

Pretty Monday: Cookbooks

The Food of Spain...is delicioso!

Ahem...yes, darlings, I realize we are but a few mere hours away from Tuesday, but my Monday was not especially pretty.  Be it late, here are some pretties for your Monday (or Tuesday or Wednesday)...

One of Miss Dahl's Delights

On a lazy afternoon, one of my favorite pastimes is slowly meandering through a lavishly illustrated cookbook.  Sure, the old Larousse Gastronomique or Mastering the Art of French Cooking are invaluable to cooks for their methods and steps and advice...in other words: words.  But, the cookbooks I like best are those with glorious photos.  As an inherently visual being and an always-hungry one, books brimming with beautiful photographs transport me.  We eat with our eyes first, right? 

The Perfect Pear Spice Cake

 

My husband declares when I make him something new, "this is the best _________ I have ever had!"  I love this about him. His enthusiastic endorsements of my baking efforts keep me cooking and keep his belly full.  Yesterday with a bowl of ripening baby Bosch pears sitting on the counter, I was determined to make something different, something to celebrate the arrival of autumn. 

Perfectly Pumpkin Pancakes

Well good morning!  You may well be thinking, another pancakes recipe?  Is this the only thing she knows how to cook?  As far as I'm concerned, Saturday mornings must always have pancakes.  Each and every Saturday, I find the perfect seasonal recipe to start the day right and spice up the weekend.

Taste of Indian Summer: The BLT

As much as I hope for the crispness of autumn, around here the weather is still stuck in the hot, humidity of summer.  Since we can't yet start cooking up batches of chili or soup, most of our dinners lately have been those that require no oven or stovetop.  

Dinner in Provence

“Why not make a daily pleasure out a daily necessity?”

-Peter Mayle, A Year in Provence

Well...truth be told, I didn't jet away to Provence for dinner, darlings (ahem, Dom Pérignon taste on a Bud Light budget?).  But, I had experienced a serious case of Francophilia earlier in the day and needed to prepare something French-inspired to satiate my hunger and wanderlust.  With a mix of fresh summer produce and Mediterranean flavors, voilà: winner winner chicken Provençal dinner!

Brunching: Cherries Jubliee Pancakes

Pancakes are a weekend staple in our household.  Sorry short-cut takers, but I do not believe in Bisquick.  Pancakes are simple to make from scratch and adding your own ingredients allows you to change the recipe slightly to enhance new flavors.

Girl with Cherries by Giovanni Ambrogio de Predis, ca. 1491-95

Since cherries have just come into season, we find ourselves snacking on Bing variety most nights after dinner.  This morning I wanted something a bit more exciting.  

Peaches and Cream

One of my favorite breakfasts as a little girl was an instant pack of "Peaches and Cream" Quaker oatmeal.  There were neither peaches nor cream in those little paper packets, but the result was something that warmed my belly and readied me for a long day ahead.

Brunching: Fig and Ricotta Pancakes

Growing up, the only fig I ever met came in the form of a Newton.  Now in the agricultural paradise known as California, I am lucky to have all varieties of fresh, seasonal produce available for culinary experimentation.  

Each autumn, my hubby consumes vast amounts of figs...usually with a wedge of brie as an evening snack.  So when I saw Tyler Florence's recipe for Spiced Fig and Ricotta Pancakes in the October 2011 issue of House Beautiful, I knew I had to sample the figgy goodness.  

Sunday Brunching

I cannot think of a meal I adore more than brunch.  (Well, in my pregnant state, pre-breakfast, second breakfast, big Euro-style lunch and midday snack are close to a tie with brunch).  Brunch means your guests will be fresh off a restful night of slumber.  Brunch means you can prepare much of your meal the evening before. And brunch means you can justify eating both sugary baked goods and eggy-cheesy goodness in the same glorious feast.

The Mythical Cookie

Chocolate chip cookie recipes are closely guarded by grandmas the world over.  Bakers like to keep their favorite close to their heart only to be prepared when needing extra-special culinary oooohhhhs and aaaahhhs from family and friends.