Do you have those friends in your life where you have to try several times to plan a get-together before you can actually find a date on the calendar that works? This past weekend, the stars aligned for us to finally spend an evening with just such a pair. They were gracious enough to invite …
Continue reading “Roll through your cinnamon cravings with a simple cake”
We had a bit of a scaled-down celebration for Christmas this year, with several of our family members traveling outside of Kansas, so I very carefully considered what treats I would be making. Normally, I overdo it with several types of candies and baked goods to share, but knowing that our group would be a …
Continue reading “Become ‘nut’orious for simple pecan brownies”
It turns out, chocolate chip cookies are a much newer invention than I would have thought. An article on the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library website notes that the famous cookies were first invented in 1938 by Ruth Wakefield. Wakefield and her husband, Kenneth, ran the Toll House Restaurant in Massachusetts, hence the enduring “Toll House Chocolate …
Continue reading “We now know for whom the pie shell tolls”
Recently, I had the chance to meet one of our readers from Hesston. We had a fairly short (but very pleasant) conversation, and before I left, he gestured to a bag on his kitchen counter. “Do you like apples?” he asked me. And that’s how I became the excited owner of four huge, beautiful golden …
Continue reading “Breakfast bars are ‘apple’utely great for a morning treat”
For a recent get-together at our office, I decided I wanted my snack table to look ready for fall. I set up a mini scarecrow, laid a garland of orange and red leaves along the back of the table and sprinkled candy corn strategically around the plates of goodies. To compliment the look of fall, …
Continue reading “Try a cookie recipe that is a piece of cake”
“They have some gross cookies over here,” a gentleman said into his cell phone at a Hesston event we held this weekend, making sure to say it just loud enough for me to hear. Luckily, he was joking. Or at least I think he was. The cookies, made with lots of fresh raspberries ended up …
Continue reading “Chewy cookies can be a real ‘raspberry’ in blue”
Although I have never joined an official weight loss program—tracking points, writing down my calorie counts and eating only pre-portioned foods delivered to my door—I have always been fascinated how they work for so many people to slim down. For me, when working on trying to eat healthier, I normally just follow the rules of …
Continue reading “There is no point(s) to this easy ‘cheesecake’”
On a recent free evening, Joey and I decided to watch a movie together, and I wanted popcorn. Of course, I couldn’t just toss a bag of microwave popcorn in to cook; I needed to make the real stuff on my stovetop. I melted a spoonful of coconut oil in a pot and waited for …
Continue reading “It’s good to have a fallback recipe for whatever pops up”
“Well, these are a disaster,” I told Joey, pulling my baking sheet out of the oven. “I guess they won’t be going in the column.” Earlier in the week, I was excited to try a recipe I ran across that used soy sauce in chocolate chip cookies. It sounded just weird enough that I had …
Continue reading “‘Soy’ vey: These cookies were quite the weird experiment”
Upon being invited to a barbecue recently, I announced that it would be a good time to try out a recipe for some cheesecake-y blueberry lemon bars. “No. No lemon,” one of our friends declared. “Lemon is gross.” (I think he was at least halfway joking.) The rest of the group immediately objected. “Yes! Make …
Continue reading “You’ll have strong ‘peelings’ for lemon blueberry bars”