• How to send cookies to Afghanistan (or Iraq… or a ship)

    As a military wife, military reporter and friend of many Marines (and a few sailors), I have done a lot of overseas shipping. I send so many baked goods that the owner of the Annapolis Post Box knows me as “The Cookie Lady.” The first time I sent cookies overseas was almost 10 years ago, […]

  • Tart cherry pie

    As you may know, it is virtually impossible to find fresh sour cherries in the grocery store. But Toby’s favorite pie — and annual birthday request — is cherry pie. So I usually bake pies with sweet cherries. When I can find them. This year, I got a present for my birthday (10 days before […]

  • Cheesy grits casserole

    I know you weren’t thinking a milkshake was the only thing I made Toby for his birthday. I wanted to make a special breakfast, lunch and dinner. The milkshakes — with some Dixie Chili coneys — were for lunch. And he wanted to grill for dinner, so I made some sides and a pie (which […]

  • Blue Hawaii Shark Week cupcakes

    As I was sitting at a bar on Waikiki Beach, drinking a Blue Hawaii, I was thinking about… cupcakes. As in, how can I turn this drink into a cupcake? Yeah, I know. I’m a freak. But this drink seemed perfect for turning into a baked good. And it’s such a great color: the color […]

  • Watermelon slush

    Breaking news: It’s hot. In fact, last month was the hottest July on record for Baltimore and Washington D.C. And it was pretty flipping hot in the rest of the U.S., too. So, what can you do? Besides staying inside in the air conditioning or laying around on a pool float all day (lathered up […]

  • Banana-coconut oatmeal

    Oatmeal is so awesome. It is filling, good for you and adaptable to various flavors. On this particular morning, I wanted something tropical and sweet, without adding brown (or white) sugar. As usual, I had some overripe bananas and coconut milk sitting around. Hence banana-coconut oatmeal. I decided to use half water and half coconut […]

  • North Shore gluttony

    We did pretty well with not over-eating (or over-drinking, amazingly enough) while we were in Hawaii… except for the day we drove up to the North Shore. That day, in addition to the pineapple float and shave ice, we tried all manner of magical things. But we really had no choice. We couldn’t just pass […]

  • Chicken and pineapple curry

    I still have a lot more from our Hawaii trip I want to share with you. But I also wanted to share one of the dishes I’ve made since we’ve been back — from a Hawaiian cookbook I bought at the Polynesian Cultural Center. This was the second thing I tried from the cookbook. The […]

  • Shave ice

    I didn’t know until recently that snow cones, snowballs, shaved ice and other flavored ice concoctions varied from place to place. I mean, some are better than others. Duh. But I didn’t know there actually is a difference between, say, a snow cone and a snowball. In Baltimore, they are very proud of their snowballs. […]

  • Pineapple float

    Have you ever seen pineapples growing? And did you know they aren’t native to Hawaii? They were brought over from South America. Now there are lots of pineapples growing in Hawaii — and lots of ways to consume it. The one I was most excited about was the pineapple float at Dole plantation. It’s not […]