• Sugar Plum Fairy cupcakes

    I started taking ballet when I was 2 years old, and my mom started taking me to see The Nutcracker every year not too long after. I was even invited to try out for a small part in Ballet Arizona’s production one year, but I was too tall (if you can imagine that!). This year, […]

  • Spicy collards

    Maybe you’re trying to eat more greens and fewer holiday cookies. Maybe you just made those chipotle sweet potatoes and you’re not sure what to do with the leftover chipotle puree. Or maybe you’re just looking for a different way to prepare your collards for New Year’s Day. So what should you do? Try this […]

  • Double chocolate peppermint cookies

    I can’t remember exactly how I found out about the Food Blogger Cookie Swap, but as soon as I read about it, I was in. The idea was sort of like a chain letter, but yummier: You sign up, get three names and addresses, and send a dozen cookies to each of the names. Then […]

  • Blue velvet cupcakes

    I totally meant to post these BEFORE the Army-Navy game. But then I spent a zillion hours baking “Go Navy, Beat Army” cookies, and my oven stopped working and I had to finish baking the cookies in my neighbor’s oven… and then Michael Phelps was swimming about a mile from my house, so obviously we […]

  • Kentucky hot browns

    I like a deal as much as the next girl, but getting up in the middle of the night to stand in line in the cold is SO not my thing. My mom and I did manage to get to the mall by about 9 a.m. yesterday (which is very early for us), since some of […]

  • Chipotle sweet potatoes

    Dude. Thanksgiving totally crept up on me this year. Maybe it’s the wacky weather, but I was completely oblivious to the fact that it’s less than a week away. Yikes! Anyway, if you’re looking for something to go with the giant turkey, you can try cranberry-apple fluff, can-free cranberry sauce, coconut sweet potatoes, sweet potato-pecan […]

  • Lava flow bundt cake

    Those of you who know me in real life would probably guess that my favorite drink is a margarita. And, yes, I am definitely pro-margarita (on the rocks, no salt). But my actual favorite drink is (and has been since elementary school, sans alcohol of course) a piña colada. I mean, come on. Pineapple and […]

  • Happy birthday, Marines!

    Today is the U.S. Marine Corps’ 236th birthday — a day of ceremonies, parades, balls and lots of bad sheet cake all over the world. We are going to our Marine Corps ball tonight (where I’m sure the dry cake will still be better than whatever they serve us for dinner), but I wanted to […]

  • Apple-cranberry pie

    As much as I love pie, I’ve never been big on apple. Give me raspberry, pecan, key lime or blueberry cream over apple any day. But as I was clicking through a fall pie slideshow on Epicurious.com, this pie caught my eye. It isn’t the typical chunks-of-apple-with-too-much-cinnamon-inside-two-dry-crusts pie. The apples are thinly sliced and piled […]

  • Coconut sweet potatoes

    I am home now, but I started this post in a Starbucks in Columbus, Ga. Random, I know, but Toby was playing in the All-Armed Forces Rugby tournament at Ft. Benning. And in case you’re wondering, Ft. Benning is really nice. And really ginormous. Anyway, this post is not about rugby. It’s about delicious sweet […]