• Mexican wedding cake

    As you might imagine, this is not a diet recipe. However, it IS a really easy recipe for a fantastic cake. I first made this cake when I lived in South Carolina, and I was thinking about it when we had a Mexican-themed party recently. But I couldn’t remember where I had gotten the recipe […]

  • Tropical sunrise smoothie

    Well, the diet has been going pretty well, although the exercise portion has been a challenge. It seems the fates have been conspiring against me, but I have managed to swim a little and take a few walk/runs over the bridge near our house. Anyway, I’ve found the biggest challenge, food-wise, is to get and […]

  • Banana oat pancakes

    Last week was Toby and my fourth anniversary. And I weigh 30 pounds more than I do when we got married. Yikes. That’s major. That’s like… a toddler. So, I am on a diet for at least a month. These pancakes are not part of that diet, although they do have a lot of whole […]

  • Cherry pie

    Anyone who has ever met me — and probably many who haven’t — know that I was not a fan of Jacksonville, N.C. One of the main problems I had with J-actionville was the lack of decent grocery stores. I once drove to four different stores to get enough cherries to bake Toby a cherry […]

  • Fear the (chocolate) goat

    Tomorrow, (more than) a boatload of midshipmen will graduate from the Naval Academy and sail off into the sunset… or at least into the Navy and Marine Corps. That clearly calls for cookies. The Naval Academy’s mascot is Bill the Goat, so I’ve been looking for a goat cookie cutter for ages. I finally found […]

  • Spaghetti alla Bon Appetit

    As you might imagine, I was all about Bon Appetit’s May “Italy” issue. Especially the pasta al pomodoro on the cover and the “How to Make Perfect Pasta” tutorial. Now, I am pretty sure this is what the cover says is “the simplest, silkiest sauce you’ll ever make.” I disagree. It isn’t difficult, and it […]

  • Motocakes (chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting)

    If you read my post about the parties last week at our house, I’m sure you were wondering what I made for dessert. Because there is ALWAYS dessert. Well, I made these: And yes, those are EGAs on top. That is Eagle, Globe and Anchor. As in, the emblem of the Marine Corps. I called […]

  • Tropical carrot cake cupcakes

    Sorry I haven’t posted in a while; I was out of town. But I wanted to share what I baked for Easter/my dad’s birthday. We usually have coconut cake for Easter, but this year I wanted to something a little more bunnylicious. Carrot cake was a no-brainer. You may notice these photos were taken in […]

  • Peepcake!

    I love Peeps. I’m sure that isn’t surprising, given that I love marshmallows, candy corn and Red Vines. My friend Aaren thinks Peeps are disgusting (I await her comments below) and gave me a super-cute Peep-bunny Easter basket one year because she said I was the only person on Earth who likes them. But she’s […]

  • Artichoke and goat cheese strata

    Toby really likes to have lots of food for breakfast or brunch, whereas I usually can only eat about a serving of cereal or two pancakes before I’m full. So, while Toby loves strata, I often can only eat a few bites. This one is different. I tried it because I like artichokes and goat […]