Category Archives: Sweet Things

cherry clafoutis for the season

It’s stone fruit season, which means I’ve started going overboard with all things cherry. It seemed like a good idea at the time to buy a 20-pound box of cherries with my friend. Do you know what 20 pounds of cherries look like? It’s A LOT! Needless to say, I’ve been churning out a lot of cherry-based recipes in my kitchen these days.

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holiday decadence

‘Tis the season for excess. I seem to be making that my mantra during the month of December. It all started at the beginning of the month with a handful of cookie baking sessions with my very pregnant girlfriend. She needed distractions to keep her mind off her current situation, so baking seemed to fit the bill. The closer she got to her due date, the more these baking  sessions ramped up. We baked, we cooked, we rolled rum balls, we did it all.  Continue reading holiday decadence

the sadness of chia pudding

It has taken me almost a year to write about chia pudding. I know it’s been a while because the original draft I started was dated last October. No, I’m not a terrible procrastinator. The truth is, this mango chia pudding recipe is closely linked to memories of my dear friend Michelle, who passed away on July 30, 2015.  Continue reading the sadness of chia pudding

chocolate makes everything better?

The onslaught of news about violence seems to be endless these days. I find myself asking a lot of questions. Are these horrific things happening in the U.S. because of our Republican presidential nominee? Do certain people think bad behavior is ok because they hear the Republican nominee regularly threatening, valorizing and inciting violence? Is a ‘lone wolf’ inspired by a terrorist group’s ideology going to be the new normal? Is it now socially acceptable to stir up the pot, get in confrontations and fight with strangers? Am I just being dramatic, and this has been happening for years, but we tend to hear more about it now?

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a grandma-inspired cake

Memories, nostalgia and food are a theme in my life. I’ve written about food memories many times here. The taste and smell of food can bring back memories not just of eating food itself, but also of place and setting. For me, food is an effective trigger of deeper memories of feelings and emotions.   Continue reading a grandma-inspired cake