Pairing Festive Cookies with Holiday Tunes If the right music seems to make dinner parties more enjoyable and the food taste better, wouldn't this also work with holiday cookies? Hmm. I started to wonder....what holiday song would go best with my Brownie Toffee Cookies filled with three kinds of chocolate? Which zesty song would highlight my Lemon Almond Crescents? What classic tune would bring comfort and happiness while savoring three of my Triple Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies? The Music ...
Spice Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting
Spice cake. Simple. Elegant. Flavorful. My Spice Cake with Orange Buttercream Frosting pleases everyone, from non-chocolate lovers to those that love cinnamon, nutmeg and all things orange. Even those who say they aren't fond of spice cakes because they might be "too clove-forward." The mixture of spices in my cake is just perfect according to the Jeffs, who consider themselves Spice Cake aficionados. No fussy or special ingredients needed for this easy cake. You probably already have ...
Lemonade Pie on Pi Day
Pi(e) Day. Instead of focusing on this frigid Indiana weather, I’m pondering pie. After all it’s Pi Day. I’m thinking a pie that’s easy, fast and not fussy. Minimal ingredients. Something that remind me spring is around the corner and summer (hot, humid days) will be here soon. A no-bake pie fits the bill, like my Lemonade No Bake Cream Pie. This light and fluffy pie is the absolute best remedy to create fast, easy and flavorful summertime desserts without even turning on the oven. Today ...
31 Reasons I’m Vibrant at Sixty. #11 Balanced Party Planning
Balanced party planning. Or I could call this post “How a Food-Loving, Practical Dietitian Plans a Party.” Jeff and I are having friends over next weekend for dinner. I have created a fabulous Guinness and Irish-Inspired Menu. I absolutely love entertaining. The funny thing about entertaining, though, is I love the pre-planning creative process just as much as the cooking, baking and socializing. Creativity is part of what keeps me vibrant, along with spending time with close ...
31 Reasons I’m Vibrant at Sixty #4: Flour. Sugar. Butter.
Today is National Pound Cake Day. Pound cake is made with three of my all-time favorite food ingredients: Flour. Sugar. Butter. Pound cake is tied with brownies for my #1 favorite dessert. Brownies have flour, sugar and butter, too, plus chocolate. Pound cake is the perfect food for explaining my overriding food philosophy. This philosophy and attitude about food and eating has helped me stay healthy and vibrant. *Nothing is “bad.” As in “Oh, that is so bad for me.” “Sugar is so ...
Kim’s Decadent Pound Cake
Perfectly Simple Pound Cake Filled with flour, sugar and butter. Almond, vanilla and orange extracts. Easy to make and bake, pound cake is my favorite dessert. Use regular milk, different extracts, maybe even brown sugar instead of white. But always use white all-purpose flour and pure butter for a perfect pound cake. Pure decadence. Pure enjoyment. Kim's Decadent Pound Cake Save Print Prep time 15 mins Cook time 1 hour 20 mins Total time 1 hour 35 mins ...
Bipartisan Shortbread Bars. The Recipe. The Story.
Sigh. Big sigh. Today is National Shortbread Day. I felt like sharing my favorite shortbread recipe - my Bipartisan Shortbread Bars. So I searched for my old blog post from days long ago. Found it! Read it. Sighed. Then sighed again. With sadness. And wistfulness. I’m definitely not one for wishing that things would be “the way they used to be,” but geez…. 2017? And now already in 2018? It just keeps getting worse. I’m going back to calling them Obama Bars. But if you don't like ...
Cookies with Perks
Cookies with perks. That’s dietitian-speak for a cookie that gives you great flavor AND lots of health benefits. So put those extra bags of cranberries to use that are in your freezer (leftover from Thanksgiving!) and whip up a batch of these easy cookies: Cranberry Orange Walnut Oatmeal Cookies. Hot & Spicy Grammy Perks: *Oats for soluble fiber to help promote healthy cholesterol levels and heart *Cranberries for natural phytonutrients that help promote healthy urinary tract and ...
Fall & Football Favorites
Touchdown! All these fall favorites - apples, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, chili, cornbread - score big time at your next celebration or tailgate party. Intercept ho-hum tailgate sides with a batch of Maple Apple Baked Beans. Pass the apple and pear slices for my Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip. Huddle for more whole grains with my Skillet Cornbread. And tackle that bag of apples you bought by turning them into Homemade Chunky Applesauce. Forward pass to my Recipe page for all four recipes and get in ...
Red Velvet, Green Apple & Hot Wings on Game Day
Still haven’t figured out the line-up for your Super Day of Eating menu? Consider these crowd-pleasing ideas. Dessert: Red Velvet Brownies with Cream Cheese Icing. Simple to make and so much easier to cut into bite-size portions than a huge Red Velvet Cake. You’ll still get rich red velvet flavor with irresistible cream cheese icing, though. Appetizer: Hot Wings Hummus. Fast, easy and a fantastic substitute for the more calorie-and fat-laden but oh-so-delicious Hot Wings or Buffalo ...