Over the last few months, I’ve realized that food is my love language. If I want to show my affection or support for someone—a friend, a family member, Dr. Cake Pants, Phoebe, etc.—I turn to food. So naturally, with the most love-centric holiday on the horizon, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to create a special dessert: chocolate snack cake with strawberry frosting! ...
fruit
Lemon Snack Cake with Raspberry Frosting
I knew I hit the cake jackpot with this lemon snack cake as soon as I took it out of the pan, when I scraped the crumbs off the parchment paper and ate them. It was love at first bite! This cake is ridiculously moist, full of cheery lemon flavor, and topped with perfectly tart yet sweet raspberry frosting that is so vibrant that it puts artificially colored frostings to shame. ...
Cranberry-Apple Smoothie
Try as I might, I cannot bring myself to be excited about drinking a cold green smoothie in the morning for breakfast. Or as an afternoon snack. Or, well, anytime. My excuse is that I live in Michigan. Gut reaction to “winter + smoothies” = noooooo. At least, that was the response the boyfriend gave when, on a recent dog walk, with icy snow blowing in our faces, I asked if he wanted to split ...
Strawberry Rhubarb Vinaigrette
It has been almost five years since I moved from California, and you know what I’m still not used to? Summer rainstorms and the staggering attendant humidity. Snow and the bitter cold I can handle – although I’ll gripe about it along with everyone else, for sure! At least I was mentally prepared for the cold. I mean, it’s all anyone talks about when you say that you’re moving to Michigan. ...
Blueberry Banana Pancakes
Last weekend, a serious hankering for pancakes struck. So, what’s a girl [with 5 pounds of blueberries in her freezer] to do, but make blueberry pancakes? These pancakes ended up being a clean-out-your-fridge/freezer/fruit bowl sort of meal, but with how well the blueberries, banana, and Greek yogurt complement each other, you’d never guess it! ...
Cranberry Apple Crisp
My mom has been making apple crisp for as long as I can remember. We didn’t have it very often, but enough for it to make an impression on my brother and me as small kids. Once when my mom was baking an apple crisp, my brother (probably no more than four or five) declared, “I love Uncle Chris!” My mom was touched to hear him express his affection for her brother but a little confused about ...
Lemon Cherry (or Blueberry) Cake Bars
Food is a pretty amazing thing, if you take the time to think about it. It nourishes the mind, body, and soul, and it has the ability to transport us to faraway places or times past that exist now only in the depths of our memories. ...
Blackberry Peach Cobbler
Is there any scent more heavenly than that of a bag of fresh peaches? Well, I suppose that depends what you’re in the mood for, but wow…the peaches I bought for this cobbler barely made it into the cobbler – they smelled so amazing that I nearly gobbled all of them up by themselves! ...
Apricot Rhubarb Crumble
Warning: this apricot rhubarb crumble is not for the faint of heart – if you don’t like tart desserts, this is not your cup of tea dish of crumble. If you do, keep reading! And if you’re on the fence, serve it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream! Actually, even if you’re not on the fence, putting ice cream on top still sounds like a good idea… ...
Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
For me, fruit pies and tarts are the quintessential summer dessert. While ice cream is a great treat when the temperatures are soaring, ice cream is available year-round. But summer fruits? If only they were available year-round! ...