Curried Sweet Potato Soup
Curried Sweet Potato Soup – recipe in post Some days, I wake up cold. I eat oatmeal for breakfast, and clutch my shivering fingers around hot mugs of tea. I run, fidget, and move to keep away the chill, but it just isn’t enough. Then I make soup – big bowls of steaming comfort waiting […]
Pumpkin Pie Pancakes – Jack-O-Lantern Flapjacks
Pumpkin Pancakes – recipe and instructions in post Spooky pancakes, perfect for Halloween morning! I think we’ve all had this experience once or twice in our lives when we take a recipe we love, something classic and simple – say, pancakes – and make one or two minor changes to discover something incredible. I fondly […]
Apple Cider Doughnuts – bringing the cider mill home
Spiced Cider Doughnuts – recipe in post I don’t usually buy ‘donuts’. The dry and sugary mess at places like Dunkin’ D’s… just don’t cut it for me. Every once and awhile I go to a local bakery and get a nice French Cruller, or Beignet – but chances are you won’t find me perusing the goods […]
Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns & Random Acts of Tastiness
Pumpkin Pecan Sticky Buns – recipe in post I love random acts of kindness. Doing little things, out of the blue, and asking for nothing in return. Whether it be for friends or family, like warming up your spouses towel in the dryer while they shower, or brushing the snow off a neighbors car in […]
Engagement Party, Part III – The Main Event
Our rings – photo by me, all rights reserved Marriage means different things to different people. From the way they were raised, the culture they grew up in, to their religious beliefs, traditions, and personal values. When two people decide to tie the knot, they have to figure out how they want to do it, […]
Baked Apples, à la Mode – easy as pie (easier!)
Autumn Harvest – recipe for Baked Apples in post Autumn has fallen here in Michigan, and ’round these parts that means apples. At least, most years it does… this year many of the crops were damaged by the dry heat we had during the summer, but that didn’t stop me from searching high and low […]
Engagement Party, Part II – The Book of Love
“Happily Ever After Starts Here” A couple months before our engagement party, I started thinking about things like invitations, favors, and guest books -those traditional elements of any marriage celebration. As I mentioned before, we weren’t really interested in traditional… so I started brainstorming the possibilities. Of course, invites were a must: Invitations – […]
Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie – vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free
Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie – recipe in post Here in Michigan, there are only a couple times a year when I truly love the weather – Spring and Fall. The rest of the time it’s either sweat-soaked heat wave or snowed-in frigid. But for a brief month or two in between, there’s a pleasant calmness, a […]
Engagement Party, Part I – The Cake
My Wedding Cake! Just one slice – one slice in the name of love! The happy couple slices the cake – photo by J. Bannow This past weekend was such a whirlwind of wonderful. The fiancé’s family and my own came together in celebration of, well… us! Our plan from the start was to keep […]
How To Make Gumpaste Calla Lilies – wedding cake, here I come!
(Sugar Calla Lilies – photo tutorial in post) The past couple weeks have been a rush of preparations for me. Doing minor home-improvements, cleaning the house, planning the food, the flowers, the music… and of course, the cake! Just seven more days until The Family arrives, here to celebrate my and The Fiancé’s marriage. Technically […]
Finding My Happy Place
Tri-Color Beech Tree – photograph by Willow Arlen Sometimes, we need to slow down and take a moment to breathe. Take a hike, go to the beach, sprawl in the grass… and just give ourselves permission to remember the things that make us happy. A year ago, I would’ve told you running was my happy place. Or, […]
Fish en Papillote, with Arugula Walnut Pesto & Lemon
(Tilapia en Papillote, with Arugula Walnut Pesto and Lemon – recipes in post) Cooking fish is easy. There – I said it! You just have to know how. If you’ve ever tried cooking fish and had it turn out dry and flavorless (and lets face it, most of us have at least once), than this […]