It’s Friday, and to me, that means it’s time for treats. Ok, I tend to think that there’s a time for treats somewhere in every day, but Friday is for extra special treats. (Sometimes, Monday is for extra special treats, too.) I like treats, a lot. And I especially love it when I can pretend like my treats are super healthy. That’s kind of why I’ve always loved frozen chocolate-covered bananas. It’s totally fruit.
Continue reading Peanut Butter Banana Bites
We were driving back from Emeryville on Friday, after eating some extremely delicious sandwiches from the Vesta Flatbread truck. I was torturing poor Sean with my recent fascination with 1970s radio hits (the 60s, 70s, and 80s radio station on Pandora is my new favorite thing). KC and the Sunshine Band came on the radio, and all I could think of were Jell-O commercials. And then, then I wanted pudding. My brain works in mysterious ways.
Continue reading Chocolate Pudding with a Little Kick
I grew up in San Diego, where we didn’t really have much in the way of winter weather. January tends to be a bit rainy, and the fog can roll in so thick at night you can’t see the lines on the road ahead of you. But heavy down jackets, gloves, and hats were not something I had to endure as a child. Rainy, wet weather felt special. We got to pull umbrellas out of closets, and jump in puddles, and sometimes Dad would build a fire in the fireplace if it got cool enough at night. Wintery weather was so special that people still talk about that time it snowed on Valentine’s Day, and that was 22 years ago.
I still get a little tingle of excitement on rainy days, despite having lived in places where rain was an all too common occurrence. And I always remember one rainy day in particular. Mom met my brother and I after school, and we all walked home together in the rain. We hurried into our warm house and took off damp shoes and socks, and Mom said it was a perfect day for baking cookies. So we did, and afterwards, we cut out the new Ramona Quimby paper dolls I had won at school that day, and I played with paper dolls and munched on cookies, warm in our little house while outside, our desert city got the water it probably desperately needed.
Continue reading Baked’s Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
When I was in high school I was a bit of a Francophile. Ok, I was a lot of a Francophile. I took French throughout high school, and most years our teacher would bring a buche de noel to share before our winter break. One year we even got to take over the home ec room and make one. I loved them and every year I think of making one again, but I never have. This year, for our library’s holiday party, our lovely admin asked me to bring a dessert. I poured over cookbooks and holiday cooking magazines before it hit me: Of course I had to make a buche de noel!
Continue reading Caramel Walnut Buche de Noel