simple recipes

Visions of Sugarplums

Do you believe? In sugarplums that is? Sugarplums are the things of fairy names and sweetened childrens’ dreams on Christmas Eve. An old-fashioned confection made with a potpourri of holiday spices, dried fruits and nuts, held together with molasses, honey and powdered sugar–sugarplums are very real. In these sweet hours before Christmas I’m going to give you a sugarplum [...]

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Seasoned Kale Chips: The Addicting Version

Want a snack that doesn’t sabotage your healthy intentions? Here’s your cure: seasoned kale chips. These little delights are salty, crunchy and utterly addicting. Addicting is good because kale chips are stuffed with nutrients, vitamins, fiber, protein, calcium and iron. Eat your greens? Heck yeah! Now you have a couple of choices. You can purchase kale chips at the [...]

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7 Summer Fruits and Their BSF (Best Spice Friend)

So September is here, school has started and summer is over…not! Certainly the farmer’s markets and local growers agree. Stalls are still packed with berries, peaches, nectarines, watermelon, cucumbers, cantaloupe…all those summer goodies that are the epitome of soft, warm days and stretched out time. Are you with me? But seven weeks!! That’s how long the virtual [...]

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6 Must-Have Spice Blends for Camping Cook Kits

Road trips. Car camping. Backcountry backpacking adventures. If any of these resonate with you, then it’s an absolute fact you’ve faced the reality of creating yet another meal with an open flame, minimal ingredients, and a collection of those adorable little cooking utensils that the more masculine among us prefer to call “the mess kit.” [...]

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Basil: 5 Things You’ve Never Heard Of

So you know that part in Alice in Wonderland when Alice sees what appears to be a common rabbit hole? She peers in, then falls and discovers a deep world filled with amazing, wondrous, unpredictable surprises? Basil is like the rabbit hole. Yes, basil. It’s green, pungeant, fragrant and anchors the 8,000 equally delicious variations of [...]

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A Summertime Quickie: How to Make a Honey Spiced Ice-Cream Sandwich

We spend all winter dreaming of those long, lazy summer days. June arrives and…kapow! Swimming, biking, soccer, riding, BBQ, end of school-year activities, summer camps, festivals…it’s crazy! Yet, it’s all fun and somehow, those relaxed, lazy moments do weave themselves throughout the day. So here’s the situation: in order to enjoy more of those long, [...]

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3 Ways to Have Spices for Breakfast: 1 indulgence, 1 blend, and 1 surprise

Good morning sleepyhead! What’s waiting for you on the breakfast table? Spices? Why not? Increasingly, more studies are revealing the healthy benefits of spices. Plus a little change-up in morning food lineup for some a.m. motivation is always welcome. Here are 3 new ways to eat your spices in the morning. One is sheer indulgence. One [...]

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5 Spices for Cinco de Mayo

Here’s the deal. Today is Cinco de Mayo. Having grown up in California and raised on avocados and Baja cuisine I’m compelled to celebrate our Southern neighbor. Ah, but now I live on the other side of the country. And while today is Cinco de Mayo it’s also Thursday. So my bright idea was to [...]

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Introducing the Exclusive Distillery No. 209 Spiced Gin Mini Cupcake

Guest Post by Amy Wolff, creator of FingerSweets I’m on a flavor quest…a cupcake flavor quest to be specific. Cupcakes, in my book, are a pure delight. Some food trend experts have declared that cupcakes are out of fashion. Based on the reviews and awards I’ve received I assure you that the word on the street [...]

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Quick and Easy Butter Sauce Recipe for Herbs

It’s a weeknight. You’re tired. Spouse is fried. Kids are getting cranky. Grocery shopping didn’t happen. And there it is…the daily question that never goes away. What’s for dinner tonight? Cooking with herbs and spices, even at the most basic level, can really save your butt in the daily grind. So whether you’re looking for uses for herbs and spices or just a quick [...]