Lisa on December 27th, 2010

Got extra trail mix? Want to make cookies? Then you’ve got a done deal. It occurred to me that trail mix is the perfect cookie ingredient: you get a whole handful of dried fruit and nuts and seeds at once (and it’s more cost-effective to buy a single bag of trail mix than several bags [...]

Continue reading about Trekking Along with Cookies

Lisa on December 13th, 2010

Not that you ever need an excuse to enjoy some good-quality chocolate, but now that the holidays are here, what better time to make your own truffles?  And this version is much, much quicker to make than the traditional version, because instead of slowly heating cream and chocolate and then using molds to get a [...]

Continue reading about A Trio of Truffles

Lisa on December 2nd, 2010

I admit it: I’m on a chocolate-cake-made-in-a-food-processor kick.  It’s just so easy to toss everything into a processor, blend it, pour it into a pan, and bake it!  And nuts and dates just seem to lend themselves to being blended, poured, and baked.  I have a feeling the chestnut cake I made recently is just [...]

Continue reading about Sweet Chocolate Velvet Dreams!

Lisa on October 20th, 2010

Some things in life are just worth being picky about, no matter how much they cost (okay, within reason) or how far you have to go to seek them out (which, in the Internet Age, usually isn’t too far).   I’d say cheese, beer, and chocolate fall into that “picky is good” category.  You can [...]

Continue reading about Creating the Chocolate Bar of Your Dreams

Lisa on October 18th, 2010

There’s a hot culinary secret just waiting to be discovered in the dairy aisle, one that can create luscious dips, spreads, and sauces, especially when it comes to desserts: full-fat Greek yogurt.  Yep.  If you want amazing flavor and texture, skip the low-fat variety.  (You can always make your own low-fat yogurt by pouring in [...]

Continue reading about Creamy Fruit Dips & Desserts

Lisa on September 20th, 2010

Even with plug-in ice cream makers that churn the mix all on their own — as opposed to the old-fashioned, human-powered crank models — making ice cream can still be a challenge, especially if you’re not adding heaps of sugar and fillers.  (Both of which lower the freezing point and keep the ice cream scoopable [...]

Continue reading about Velvety Homemade Ice Cream

Lisa on September 15th, 2010

Fancy, towering cakes are amazing examples of culinary architecture, but they’re time-consuming to make and sometimes puzzling to eat.  (How can we poke a fork in without making the entire thing collapse in on itself?)  In terms of classy desserts, I’ll take a nicely stocked cheese and fruit plate over an umpteen-layer cake any day…especially [...]

Continue reading about Sweet & Salty Desserts

Lisa on August 20th, 2010

Given my recent preoccupation with macadamia nut butter, I’m sure you knew another mac butter recipe would be on the way. How could it not? The stuff is simply fabulous! I’m in a bit of culinary mourning right now, actually, because I polished off my jar this morning when I stirred the last spoonful of [...]

Continue reading about Velvety, Nutty Nectarines

Lisa on August 4th, 2010

As a kid, I always liked marbled pound cakes and swirled cheesecakes.  And two-toned frozen yogurts.  Somehow, seeing two flavors intertwined on one plate (or in one cone) makes both of them doubly delicious.  And you know what the best part is?  It’s ridiculously easy to make marbled and swirled desserts — doing so usually [...]

Continue reading about Chocolate & Vanilla with a Berry Twist

Lisa on June 14th, 2010

First it was omega-3s, then it was antioxidants; now, the food rage is probiotics.  (Mind you, these have all been mainstay elements of whole, unprocessed foods for millennia, long before food scientists and genetic engineers and corporate interests got involved in our food chain.  Thankfully, we’re now “discovering” that traditional cuisines contain plenty of foods [...]

Continue reading about Probiotic Bliss