Beany has been increasingly interested in ingredients lately, and her questioning is often relentless. “What is that?” “Where did that come from?” “What does that taste like?” “How did you make it?” This has its plusses and minuses, of course. Curiosity finally convinced her to taste salad dressing, which made her taste spinach salad, which…
Sundays and sunshine: Lemon donut muffins
I always forget how much I love spring until it comes back again. The weather here has been amazing lately, and we’ve been soaking up some serious outside time (hence my frequent sneezes and ridiculously itchy eyes. Oh, allergies, you rascals!). I’m convinced that few things are better for a kid — particularly a high-energy…
Happy Easter! Lemon Ginger Bundt Cake
Happy Easter! This post is popping up a little later than planned, but I suppose that’s life with a newborn and a toddler in the house. And a puppy. Yep, that puppy is wild, too. In case any of you are still on the lookout for an Easter-ready dessert (or a feels-like-spring dessert for that…
Taste of sunshine: Lemon sandwich cookies
When I’m in the thick of summer, smack in the middle of the steamy heat and mosquito-ridden evenings, I have a hard time appreciating the season for what it is. I love cold weather, and my grumpiness level automatically shifts up a few notches when the temperature reaches 80. I know, I would have had…
Three-ingredient strawberry sorbet
Although our oven joins us in a collective groan as the summer heat draws near, there’s one little appliance tucked in the back corner of the kitchen that lets out a happy squeal at the first sign of 90-degree days. “Yippee da doo, eep eep eep!” Or something like that. Yes, after nearly nine months…
Strawberry tarts forever
Our farmers market basket overfloweth! It’s a happy problem indeed, though it’s one that necessitates a rather concentrated effort to cook, bake and nibble our way through the abundance of produce as fast as our tummies can take us. Our kitchen always feels more creative in the warmer months because we tend to do a…
Admiration and emails — and lemon cream cheese cookies
This cookie is based on a recipe that’s been saved on my computer for more than a year. It’s from Merrill Stubbs at Food52, and I remember saving it simply because I think Merrill is the cat’s pajamas. If she says it’s a hit, I believe her. Allow me to explain. For the first 16…
Minding our Ps and Qs: Ricotta Lemon Bars
Nothing makes you reevaluate your words, actions and unintentional mannerisms quite like spending your days with a 2-foot-tall mimic. Toddlers come with an innate talent for reflecting the good, not-so-good and do-I-really-do-that kinds of qualities in the people around them, and our Beany girl has taken to this age-required aptitude with zeal. Our regular conversations…
Recipes for naptime: Lemon vanilla bean muffins
Nearly any parent will tell you this: Naptime is the golden hour. Actually, if you’re lucky, it’s the golden couple of hours. Before becoming a mom myself, I thought the parents who pointed this out were a little too snarky for their own good. That’s probably because before becoming a parent, I felt much more…
Lemon, for you, I’ll bake
It’s summer. It’s hot. My poor little oven groans every time I feel the culinary call. “Again?” it says. “Can’t we just pop in a Christmas movie and snack on a pack of Oreos?” “Oh, little oven,” I reply. “These are the days life lessons are made of. We must put in the effort, even…