Food

I decided to make these scrumptious apple blondies bars because October is national apple month, and they are my go-to fruit — especially pink ladies. I’ve tried my hand at baked apples and apple pie, but that has been the extent of my use of apples, other than eating them raw with a little peanut butter.

For Rocco’s first birthday cake, I set out to find a healthier alternative to the ‘smash cake’ tradition. I was overweight as a young adult, so introducing my son to healthy foods and building a solid foundation of good nutrition is very important to me. Since beginning solids six months ago, I’ve all but avoided giving him processed foods or foods high in sugar.

During both of my pregnancies, I’ve had this strange obsession with all things lemon. There are nights where I drool just thinking about a tall glass of lemonade. For someone who was never really that into lemons or lemon products, this pregnancy ‘craving’ is quite the newfound obsession.

Pumpkin is everywhere, so it must be September. Starbucks brings back it’s famed pumpkin spiced latte. Pinterest is bloated with pumpkin recipes, and I’m totally fine with it. I make some pretty darn yummy pumpkin cookies (coming soon), but I wanted to try something new to kick off autumn.

We left Phoenix for Lawrence, KS while my husband attended law school. Lawrence has tons of small-town charm, but I missed the variety and volume of bigger city dining options. Despite being small, the Lawrence culinary community did do a few things very well. For example, our proximity to Kansas City gave us access to some of the best BBQ in the world. Also, I’d put the French toast at Milton’s Café up against anyone’s in the country.

I’ve never made a tart before. Given it was Labor Day weekend, I wanted to create something new and a bit more challenging. Since I almost always choose to bake sweet things, I thought it would be fun to try something on the savory side. I originally wanted to make an heirloom tomato tart, but I was underwhelmed by the selection at the Farmer’s Market. I found this recipe while searching for tomato and onion tarts, so decided to change up the filling a bit, but used this recipe as a base.

How did I come up with Oatmeal Molasses Cookies with Apricots? Awhile back, my friend Pam sent me a picture of some tarts she had purchased from a nearby bakery that they looked ridiculously good. They were from the Blackmarket Bakery in the Camp. I finally made my way over there a couple of weeks ago. Most everything inside the bakery looked delicious, but the one item I couldn’t pass up was their ‘Blackstrap Betty’, which is a chewy molasses cookie with chunks of dried apricot.

I start jonesing for citrus fruits when the temperature rises. When I’m thirsty, I think lemonade (“that cool refreshing drink”). At the farmer’s market, I get all buddy-buddy with my favorite grapefruit vendor, which means laughing at his reoccurring jokes about the clash between morning toothpaste/mouthwash and citrus.

For a few short weeks each year, it is stone-fruit season. As I previously highlighted the peach, when I saw these plums at the Farmer’s market, I couldn’t help but pick up a bunch and feverishly search for an interesting recipe to use the lovely purple jewels. Ironically, I found another UK dessert, so had to translate it like I did for my brownie recipe. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this cake made for a nice ending to a summer-night.