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I am not a big fan of fruit in savory dishes. Fruit and main dishes just don’t work for me. However, when my meal planner and chef husband wants to make a fruity main dish, I smile and feign eager anticipation. This happened one day last week. My husband was very excited about this peachy chicken stir fry recipe he found on a bottle of vinegar, and he couldn’t wait to make it. “Doesn’t that sound good?” he asked. “Sounds delicious!” I choked. So of course, he made ... READ MORE

This is the time of year for asparagus where I live. Actually, it's a little early, but this year has been exceptionally warm. Last week, the first hearty spears began to poke their heads up through the soil in my dad’s garden. I planted half of those asparagus crowns before I left home. My dad planted the rest a year or two later, and he’s been tending them ever since. This year, he decided to add 25 more crowns. He's gone a little crazy with it. It's no wonder. There is no asparag ... READ MORE

Our Easter was interesting. I don’t dwell on the drama (and there always is some, isn’t there?), but this Easter had a lot of speed bumps. I got a stomach ache at church that lasted all afternoon. My husband overcooked the (otherwise sweet and delicious) ham, leaving it dry and crispy. I told him to put the carrot soufflé in the microwave instead of the oven, and it turned into charcoal and broke my Pampered Chef stoneware. It was just a Murphy’s Law kind of meal. Partway ... READ MORE

The Sweet Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing that we bought at the Farm Show is so good that we’re making up recipes to use it. This recipe is one of those. I asked my husband what we had in the pantry, and he rattled off a few things. On the list was a 15 pound bag of basmati rice we’d purchased from Sam’s Club a while ago but never opened. Not knowing how to cook it or what to cook it with, I asked him to follow the instructions on the bag and make a cup. In the interest of time ( ... READ MORE

Do you remember the restaurant called Chi-Chi’s? It was a Mexican-style chain restaurant that folded in the late ’90′s after a salmonella outbreak linked to their scallions. In high school and college, I loved Chi-Chi’s; I ate there at least a few times a month. My favorite menu item was Cheese and Onion Enchiladas. We make all sorts of enchiladas and quesadillas and burritos at my house, and we’ve made all sorts of cheese and onion recipes, always trying to come close to the fla ... READ MORE

The biggest thing I learned from my last weight loss attempt was that small changes are more likely to become permanent changes than huge life-altering changes. I park further from the door when we’re out running errands. I drinking water most of the time. When the weather is warm, we walk to Grandma’s house instead of driving. Small changes. Baby steps. My most recent small change was to increase our vegetable intake. Instead of tossing all of our pasta and potatoes in favor of mea ... READ MORE

Last year, my friends ate this awesome dip right in front of me, and they told me how awesome it was. I was pregnant. Pregnant women aren't supposed to eat cold cuts, in Italian sub sandwiches or in Italian sub dip or any other way, as a matter of fact. Not that my doctor told me that, by the way. I read it all by myself in one of my seventeen how to be a proper pregnant lady books. So I didn't eat any of the awesome dip. But then, they made it a second time, after Allie had been born, a ... READ MORE

Imagine a rich layer cake with cherries in the center and creamy chocolate ganache covering the top and pouring down over the sides. Sounds sensational, doesn’t it? In this cake, the layers are made of cheesecake. That’s what this is. Imagine an Oreo cookie crust topped with a layer of velvety cheesecake, then a layer of sweet cherries, then another layer of velvety cheesecake, and the whole thing is drenched with chocolate ganache. I took this cherry cheesecake to my church’s ... READ MORE

Pumpkin pie says Thanksgiving to me. It’s not my favorite pie (that would be pecan), but I’m never able to leave it off of my Thanksgiving menu. It's totally synonymous with the holiday. For me, pumpkin pie is even more Thanksgiving than turkey, but I'm odd. I created this recipe from bits and pieces of several others. It is the best pumpkin pie I’ve ever eaten, due mostly to the thick layer of pecan crumb that I dribble over the pumpkin before baking. It could also have something ... READ MORE

I had never eaten baked pineapple before my mother-in-law brought it to my house for Easter dinner in 2009. Before that , I had never even heard of baked pineapple. The dish was very sweet, like eating cake during the main course. The final dish is so sweet and wonderful that it could easily be served as a dessert. Add a scoop of ice cream atop a warm chunk of this casserole, and you’d have a blissful bowl of deliciousness. I wanted to share it now, at the start of the holiday party s ... READ MORE