Hippie Fuel ("Ultimate" granola)

Granola ranks among my very favorite foods, to the degree that (like Biscoff cookie spread) I'm better off not even keeping any in the house lest I simply devour it by the bagful. Crunchy-sweet-salty is totally my jam, and the typical inclusion of nuts & berries is also right up my alley. It shouldn't be overlooked, however, that while granola has a significant history as healthy "hippie" food, some granolas' claims to "health" may be somewhat...questionable.

Healthy ...ish

Jumbled Together (Russian Tea Cakes)

Russian Tea Cakes may be my very favorite variety of cookie. Also known as Italian wedding cakes, Mexican wedding cakes, Flexicans, polvorones, butterballs, and snowballs, you may know them best just as those buttery little spheres coated in powdered sugar, studded with finely ground nuts, and flavored with a variety of subtle seasonings. With their snowy white coats and elegant proportions, they make the perfect cookie to serve throughout the winter, arrayed on plates with doilies or tucked into gift bags. They're innocently sweet, utterly inoffensive, and melt on the tongue beautifully. Russian tea cakes, as the name suggests,  are the ideal pairing for strong tea served with lemon or cream and sugar. Less traditionally, but just as deliciously, I encourage the adoption of the "Russian coffee cake" and also offering coffee or cappuccino as accompaniment.

Cake: it's what's for dinner

Health for the Holidays (Kale and Brussels Sprouts Salad)

I've gotten a little carried away with the baking, lately. I love sweet treats as much as anyone else but, "everything in moderation." I like to maintain the balance. For every cookie, there should be a salad. With winter fast coming on, it's not surprising that cold and raw dishes get short shrift. Once you've walked home with frost-rimed leaves crunching underfoot and your breath steaming in the air, it can be hard to get excited for a chilled supper, but contrasts offer their own delight, so as we prepare to bake, roast, and pan fry all the hot and heavy foods that make Thanksgiving great, I'm actually most looking forward to a light yet hearty salad of raw kale and Brussels sprouts.

Unassuming

Sticker Shock (Almond Butter)

$25? I was floored. I have an annoying habit of picking the most expensive item on the rack before checking the price tags, but this was a little ridiculous. $25 for one measly little jar of almond butter, which I'm more accustomed to grabbing for less than half that price. A quick google suggests extortionate almond butter may be something of a growing trend. Is there an almond shortage? Mad almond disease? Is it possible we were buying just "natural" almond butter and now that we're trying for organic we're going into sticker shock? Well, I got a pound of organic almonds for a song, so it seems to me the food industry is just trying to bend us over a barrel because they have grinders; and that really grinds my gears.

A luxurious commodity

Fresh Arrivals (Apricot Almond Ginger Tart)

I've waited weeks on tenterhooks for the first fresh cherries to arrive to market, but in the meantime chose to console myself with a clutch of glowingly golden apricots. I had ulterior motives. We'd also been eagerly awaiting the birth of our third nephew, Oliver, who at the time of writing this article was slightly overdue, and I figured a little light folk medicine couldn't hurt. Elizabethan England held the belief that apricots induced labor, which is why they feature in the play The Duchess of Malfi, where her nefarious brothers expose her pregnancy with a slyly offered bowl of apricots. It has no basis in science whatsoever, but might as well be worth a try. To gussy up the presentation, I decided to toss the apricots with fresh ginger, then layer them into a tart mantled in slivered almonds.

For your viewing pleasure

Breakfast with the Boys (Almond Pancakes)

James and I are always thrilled to hang with our nephews and, a few weekends ago, Ben and Dylan joined us in the early morning for a few hours of quality time. I wanted something relatively simple to make for breakfast; I hadn't had much coffee and both boys were full of excitement helping in the kitchen. I was smart and planned for pancakes. Keenly aware of the fact that both boys have a love of berries, I knew they'd have to play a part, as well.

A great start to the weekend