Football Food: Spinach Artichoke Dip

I’m excited to introduce a new guest blogger, Chris Ferrera, whom I’ve known since we were gangly teenagers wearing braces and carrying ugly purses (me, at least). We’ve been best buds since the time when a big night out was meeting at the mall to gossip over virgin piña coladas and spinach dip.  Ah…the days [...]

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Smitten Apple Cake

This lovely cake comes from Smitten Kitchen, a very famous food blog with beautiful photos and recipes that sometimes work.  I approached this recipe with a fair dose of skepticism (not to mention, blog envy) and about 2 lbs. of apples.  And I’m so glad I did.  After a few recent baking failures (including this week’s [...]

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To Try: Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

Today I found a great food blog while surfing the internets and using the google.  This easy recipe for banana bars especially caught my eye—probably because living abroad makes me homesick for good, simple American cooking.  Don’t these sound devilish?
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’ll have to break it out when I have [...]

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Cheesy Baked Greek Pastitsio

If you like lasagna, beef bolognese, or even Cincinnati chili, you’ll love this dish hailing from Greece.  Pastitsio is a layered casserole of tubular pasta tossed with hard cheese and topped off with meat sauce (spiced with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and oregano) and lightly browned bechamel sauce.  With so many delicious ingredients, how could it not [...]

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Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

My friend was raving about the banana cookies her colleague brought in to work this morning.  Luckily, she managed to get the recipe.  These cookies sound like a great treat, especially for kids.  Thanks, Chris!
 
 
-2 very ripe bananas
-2/3 c. shortening [Crisco]
-1 c. sugar
-2 eggs
-1/2 tsp. salt
-2 1/4 c. flour
-1 package semi-sweet chocolate chips
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp. baking soda
-2 tsp. baking powder
1. Preheat [...]

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Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Full disclosure: I’m not a big bread pudding fan.  It’s usually so…heavy…bready…and bland (sorry, BP-lovers!).  Give me a chocolate mousse or a strawberry tart any day.  But this recipe, a riff on the recipe from Smitten Kitchen, is the exception to the rule.  It satisfies the part of me that loves pumpkin pie custard and rich, [...]

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