Hi friends, I’m normally that annoying health-focused mama, but I did a thing: I made the yummiest homemade apple fritters yesterday, and wh

Guys, if you follow me on Instagram, you know I that I love to bake for my boys (and Brandon's kids too!). They all have different tastes, but one thing they all agree on is that life is not complete without a batch of pumpkin mini muffins for after-school snacks or a quick breakfast when we're in a

Oh guys, I haven’t been this smitten with a recipe for a long time. Recipe below (adapted from one of my faves: Eating Well magazine!), but let me give you some backstory first...

Guys, I have found my new faaaaaaaavorite coffee. Rich, creamy, nutty, and so satisfying. Here's how to make yourself a cup...

My love of squash is real, guys. Pumpkin. Zucchini. Acorn. Butternut. I'll take any and all squash you throw at me, and I'll bake with it, oven roast it, puree it--you name it. But, even better? Squash flowers!

Here's a delicious recipe for one of my summer favorites...

Good morning, friends! I was out last week with our children on vacation in Lake Chelan. Ever been? It is a-mazing. I'm back at it this morning, working on a new writing deadline (with big announcements to come!). But first, I want to share my secret morning ritual with you...

Guys, do you think that in about 10 years, we’ll all regard avocado in the way we do 1980’s/90’s trends like Canadian-bacon-and-pineapple pizza, bagel bites, or sun-dried tomato pesto paninis? Deep thoughts to ponder this Sunday morning.

So, say you want to impress your pals and you have no experience making fancy French pastries. Do this: Buy pre-made pound cake and cut into square-sized bites. Next, drizzle easy, 60-second icing (4 tablespoons of water to 2 cups confectioners sugar) over the top […]

My babysitter borrowed our mini-muffin tin recently to make cupcake fondue. I had no idea what it was until I saw these photos from How Sweet It Is. Oh my goodness, wow! Doesn’t this look like such a fun party idea/kid idea? My boys would […]

We had a quiet day today—a quick lunch out with the boys, errands, etc. I did zero writing, but I did get a jog in (always a good thing). But I couldn’t help but feel a tugging at my heart all day, remembering how the […]

Did you see this? I love it, especially the lime ice pops! My favorite writing snack these days is espresso + roasted almonds. What do you snack on when you write and read? P.S. Image found here.

Proof that you can still go about life while carrying a baby in the Bjorn carrier: This lovely French Apple-Almond Tart that I made for my birthday dinner, yesterday. Colby (19 days old) fussed for a while then completely gave up and become mesmerized by […]

It’s November, but all I can think about is May. The spring sun will be out, I’ll be back in my jogging shoes (with a new baby in the jogger stroller), and, drumroll please … I’ll have a book debuting! If you’re a Facebook or […]

I’ve been busy, busy, busy this month, how about you? As autumn rolls in (love this season!), I’ve been working on some new assignments for Redbook, Marie Claire Australia, The Nest, and Kiwi (I feel like I’m forgetting something, but my brain is fried), along […]

I write about health for a living (come on over and read my Glamour.com health and fitness blog!), so it may come as a surprise that I (secretly) have a mega crush on donuts. No, I don’t indulge often, but when I crave a donut, […]

I know–how boring am I!? Blogging about bran muffins? Alright, here’s the thing: I like bran muffins. And when I started this little personal blog a while back, I decided to think of it as a scrapbook–an online scrapbook–of all my favorite things, recipes, thoughts, […

I made these delicious scones over the weekend and wanted to share the recipe here. They were so good! And if you love dried apricots (or have a bunch in your pantry like I did), even better. They were so light and easy to make, […]

A publicist recently sent me a copy of Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook, Jamie’s Food Revolution, which I promptly took to bed that night and covered in sticky notes. Guys, this cookbook is, in a word: amazing. It’s packed with mouth-watering, approachable (and dare I say, […]

Two springs ago, I planned a progressive dinner (remember those?) with neighbors, which was photographed for a feature I wrote for Hallmark magazine (sniffle, sniffle–the magazine folded last year, just before this story was to be published!). My editor was kind enough to send me […]

Continuing in my bread-baking extravaganza, I adapted a recipe from my new favorite cookbook and made this divine molasses bread. Let’s just say that 2010 isn’t shaping up to be very low carb. And I’m loving every crumb of it.

Have you seen these funny sushi pillows? They’re made of cotton, but they’re making me hungry! So there I was today, out having sushi with my boys–who I should add, were very polite lunch dates–and as we enjoyed our little conveyor belt sushi lunch, I […]

Do you have any New Year’s Day traditions? I was just telling someone on the phone that I always feel sleepy and melancholic on New Year’s Day. Maybe that’s because I live in Seattle and it’s always, and I mean always, rainy and miserable on […]

What happens when you forget to serve cranberry sauce with Chrismtas dinner (in my case, after making a big batch of delicious homemade cranberry sauce, I forgot to serve it!)? You make cranberry sauce muffins. I created this recipe today and have to say, it’s […]

We’ve been having an insanely difficult time finding firewood. We’ve struck out three times with firewood sales people on Craig’s List (all three were no shows), so yesterday, when temps in Seattle were dropping below freezing, Jason went out for a bundle of wood and […]

I’m a little bit cuckoo for these persimmon muffins I whipped up recently. They are insanely good–so good that my husband (who doesn’t even like muffins) said, “wow, these are good!” If you twist my arm, I’ll post the recipe. I’m feeling lazy at the [&hellip

I have been drooling over this recipe for apple gingerbread cake over at Smitten Kitchen. So, I decided to give it a whirl myself. The result was heavenly. But I made a few little tweaks …

Last week I finished a major recipe development and testing project for Glamour. I feel a little like I’ve made it to the top of a huge (and very tasty) mountain. I have been so busy this past month that I’ve neglected this blog, so […]

Happy Halloween! We went out for sushi (random) and came home and passed out little packs of organic gummi bears to the trick-or-treaters (no, I did not consider giving out bags of carrot sticks) while the kids ran around in their costumes (one bumble bee […]

Tonight I was feeling lazy. Not order-takeout-lazy, but, yes, too-lazy-to-make-a-big-dinner lazy. OK, enough with the laziness. But if you really want to break this down: I wasn’t in the mood to make meat. (I’ll write about my husband’s carnivorous ways in another post.) After last

Here is perhaps the most amazing little cake I’ve had, well, ever. I’d share the recipe, but it’s top secret. (Sorry!) So for now, let’s just admire it, shall we? P.S. It’s made with lots of butter and chardonnay. It made an amazing dessert, and […]

We’re feeling better here today–thank goodness. The boys are playing. I’m cooking (then again, I didn’t stop–we still had to eat!) and writing, writing, writing. In other news: asparagus. I’ve known that my 2 year old, Carson, was nuts for asparagus for a long tim

This cheesecake, which is so easy and so amazing, is from a fabulous Glamour staffer. It’s made with just a handful of simple ingredients, and then here’s the kicker: You put it in a loaf pan and freeze it! Just slice and serve the next […]

I woke up with a wretched cold today, which, after my healthy-eating and hand-washing regimen, makes me feel sort of like a … failure. Ah, well. We all get sick. I couldn’t let the cold get me down because I had a lot of work […]

Years from now, I want to remember this moment–morning snack time with Carson, my 2 year old–because it won’t be long before he’s too old/too big/too busy/too cool to sit down and have a a little quiet time and a snack with his mama (sniffle, […]

We made these tasty (and quasi-healthy!) cookies today. Loved them! I’m too tired (big yawn!) to post the recipe, but you can find it on my Glamour.com blog, here. Only one thing: I added cinnamon, used wheat germ instead of flax (didn’t have any) and […]

I must confess, the entire time I was making this lovely little stuffed spinach pizza pie, I was singing that song by Dean Martin to myself–you know, the one where he’s crooning “when the moon meets your eye,”–or is it “the sky?”–“like a big pizz

This afternoon, I grated up the last of the zucchinis from my in-laws’ Pendleton vegetable garden and made this tasty treat. The house smelled so lovely and delicious while it was baking and the best part was watching my husband and 2 year old, Carson, […]

My friend Kathy sent me this photo of the amazing carrots her kids, Akemi (8) and Kai (6) grew in their garden this summer. Akemi’s been gardening for several years now–since she was just 5 years old. In 2006, I wrote about her adorable story […]

I normally share healthy cooking ideas–especially on my Glamour.com blog, Vitamin G, but sometimes life calls for things like sugar cookies, you know? I recently tested out some pretty sugar cookie variations for a article which you can look for in a future issue of […]

We invited some of next-door and across-the-street neighbors over for a little casual fall soiree last weekend and had a ton of fun out on our deck with our newly installed mega outdoor heater (you know, the ones that restaurants have on the patios–love this […]

I heart Etsy. Here are five things that caught my eye tonight …

I raided a neighbor’s Italian plum tree (we have one in our backyard, but it gave us exactly 9 plums this year–boo), with permission of course, and came home with a bowl of the most beautiful and luscious little plums ever. What to do with […]

On a sunny afternoon walk with the boys today, we stopped to check out my friend Annette’s garden (remember her–the one who turned her entire front yard into a city farm and introduced me to the amazingness that is French sorrel?). Carson, my 2 year […]

My new obsession is this simple number I made up the other night: Broccoli-Buttermilk Soup. It made a perfect dinner with crusty bread on the side, and an even more delicious lunch the next day. The recipe…

Do you remember that episode of Gray’s Anatomy when Izzie’s terminally ill boyfriend dies, which sends her into a craze where she bakes muffins all day every day for about a week in order to cope? OK, I’m not quite there, but I’ve been baking […]

I found this gorgeous strawberry-basil drink over at A Day That Is Dessert, a beautiful blog by Lecia Phinney. Here’s the recipe, which is by Kathey Casey, who I happen to think is great. Enjoy! [Photo: Lecia Phinney]