Archive

by Kelly J. Larson Our wonderful daughter, Lindsey, and her husband live in Colorado and are expecting their second son in June. We are planning a Cinco de Mayo themed baby shower for her since we’re all loco about Mexican food, plus it seems appropriate since the little family spent last summer after their college […]

by Kelly J. Larson First things first, today is my mother’s 79th birthday. Happy birthday, Mom! Since we eat bananas fairly often, we end up with plenty of ripe ones that nobody wants. Here’s my latest mashup for how to use ripe bananas — in cupcake form with fluffy peanut butter frosting. I handed one […]

by Kelly J. Larson Do you believe in magic? What about Magic Cookie Bars, also known as Hello Dollys and sometimes Seven Layer Bars — except mine just have six? It is nothing short of magical when someone who doesn’t consider herself or himself a baker, and she or he can grab a few ingredients, […]

by Kelly J. Larson Last week, a friend’s Facebook post listed a series of unfortunate events that had gone wrong for them recently. “How can I help?” I asked. Her reply was that she would like some of my dinner rolls. I can do that! What a compliment! I whipped up some rolls, dropped them […]

by Kelly J. Larson With my quick poppyseed salad dressing made in advance, this fresh and fruity salad with strawberries, baby arugula, pecans, red onion and blue cheese comes together in just a few minutes. It is fast, flavorful and fantastic. Pecans are browned briefly to enhance the nutty flavor and add to this restaurant-worthy […]

by Kelly J. Larson Pick one. Chips and salsa should be served in heaven, 24-7. Napoleon Dynamite’s cafeteria food movie credits are pretty sweet. Alphabet shaped cookie cutters are a lot more practical on tortillas than with cookie dough. Playing with food is more exciting than working on income taxes. All of the above. Seriously, […]

by Kelly J. Larson Cornbread with green chiles is very Texan and since I live in the capital of Texas, I am a big fan. Literally. At least a pound or two can be attributed to indulging in hot, not-too-spicy cornbread, from places like Z-Tejas and the Roaring Fork, thank you very much. Here’s my […]

by Kelly J. Larson I created this Texas beef chili recipe when our family lived in Taiwan and I was missing home. Ground beef and even cows in general are not easy to find in Taiwan, but lucky for me, a huge Costco had opened in Hsinchu a year before we moved there. I could […]

by Kelly J. Larson Butterfly shaped spritz cookies with M&M candy wings make such beautiful, buttery treats.  The cheerful, fluttering icon can brighten springtime events including baby showers, bridal showers, New Beginnings, Mother’s Day and more. I’m a huge fan of M&M cookies because of the multitude of options that add the right festive pop […]

by Kelly J. Larson Homemade salad dressing is the only kind for me.  Vinaigrettes are my standard, but sometimes I fancy a sweet variation. I have whipped up many winning poppyseed salad dressings that are superb, but sometimes I am too hungry to mess with chopping, pressing or squeezing ingredients to get the fork in my […]