• Grilled vegetable salad with avocado

    grilled vegetable salad with avocado

    Even though Super Bowl is all about beer, meat and football, I thought we should have at least one healthy thing at our party. And I wanted it to be something delicious and interesting, not just a couple of wilty celery sticks shoved on the table at the last minute. Usually, I’d make this guacamole […]

  • Slow-cooker veggie chili

    veggie chili

    After I graduated from college and moved to South Carolina, my dinners generally came from a can, a box, the freezer, or a restaurant. I baked cookies and cakes and muffins occasionally, but I really didn’t know how to cook “real” (non-sugary) food, particularly meals that could go from stove (or microwave) to my tiny table in about […]

  • Banana bread oatmeal

    banana bread oatmeal

    Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, but I have never been very good at eating it. Besides the fact that I am rarely hungry in the morning, I also disliked nearly every breakfast food you can imagine when I was growing up. I was a pleasure to deal with, I’m sure. […]

  • Strawberry coconut milk ice cream

    Though mint chocolate chip ice cream and coconut gelato tend to be my favorite frozen treats, sometimes only strawberry ice cream (or a strawberry milkshakes) will do. This is particularly true of homemade ice cream, which is definitely better (and easier) in certain flavors — like peach and strawberry. But as obsessed as I am with all […]

  • Sweet potato tacos

    It’s almost Cinco de Mayo! Let’s make some tacos. No, those aren’t carrots. They’re pieces of sweet potato, cut into carrot-like shapes. Stick with me here.   Back in Annapolis, Toby and I got into the habit of going out for Taco Tuesday. Most of the time, that meant meeting our friends at Paladar for margaritas, fresh guacamole, […]

  • Butternut squash soup

    My maternal grandmother was an awesome cook and baker, but she didn’t just share her delicious treats with her family. She always wanted to help others, and would made sandwiches to take to the homeless at the beach when she lived in Florida, and later, when she lived in West Virginia, would bake goodies for […]

  • Sweet potato banana bake with coconut and pecans

    Have you noticed how trendy sweet potatoes are these days? I’ve always loved sweet potatoes — particularly when mashed and topped with gooey marshmallows — but they used to be a fall-only kind of vegetable, and now they’re year-round, while white potatoes have taken the back seat. It’s probably the fact that they have more fiber, […]

  • Coconanacado popsicles

    Summer is NOT over, y’all. I know that summer break is over for most of the kids and teachers in the U.S. And I know that the weather has been totally wackadoodle in many places. But it is still August! The high tomorrow in Killeen, Texas (my current location) is 96 degrees. The pools are […]

  • Vegan vanilla chai latte

    My big sister from my sorority was really big on studying at coffee shops and diners. One of our main sisterly activities was going to Waffle House to spend a few hours studying art history (her) and Russian grammar (me). But I really, really hate Waffle House. (Sorry, everyone in the South, but it’s just […]

  • Coconut sweet potatoes

    I am home now, but I started this post in a Starbucks in Columbus, Ga. Random, I know, but Toby was playing in the All-Armed Forces Rugby tournament at Ft. Benning. And in case you’re wondering, Ft. Benning is really nice. And really ginormous. Anyway, this post is not about rugby. It’s about delicious sweet […]