Meyer Lemon Crumb Cake

Meyer Lemon Crumb Cake

Do you ever buy too much of something? Especially produce?

Well, duh, of course you do. Produce, no matter how much you conscientiously eat, has a habit of slinking to the back of the refrigerator drawer and promptly becoming slime. And as the slime gets worse, most of us pretend it’s not there and instead focus on the bright, new fruits and veggies near the front.

Or maybe I’m just a wasteful slob. If so, tell me now. No, don’t. I don’t like painful truth. It’s much more fun to live in a world where your actions don’t result in veggie slime.

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Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cakes

Mini Chocolate Chunk Cookie Cakes

In a week, the school where I teach will be littered with pink candy craziness. It’s really sweet to see, actually. Teenagers tend to get into the holiday a lot more than their adult counterparts, which explains why all those cheesy teddy bears and balloons get sold year after year.

In fact, when I was that age, I really wanted a teddy bear on Valentine’s Day. I got one eventually, and when I did, it took away all the mystique and appeal. I guess maybe it’s not always a good idea to get what we think we want. Turns out, a bear holding a heart is still just a bear.

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Cinnamon Crumb Babka

Cinnamon Crumb Babka

Whenever I’m in my local grocery store, I always accidentally-on-purpose wind my way toward the bakery section. Because you know, it’s really fun to stare at treats and wonder why you aren’t buying them all.

As someone who bakes regularly, I don’t often buy dessert. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t reallyreally want to. There are very few desserts that I have a physically hard time turning away from at the store, but babka is one of them. I love babka. Deeply. Passionately. How could I not? If you’ve ever had babka, you know what I mean.

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Lighter Crumb Cake

Lighter Crumb Cake

I’m so over winter. Not that I was ever under it, you understand.

The other day, I was reading a student’s poem, which was basically a praise of winter. It was a really nice poem, and I enjoyed it. At the same time, there was a voice inside me saying, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” I mean, she didn’t mention anything about the pain of winter.

Yes, I said pain. Cold hurts. And I don’t even feel like eating ice cream, which is just wrong. All I want to do is curl up under a blanket and eat lots of crumb cake.

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White Chocolate Butterscotch Banana Bread

White Chocolate Butterscotch Banana Bread

It’s been a snow day kind of week.

The other day, my kids and I spent our first snow day of the season together. I’m always the parent on duty for snow days since I’m a teacher, so we do snuggly activities during the day. We watch movies, drink lukewarm chocolate (nothing hot for my babies!), dabble in arts and crafts, and of course, we bake.

This time, I happened to have some overripe bananas on the countertop, which could only mean one thing. In a world with bananas and children, there must be banana bread.

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Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Happy 2015, everybody!

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been absent. It was totally beyond my control this time. That flu epidemic the CDC declared the other day found its way into my house. I’ve never been so sick in my life. A week down, unable to do anything but moan. And in the process, my blog just kind of stopped.

But now it’s back, and it’s a new year! Don’t expect me to go with the trend here and start posting healthy recipes. I have very strong feelings about resolutions this time of year. It’s not that I don’t believe in making healthy decisions, but doing it on January 1st is just plain odd. Why would you want to? That date seems to have an alarming failure rate.

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Cookies And Cream Cookie Cake

Cookies and Cream Cookie Cake

After doing this baking blogging thing for a little while now, I’ve noticed something about people and their cravings.

As a whole, people like chocolate more than fruit. They especially like peanut butter with chocolate more than fruit, and I agree on that point a bazillion percent. While opinions differ in regards to many cookies, most people can’t resist a really good chocolate chip cookie.

And even fewer people will turn their noses up at anything with cookies and cream. In fact, whenever I make anything that involves Oreos, I have to hide in a corner while a stampede (comprised in part by people I don’t know that well, if at all) grabs at what I’ve done and totally eliminates its existence.

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Apple Snack Cake

Apple Snack Cake

Snack cakes are great. Growing up, I was a big Little Debbie’s fan. Swiss Fudge Rolls? Heck yeah! Oatmeal cream pies? That was basically lunch during my high school years.

The problem with the packaged snack cakes is that they are kind of full of really bad stuff. Like that “crème” filling they all boast? Yeah. That’s made of animal fat, or some kind of hydrogenated something. Have it now and then. But we’re not in high school anymore, so eating it every day is not advisable.

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THE Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake!

THE Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake!

I’ve realized something about pesky gluten.

You notice it’s not there when the flavor in something isn’t strong enough. Like in a yellow cake, it’s pretty easy to detect an absence of gluten. But in a peanut butter-based dessert or anything with chocolate, it’s much harder. Which is why I’m pretty decent at gluten-free baking. Nobody ever accused me of ignoring peanut butter or chocolate!

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Pumpkin Pound Cake

Pumpkin Pound Cake

Time is scary.

I used to think that people who stretched as part of their exercise routine were total babies. At the time, I could push my body to crazy lengths and never feel a thing the next day except mild soreness.

Fast forward several years, and I’m no longer that brazen ignoramus. I’ve always been a hard-core exercise fanatic, but lately, I stretch with equal zeal and fervor. If I don’t, my body punishes me. And no matter what I do, that darned crick in my neck just won’t go away.

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