I mean, it’s too sudden. We’re at 90 one day and then 60 the next. I cannot. Has Mother Nature ever heard of transitions? And by the way, could she just stop with the hurricanes already?

Since I don’t want to spend today talking about the weather, I’ll talk about something far more relevant instead. My blog’s been around for going on three years now, but I’ve never made black bottom cupcakes. Once this occurred to me (in the middle of the night, mind you, and it woke me up), I had to correct that immediately. I also had to make them gluten-free, just to make up for the oversight of never putting a chocolate cupcake stuffed with chocolate chip cheesecake filling onto this site.

A few weeks ago, you may remember that I fell over and injured my foot. Well, it’s all better now, but it’s been a pain-ridden time. Either I was walking funny or I hit something on the way down, because my back has been spasming nonstop. A few days ago, the relief began to seep in, but there’s still some pain.

The combination of all this plus the stress of the Jewish holiday season (it lasts a month) has made me very neglectful of anything but family or work. In other words, I’ve been ignoring the blog world and social media, and I’m sorry about that. But as my blog friends have taught me, there’s only so much anyone can handle before the nervous breakdown begins. Mine is scheduled for November, by the way. I have to hold it together until then. Winky face.

Seriously, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the concept of “good enough.” That’s a really tough standard for me to find acceptable in myself. In other people, it’s usually fine. But for me, I want to be the best. I’m not sure where this overdeveloped sense of competition came in, but I’m pretty sure it was born out of insecurity earlier in life. As an adult, I’ve been set on standing out and setting a standard of excellence.

I’m still driven that way, but I’ve pulled back from that on JAB. I will never be the best baking blogger, or even in the top several hundred. That’s okay. This site began as both an experiment and a hobby, and I’m okay keeping it there.

While I might not be on the Internet much, my desserts are as lovely as ever, I assure you. You’ll never know that these cupcakes are GF, and they’re also not that much of a nutritional wasteland.

The cake base of these cupcakes is positively virtuous: a chocolate cake that is vegan with no butter or eggs. The cheesecake filling is made with lowfat cream cheese and only about 1/3 cup of sugar, which means it’s not too sweet. You can eat a couple of these and not feel bad about it at all!

I’ve been in a tough place for the past couple of months, but I have hope that things will slow down and that I’ll stop waking up in the middle of the night thinking about black bottom cupcakes. Until that happens, I’ll just have to keep baking. Enjoy the fruits of my sleepless labor, friends!

Do you have a list of things you want to bake that’s about 17 miles long? I sure do. For at least a year and a half, I’ve wanted to bake these. The base recipe is in the Sally’s Baking Addiction cookbook (the first one), and I made one or two minimal adjustments, which I’ll explain later.

Suffice it to say, these don’t disappoint. They’re thick, chewy, and fudgy. Plus, they’re sprinkled with sea salt. Can a cookie get any better?

In case you haven’t read enough food blogs by writers who live on the East Coast in the U.S., it’s been searing hot this summer. We’ve broken records (excluding the desert regions of the country) into the 100s in the D.C. area, and it’s been pretty oppressive.

This week, we’ve been doing the whole water park circuit to try and cool off. Water parks are fun to a degree, but I honestly can’t spend the day at one like some people do. Really, I have no idea how they can stay in one of those places for so long.

For one, it’s hot and there’s not much shade, so no matter how much sunscreen you slather on, the sunburns are inevitable. For another, it’s crowded. People are screaming and splashing and crashing into one another right and left. My youngest doesn’t like to be splashed, so water parks are like a circle of the Inferno for her.

And then there’s the inevitable clearing of the water park when some kid eventually either vomits or does something very similar into the water supply. It happens more than I would like to think about. Suffice it to say that my bias against water parks isn’t exactly unfounded.

Having said that, they do help beat this heat a bit. So let’s give a big shout-out to the water parks, everyone!

Now I can move on to the bigger shout-out. I’ve been reading Sally’s blog along with the rest of the world for many years, and I’ve never thrown her any love on my own blog. She’s probably too bigtime to notice that I’m doing this, but I wanted to make these cookies and I think she’s awesome. So there you go.

The only big change I made here (and it’s not big) was using regular plain caramels in the center instead of Rolos. There was really no reason for that, except that I was out of Rolos. I think I ate them all myself.

The other change is that I waited to sprinkle the salt on the cookies until right after they came out of the oven. While the salt won’t stick as well, it doesn’t melt into the cookie, either. I like my salt freshly sprinkled. It’s just my thang.

If you’re amid this crazy wave of searing heat, I hope you get some relief in some cool oasis. Or hey, if you’re in a pinch, try a water park. But just for a few hours. Any more than that is singular torture. See if you can sneak some cookies in with you. It’ll make the day much more bearable!

I really wanted to post a timely s’mores recipe, but Kenny and I were away. And not only were we away, but we were also at a hotel hosting the Girl Scouts for National S’more Day. Talk about hitting pay dirt! There were s’more kits and fire pits everywhere.

Now that I’m back, I wanted to pay my respects to what is truly a marvelous holiday. Sorry if I’m a few days late! But these s’mores cookie cups should be worth it. They’re chocolate chip cookies filled and topped with everything you need in a s’more: the chocolate and marshmallow love. I’m excited to have these in the house!

The other day, I had a good belly laugh, and I really needed it. I’m sure you understand. They can be hard to come by, those hearty belly laughs, but they’re the best.

Kenny has this habit of sneezing his way through the first few hours of the morning. Some mornings are more extreme than others, and so I often don’t even notice. When I do, I usually just make sure he doesn’t have a cold before I give him a kiss.

Anyway, the kids and I were sitting at the kitchen table having a peaceful breakfast when Kenny sneezed. He was walking around gathering laundry, and he sneezed again. And again. And again. The poor guy was just on a roll.

For some reason, the kids and I found this to be massively hilarious. I can’t really explain why, but the symphonic sneezing had us in stitches. We laughed until our sides hurt. Well, except for Kenny. He was waiting for one of us to say, “Bless you.” Which we did eventually.

It just felt good to laugh, especially with my children. I have to be the disciplinarian so often, which means that I don’t always have the ability to just burst into laughter. I should do it more often, though, because it’s a quick and easy way to get some therapy.

Do you know what else is quick and easy? Yep, these s’more cookie cups!

I used refrigerated cookie dough.  It was the gluten-free kind, too. Immaculate Baking makes the best GF cookie dough! The inside is filled with a large piece of Hershey’s chocolate and half a marshmallow, and then the whole thing is topped with the other marshmallow half. Inside the oven, the marshmallow inside melts, but that just makes for more gooey goodness. And that flavor remains!

There’s plenty of time in life to be serious. Sometimes it’s better to let your guard down and be silly. Having an easy treat along the way doesn’t hurt, either. After all, it’s much cheaper than a therapist’s office!

Well, I do. I know, I know. No-bake treats are all the rage this time of year, but heck, I like to bake. A baker’s gonna bake. That’s how it goes. That’s why somebody smart invented air conditioning.

Every weekend, I find myself staring at tired bananas. They call to me, and sometimes I ignore them. That’s usually when I’m just as tired as they are. But sometimes I cut them up and freeze them for smoothies that I never really make, and that’s an effort right there. But if I’m feeling really energetic and serious, I’ll bake them into something. And this double chocolate chunk banana bread is probably one of the best ways ever to use those bananas!

Speaking of bananas, I’m going bananas. Really. My activity level has ratcheted up to a crazy degree. I’m at work all the time except on weekends, when I’m thinking about being at work. It’s great being energized, full of ideas, and fired on all cylinders. On the other hand, the people I love are starting to get concerned. My mom offered Kenny and me an overnight trip away from it all so that I don’t burn out early in this new job. Isn’t she the best mom ever?

The truth is, I have gotten used to being able to do lots of things at the same time, but I don’t know how long I can keep that up. I’ve given up cake decorating class and guitar lessons for now, both of which hurt to let go. Those are fun activities, but they’re also time commitments I just don’t have right now. I told my guitar teacher that I’ll pick it back up when I get my footing at work.

The blog is, quite frankly, another concern. Since I took up JAB, I’ve been posting consistently 3-4 times a week. There’s no way that can continue, and Kenny has suggested I knock it down to twice a week. I’m thinking about it, people. I’ll keep you posted. This blog is not just a nice little side business; it’s also a source of passion. It’s just hard sometimes keeping all the balls in the air, especially with my crew at home to take care of.

On that ominous note, let’s focus on the good stuff. Namely, this double chocolate chunk banana bread!

It’s actually pretty healthy, and it’s gluten-free as well. The bread is made with Greek yogurt for added softness and moisture, and cocoa gives it the lovely chocolatey dark color. I filled the bread with dark chocolate chunks, and that’s pretty much all, folks!

Right now, life is stretching me in 50 different directions and I’m adjusting. Stay with me during this time and keep reminding me that it’s okay to be human and occasionally post twice a week. Maybe I’ll start listening!

Yes, I said “skort.” Before you assume that I’m dressing like a 2 year-old, they do make cool skorts nowadays that look like miniskirts but that have shorts under. It’s more ladylike not to flash people.

When it’s hot outside, I like to sit on my front step drenched in sunscreen and mosquito repellent. I’ll bring out a book, a cup of ice water, and a frozen treat. This week, these peanut butter fudge pops are getting a lot of play. They require only two ingredients, so get cracking!

Lately, I’ve been trying to up my crossword puzzle action. Studies show pretty much everything you want them to show, but one of those things is that crossword puzzles keep brain function higher as we age. I don’t know if it’s true, but by golly, I’m gonna do them anyway. After all, crossword puzzles are fun, and if they’re maybe healthy for my noggin, why not?

My grandmother was a big crossword puzzle enthusiast. After she retired, she would wake up in the morning and start a puzzle before going for her daily swim. When she got back, she’d dry off and make lunch, and then after lunch, she’d make a cup of tea and finish the puzzle. What I remember most is that she always used an erasable pen, a habit that I plan to mimic when I hit retirement. After all, writing in pencil is no fun, but mistakes in pen don’t work with crosswords. She was a very sensible woman.

When I was a kid, I’d spend every third Sunday with my grandparents. My grandmother would honk her horn and I’d come outside quickly, dreading a second honk. Then we’d head to the pool together, where she’d forego her usual laps to watch me splash around and play with me. When we go home, my grandmother would make me a pizza with extra cheese while she prepared sandwiches for my grandfather and herself, and she’d always let me snack on cheese while the pizza was cooking. And dessert was always ice cream in a fancy ice cream parlor-style glass with Magic Shell on top.

Back then, I didn’t know what the word “pamper” meant, but that was definitely it. Nobody pampers like grandparents. My relationship with my grandparents was complicated, but I loved those Sundays of being indulged. I mean, I ate a whole pizza every time. It was amazing. And I was allowed to spend the afternoon doing whatever I wanted. Now I see my kids with their grandparents, and I know they don’t yet appreciate how lucky they are. But they will someday!

I always think of childhood when I make popsicles. Isn’t that the age when we’re most delighted with food on a stick? Oh, who am I kidding. Everyone loves that!

These pops are made of two things: peanut butter and chocolate milk. That’s it! Mix and freeze. You’re done. It’s like a frozen fudge bar, but with a peanut butter twist. Calcium and protein in one shot, friends! How is that for healthy?

And if you’ll excuse me, I have a crossword on the front porch to attack along with one of these. Hope you have a moment to yourself today!

The end of the school year is always a little sad. We say goodbye to students we really liked, clean out our classrooms (only to set them up again two months later), take some time to reflect on what we want to do differently next year, and head out in to the sunlight.

I get much more reflective if cheesecake is somehow involved, and these brownies are the ticket. Filled with chocolate chunks, these gloriously thick cheesecake brownie bars are the stuff dreams are made of.

Every summer, I take on lots of projects for my growth. The list is pretty long this summer, so I’m just trying to figure out how to get through it. I’ve got two months of cake decorating class, a week of meetings at work, a book on starting a business to get through and annotate, a novel one of my students wrote that I promised to edit, two short vacations, and…yeah. That’s just the beginning.

The summertime is when I try to organize the house. My son’s room needs to be decorated, my daughter’s room needs to be shoveled out and organized, and I need to find a contractor. We’re redoing our dining room, and I want to get going on making the prettier house happen.

Did I mention the childcare? I’m also doing childcare this summer. Wish me luck.

The natural tendency of the human being is to get bored easily. We think we want time off, but more than a day or two with nothing to do will really start to get old. I think retirement is tricky for that reason. Sure, you worked for 30-plus years in a job, but what then? The brain needs to be engaged somehow.

That’s why I’m a huge believer in keeping a lot of irons in the fire, even though people tell me that I overload my schedule in a way that’s nothing short of crazy. We’re only around once, and I want to get a lot done. Oh, and somewhere in there, I’d like to go kayaking and stand-up paddle boarding again, and I’d like to try some beach body workouts. Those are fun summer activities. So much to do, so little time!

While I contemplate logistics, these chocolate chunk cheesecake brownies can keep me company. They’re perfect for pensive moments. The textures alone are amazing. I keep them chilled, so the fudgy brownie, creamy cheesecake and crunchy chocolate chunks are beautifully contrasted.

Like any bar, these are not complicated to make. Each layer requires one bowl, and that’s it. So consider these a time-saving indulgence!

I’m raring to get going this summer on all my projects, and rest assured that JAB is one of them. The desserts will keep flowing your way, starting with these!

It probably comes from my innate suspicion of anything cooked in a microwave. See, I’m not a fan. I use the microwave to melt butter or chocolate, and that’s usually it. I’d rather wait longer to heat something on the stovetop or let it crisp up in the oven. The uneven cooking of a microwave just makes me all kinds of sad.

But mug cakes are different! They’re magical, really. Just a few minutes stand between you and a warm chocolate cake just oozing with salted caramel. It’s so easy!

Last week I was raging about the state of our country, and this week, I’ll rage about the Stanford rape case. I have little to say except this: let’s clarify the cause of rape. Ready? Here we go.

Rapists.

That’s it. Nothing else. It’s not what someone was wearing, or if she was drunk, or if there was flirting. None of that matters. None of that gives anybody the right to engage in an act of violence against another human being.

We need to instill this set of values in our own children. For years, women have been told that they need to avoid certain behavior to ensure that they won’t be victims of sexual assault. If that’s not victim-shaming, I don’t know what is.

I resent the fact that throughout my life, I’ve had to rely on a buddy system at parties. I can never leave my drink unattended. I’ve never walked alone at night because it’s not safe. But all that makes sense, because I’m a cautious and fearful person. And if I weren’t, and something happened to me?

It would not be my fault. Not even a little bit. That’s like saying that someone being randomly stabbed on the street was asking for it by being there. And that’s just stupid.

See, I get mad about the world my kids are inheriting sometimes, and this blog is the perfect place to express that anger. And it’s also a perfect place to rant about microwaves. But not today, kids!

This cake is as simple as it comes. You mix up all the ingredients, pour them into the mug, and plop some salted caramels into the batter. The whole thing takes about two minutes to microwave, and then life is grand.

It can’t always be as simple as a mug cake out there in this funny world. Our existences are both delightful and disturbing. Let’s all do our part to keep trying to make the world a better place!

Confession: I don’t really do smoothies much. As someone who rushes out the door to work in the dead of night (okay, well, 5:30 in the morning), I don’t want to be turning blenders on and waking up the sleeping monsters…oops, children. I’m more of a protein bar kind of girl.

But when there are muffins around, I’ll grab one of those instead. These are gluten-free and they even have protein in them (yay, Greek yogurt!), so they do the trick, And they’re peanut butter and chocolate. You are so welcome.

I’m at that stage in life when weekends are more tiring than the weekdays. Kids have all this ungodly energy, and if they don’t expend it, they turn into disciples of Satan. To make kids happy on a weekend, there is constant activity and running around. You have to pack roughly 42 activities into each day to make them tired so they don’t turn on you.

On Memorial Day weekend, we went to a great park. This park had a playground, a carousel, a train, a farm with animals, a nature center, and a nice pond and picnic area. We got there around 9:30, did everything, and around 1:00, we announced it was time to go home. The response? “We can’t leave. We just got here!”

Once we got the kids home, all I wanted to do was stretch out on the couch and sleep. But they all started fighting with one another, so when a friend called to make barbecue plans, I groggily agreed. We were at this friend’s house a mere hour later, watching kids screech and run around in the rain while pelting one another with bouncy balls. Then they all got hot dogs, which gave them more energy to bring back the crazy. Even the cat couldn’t take it. The poor thing kept trying to hide from aggressively rough hands “petting” her, to no avail.

So as the weekend approaches, I’m gonna need these muffins. They’re my only protection from the boundless energy of three young kids in the summertime.

Like many muffins, these come together without a mixer. It’s a simple process of mixing ingredients together, and look at the results!

Plus, I mean, peanut butter chips. Can anyone think of a more addictive food item? Not for me, anyway.

Hope your weekend is sunny, bright, and free of screechy whiny drama. You deserve some quiet time!

The other day, I was really worn out. But since I’m not a coffee drinker, I did the next best thing: I gave myself a shot of this mousse. It’s not alcoholic, but it sure is caffeinated. Be still my heart. Nope, it’s beating too fast for that.

Not only is this the epitome of coffee and chocolate goodness, but there are also chocolate Heath bits through and through. Mousse has never tasted so incredible!

Mousse is definitely a sensitive topic in my family. When I was growing up, one of my brothers didn’t put such a high premium on staying out of trouble. To make matters worse, he had this really bad habit of laughing at my parents whenever they were trying to punish them. I always told him that was a dumb move, but he didn’t seem to care that much.

On the rare occasions when my brother wasn’t wreaking havoc, my mother would reward him by making chocolate mousse. My mom didn’t bake often, so this was quite a treat. He loved chocolate mousse and I guess it was supposed to be a behavior incentive, but it didn’t work in the long term because, you know, kids.

Anyway, I have another brother who always a model of kindness and goodness. He was in trouble, oh, never. So all these years later, he’s still kind of amazed that while the majority of my mother’s children behaved well and never received mousse, my brother got it for being good now and then. It seemed like a great injustice.

And, well, I guess it was. But I’ve learned that it’s impossible to treat your children the same way. They’re different people, and it’s inevitable that they can’t always have the same things. It might come across as unfair, but I think it’s unavoidable.

Besides, my brother can have all the mousse he wants now, because I’ll make it for him! I’ll even make it for the one who didn’t behave. I love them both.

This takes almost no time to whip up, and it’s so nice and cool and light for these hot days. The toffee bits give a delightful crunch amid all the mocha creaminess, and you’ll be very happy. Plus, if you put this mousse in elegant glassware, it becomes the best company dessert ever!

If you want to stall some family squabbles this holiday weekend (or anytime, really), give mousse a try. It might make your kids behave, anyway…for about ten seconds!

I know we’re not supposed to rush time, but when there are 11-hour workdays involved, time can speed the heck on up. Otherwise, I’m resorting to chocolate.

Oh, who am I kidding? I’m doing that anyway. With this healthy vegan cake that is just as moist and delicious as any butter-laden version, I can get through a tough day without having to worry about my health or any other impending doom.

Yesterday I tried to be the nice teacher. My creative writing class is smaller this time of year now that the seniors have graduated, so I asked everyone else if they wanted to have class outside. It was such a gorgeous day, too. 85 degrees and sunny with a nice, light breeze. I’d even put on sunscreen and brought my sunglasses with me in preparation.

Those kids turned down my offer. Apparently, it was too hot, and they were tired, and they just wanted to sit in my cinder-blocked classroom with fluorescent lighting and be sad. What a bummer. So much for using nature to inspire our writing!

Man, do I love the kids I teach. But sometimes they can be a real buzzkill. How am I twice their age and five times as energetic?

Luckily, my last class of the day agreed  to go outside. A half hour in, they started to get sleepy and we trouped back inside. Hey, we made the effort.

A lot of people opt to repeat the same actions day to day, even if they don’t like them. Why? Because it’s less risky than going out on a limb.  But that’s also not really living, so take a risk today. Go outside! Eat something besides Lean Cuisine for lunch! Shop at a different grocery store, just because. Be crazy!

Take this cake, for instance. I’m not one to follow a vegan diet, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t get down with it from time to time. Especially not with a cake this good.

The base cake recipe is Bethenny Frankel’s. I’m not a Bethenny fan, to be honest. I read her book Naturally Thin several years ago and learned that if you eat (or don’t eat) her way, you’ll be well short of your daily caloric intake and lose tons of weight. Not in a good way. So that book really didn’t appeal to me that much. But this cake recipe was in it, and I’ve gotta give her props. It’s good!

It’s also one-bowl with an easy glaze. I’m into one-bowl. Truly, madly, deeply.

So try something new today, whether it’s this lovely cake or a new route home from work. It’s good to retrain our brains. And I’ll try and get that class of mine into the great outdoors!