On my list of favorite low-maintenance holidays, July 4th is up there. I eat my annual nitrate-free hot dog (once a year is just enough, really), drink a cocktail, and whip up some brownies. It’s the perfect meal!

I’ll never argue with a brownie in any form, but they’re at their best when giant chocolate chunks are nestled within. Oh, and when there’s a nice thick layer of glaze on top with sprinkles. Patriotic sprinkle bling, no less!

When I was a kid living in Indianapolis, we used to go to a living history museum called Conner Prairie on the 4th. It was a fun place, full of people pretending to be from days gone by in their houses without air conditioning. Even as a kid, I was pretty sure they had it rough in terms of work conditions. But to their credit, the actors seemed to enjoy themselves, never breaking character.

On Independence Day, the Indianapolis Symphony would play on a large field until sunset, at which point fireworks would go off. We’d be on our picnic blanket, eating Pringles and enjoying the show and feeling oh so very summer. Those warm, crowded nights full of music and laughter are such a happy memory now.

In DC, we don’t go to the National Mall for what is known as the Capitol Fourth. It’s a crazy mob scene and it’s just not worth the hassle. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of people jammed into small spaces to see the big show, and I don’t like crowds of that nature. Getting downtown is rough whether you take a Metro train or drive, so the upshot is that I watch it all on TV instead.

This year, Kenny wants to find a fireworks display in the suburbs, and part of me thinks that could be fun. The other part just wants to eat a hot dog, put the kids to bed, and watch the show on PBS under a blanket on the couch. I wonder who’s gonna win?

Either way, I have patriotic brownies to keep me company. If you’ve never had a brownie with vanilla glaze, you are missing out. The trick to making thick glaze is to use heavy cream rather than milk or, heaven forbid, water. That makes your glaze, well, watery.

I also love to put chocolate chunks in everything, but brownies in particular. The slight crunch is a wonderful contrast to the brownie, and adds another layer of fudgy goodness.

This July 4th, celebrate in the way that makes you happy and warm and fuzzy. It’s a great holiday, a time to appreciate our freedom and traditions. Why not express that with dessert?

Do you ever get into a breakfast rut? Because I can relate.

Over the years, I’ve cycled through so many breakfast options with the goal of keeping my first meal of the day quick to prepare and filling. Oh, and sweet. I like that shot of sweetness in the morning!

Since forever, I’ve loved cereal. And while it’s hard to beat a bowl of cereal with milk, sometimes you want a little something different. As a quick bread lover, this breakfast bread fits the bill. It’s topped with a crumbly, crunchy topping made with Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, and the recipe is easy enough to make with the kiddos!

Now that I’m at home more for the summer, I have to find ways to engage my little monsters until camp starts up in two weeks. Oh, camp. It’s the best. It’s when I finally get to take a nap.

But until then, I have a whole schedule to arrange for each day. It includes basic summer activities, like running through sprinklers, making crafts that usually turn out looking funny, and of course, an afternoon baking session. I try to find or create recipes that are pretty simple but that also involve some fun element. We can go shopping in the morning at our local Safeway and have all the ingredients ready for an afternoon baking extravaganza!

In this case, it’s easy to mix up the batter, but my kids can have all the fun of making the crumb topping. And while they do that, I can snack on Corn Flakes and have a fun moment to relax and stare at the wall. Every mom who is home all day with kids needs some quality wall-staring time.

The best part of this recipe is that in the morning when I’m rushing around trying to find clothes for everyone and make sure that nobody is beating anyone else up, this breakfast bread is ready to go. Everyone wants to eat it, everyone’s excited about eating it because they helped make it, and it tastes delightful. I mean, who doesn’t love crumb?

Cereal is the best, but being creative with it yields even better results. Kids might be happy with just cereal and milk, but adults need to go beyond and explore our inner foodies. This Corn Flake cinnamon crumb bread is just the ticket!

If you’re looking for more breakfast ideas, please visit this website for more inspiration for creative breakfast and snack creations. Hope you have some great summer breakfasts ahead of you!

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!

See, everyone’s about that lemon loaf cake you get at Starbucks, and I guess that it’s good. I’ve never actually eaten more than a bite of it, and it’s tasty, but I wish they’d make a lime version. I wouldn’t be able to stop at just a bite.

This cake is sweet and tangy at the same time, filled through and through with fresh lime juice and zest. It’s even in the glaze. Somebody (cough, cough) couldn’t stop licking the glaze bowl.

Years ago, I learned about Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known very appropriately as SAD) and it was very much a “duh” moment. I mean, no kidding. We’re sadder when it’s cold and gray outside? Isn’t that kind of a no-brainer?

I don’t think I realized how insidious SAD could be until Kenny told me last week that every winter, he can see the change in my personality. I must not be that self-aware, because I had no idea. I guess I do get gloomy, but I didn’t realize other people could tell.

It’s like when I was pregnant. When I was in that condition, I was incredibly blunt. I’d blurt out the first thing that came into my head, and I think the only thing that saved me was that I happened to be pregnant. Otherwise, people would have  gotten justifiably more irritated by it. But then one time, a student jokingly referred to me as an “angry pregnant woman,” and I was totally shocked. That wasn’t how I saw myself at all. But maybe I was being more angsty at the time.

It’s hard to see yourself accurately, and when other people offer you a glimpse, it’s not easy to decide whether to believe them or not. My students (teenagers might be too candid at times) have also told me that I am very intimidating. It’s weird for me to hear that, because in my head, I’m a harmless, literature-loving dessert addict. Intimidating? Really?

I guess we never truly know ourselves, but maybe other people don’t, either. We all project versions of ourselves outward consciously, but it’s impossible to control how others will interpret us. The sooner we realize that perceptions don’t equal truth, and that we need to consider multiple points of view, the better off we’ll probably be.

And hey, Starbucks needs to consider offering a lime loaf. Nothing will cure SAD faster than a solid zip of lime to the senses. I’ve mentioned it before, but lime is summer in a little zesty citrus fruit.

This cake is pretty delightful. It’s got butter, yes, which helps. And it’s also got the perfect balance of lime to even out the sweetness. All you need is one lime and a microplane zester. Those are the best kitchen gadgets ever.

If you’re having a rough winter, or if someone isn’t seeing you the way you perceive yourself, there’s always loaf cake. It’s a lot easier to get perspective after a sunny snack.

Whoo boy. This cake will make your holiday season merry and bright! And then some.

In case I’ve never made it blatantly clear enough, pound cake is the happiest of all cakes. It’s fluffy, buttery, and makes a perfect canvas for any flavor.

Do you know what happens if you add 7UP® to pound cake? It gets even lighter and fluffier. And when you add Cherry 7UP® and almond extract, your mouth is in for quite the party.

Now that we’ve cleared Thanksgiving, everyone’s got three weeks to get holiday baking in order. In times like these, the temptation to impress relatives and friends might overwhelm the need to just be practical.

Well, guess what? That isn’t a choice you have to make. Just because a dessert isn’t crazy hard to make doesn’t mean that it can’t be impressive and beautiful. Oh, and delicious. So get your holiday baking in order, but don’t try to be a hero!

Whenever I need to prep for a baking marathon, there’s only one place I need, and that’s Target. They have this special section with all the holiday-themed products and candy. I just stand in the middle of the aisle, staring at everything on the shelves while ideas start hurtling at my head. Then I fill up my cart. It’s probably the closest I ever get to catharsis. Plus, I get to buy everything I need for holiday entertaining, from candy (yesssss, please) to drinks, in just one trip.

This time of year, there’s so much we all need to buy. It’s a lot easier to spend that money if there are coupons involved, and that’s where Ibotta comes in. If you’re not familiar, you need to check it out. Right now, they’re running a special deal on soda: Save $.75 when you buy two 2-liter bottles (varieties include: 7UP®, A&W®, Canada Dry® Ginger Ale, RC® Cola, Sundrop®, Sunkist® Orange, Squirt®, Country Time®, Diet Rite®, Vernors®, Cactus Cooler® and Hawaiian Punch®) and Save $2.00 when you buy four 12-pack cans (varieties include: 7UP®, A&W®, Canada Dry® Ginger Ale, RC® Cola, Sundrop®, Sunkist® Orange, Squirt®, Country Time®, Diet Rite®, Vernors®, Cactus Cooler®, Hawaiian Punch® and Tahitian Treat).

Food bloggers will always give different reasons for why we love what we do. Some enjoy taking photos and editing them. Some love writing the posts, while others enjoy the connections they make with readers and fellow bloggers above all. For me, while I dig all those things, I especially appreciate the constant opportunity to create new desserts and push ideas to their limits. That’s what makes each post exciting, and explains how this cake came to be.

If you add soda to cake, it enhances the cake’s texture. Experimenting with flavor is one of my favorite ways to take a more basic idea and make it really stand out. In this case, Cherry 7UP® gets poured into cake batter. See?

And when all the cake batter gets mixed up (don’t forget that almond extract, it’s key), you get a distinctive holiday cake that will wow your guests. It doesn’t hurt to throw a little sprinkle flair on top of that thick glaze, either. Or to have your cake in a wreath-like shape to bring on happy associations and excitement.

This holiday season, make your gatherings a little brighter with a pound cake that’s sure to make some very hungry people come barreling to your house for dessert. Make time to eat cake! And if you’re not feeling creative right now, I’ve got you covered. Want more recipe inspiration with your favorite drinks? Find more ideas from these perfect holiday moments. We could all use a few of those!

For those of you scratching your heads right now, that means that the Jewish new year is upon us. It’s traditional to eat apples and honey and other sweet foods to bring on a sweet year. There’s only one problem with that.

Honey cakes are often dry and not worth eating. It’s a serious problem. So here I am, your holiday 411. This cake is definitely worth gobbling!

What I like about the Jewish new year is that it’s introspective. Instead of making resolutions that we can’t possibly keep, the holiday is focused on us reviewing the past year and atoning for the mistakes we’ve made. If we’re truly sorry, and if we really wish we’d done things differently, this is our chance to try again with a clear slate.

But I’m not talking about the things we do constantly and don’t change, like Netflix binge when we’re supposed to be working. It’s not that kind of atonement. It’s centered on how we treat other people, how we treat ourselves, and how we interact with the world around us in a meaningful way. I like to take time to think about that, so it’s a good thing we get two days in synagogue to hammer it all out.

Mistakes are par for the course, but it’s how we respond to them that really makes a difference. I wish I were less of a gossip, and it’s actually considered really wrong in Judaism to speak badly about other people. It’s also the hardest habit to break. After all, what could make us feel more confident than putting someone else down behind her back? Or being the first to deliver news that nobody knows yet? What a great way to feel important.

Over the years as I try to better my own personal habits, I find that the best way to become a better person is to look outward. Nope, not inward. Outward. Look around at all the people who need help, and do something about it. That help could be as simple as giving charity to a local food bank, or more complex, like volunteering precious hours of time to make someone else’s day a little better.

A few years ago,  I was discussing the concept of charitable giving with a bunch of teachers. One said, “I don’t need to give charity. That’s what I do every day for a living.” I didn’t say anything out loud, but it make me kind of angry. Sure, teachers are underpaid. And sure, teachers spend their days helping others. However, I get more from my job than it gives me. It’s great to go home at the end of the day not only with a paycheck, but also with the feeling that I’ve done something worthwhile with my day.

On Rosh Hashanah, then, I think about how to be a better person. And of course, I think about how to bake a better cake.

This year, I grated an apple into the cake batter. I was trying to see what it would accomplish. Would it add to the cake’s moisture? Change the texture? What would happen? Oh, the experimental life of a baking blogger.

I grated the apples in so finely that they’re invisible after baking. I could taste the apple in the final product, but not too much. The apple gave the honey cake a gentle edge that honey cake usually doesn’t have. And to add to the moisture content, the cake is topped off with a simple sugar glaze. I’ve never met a bundt cake that didn’t benefit from some glaze on top.

Is this the most moist honey cake ever? In the end, no. But it’s still really good. And next year, I’ll keep trying to make it better, just like I’ll keep trying to make myself better.

To my Jewish friends, shana tovah (happy new year). And to everyone else in the digital realm, I’ll catch up with you in a couple of days!

A year ago, I tried making the famous Sacher torte for my mother’s birthday. It’s a dense chocolate cake with apricot filling that hails from Vienna. I did tons of research and worked much harder than usual to get the cake just right.

Epic fail, everyone. The glaze was clumpy and the cake was just way too dry. It was so not worth all that time and effort. Luckily, time passed and I decided I wanted to try again, but this time I did it on my terms. That means the cake became a brownie and the glaze was a much simpler version of the process that did me in a year ago.

It’s cliché to say that time heals, but clichés are often quite true. I’ve had friendships end, important ones, without really understanding what happened. It’s hurtful, but stepping back and getting both time and perspective can really help.

One of my favorite short stories is by my favorite author, Edith Wharton. She wrote a story called “Roman Fever” that I’ve read more times than I can possibly say. It starts a little slow, but if you make it through to the end, I promise it will be rewarding. Anyway, it’s about two older women who have all these friendship issues even though they should be well past it. One of the best lines from the story is, “So these two ladies visualized each other, each through the wrong end of her little telescope.”

We’re always looking at other people that way, through the wrong end of whatever telescope we happen to be peering through. That’s how friendships end, why people hurt other people, and why it’s so hard for everyone to get along. Very few people can see inside the real version of ourselves to get who we really are. When we find those people, we should hold on to them, because they’re rare.

One of the people who gets me, and who always will, is my mother. We’re not alike in a lot of ways, but in the important ways, we are. On the surface, we look and behave differently, but we have the same fundamental views on the things that matter. So the least my mother deserves is a cake on her birthday.

My mom is a pianist (and a darn good one), so that’s why I piped some music flair on her cake. My children call her “Baba,” the Russian word for “grandmother,” so that’s the B you see. She likes Sacher torte, so I gave her my best version of it at this point. Maybe someday I’ll do it the traditional way, but this year, she got the brownie-fied version.

A year ago, I couldn’t have thought of even trying something close to this cake again, but hey, time helps. All we need is the space to think and read amazing short stories and everything is healed. So happy birthday to my mom, who is the best. I love her more than I love brownies!

Do you remember the red pistachios? Do they still exist?

I loved those things. They got red dye all over my hands, but I always thought they tasted better than the regular kind. My grandparents always kept them around for me. And then one day, they disappeared. I haven’t seen a red pistachio since.

Things have a habit of disappearing, unfortunately. There’s a great poem by Elizabeth Bishop called “One Art” where she talks about what she calls “the art of losing.” It’s a great poem, and my English teacher self highly recommends it to you. But I sometimes get creeped out by how much I’ve lost without even realizing it until after the fact.

It’s normal, of course. My childhood houses are gone, the cities I grew up in, all in the past. And while I’d like to think that they’re still out there somewhere, it’s hard to factor in the existence of a house I no longer live in, or a city I haven’t seen in years. But that’s life.

Luckily, pistachios still exist, even if they’re not red. And they come in great flavors. If you’ve never tried a salt and pepper pistachio, you are missing out. And if you’ve never had pistachio cake, that needs to end right now.

This cake recipe was handed to me years ago by a friend, and I just never tried it. To be honest, it didn’t look right at first. Pistachio pudding mix existed? And I could put it in cake?!

Oh, I was such an innocent. Cake mix rocks, pudding mix rocks, and when you put them together, they create even more delightful results. In this case, you get a perfectly dense, does-not-taste-like-a-mix, beautifully green cake.

Just in time for St. Patrick’s, might I add! That’s right. I’m getting into the holiday spirit here. And the glaze pushes this cake right over the top. I put some almond extract into the glaze (which I would inhale straight if I didn’t suspect it tastes icky by itself) and that really made that pistachio flavor pop.

The thing is, we never notice some of our favorite things until they’re gone. Or people, really. I miss a lot of people. I miss places I grew up. I miss red pistachios. And while I hope never to miss pudding mix, you never know. The time is now. Cherish what you have!

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!

Today’s cake is a major triumph. I baked this last week for a lunch party I had (yes, I’ve been known to host lunch parties) and nobody realized it was gluten-free. They were too busy eating seconds and thirds. Oh, wait. That was me.

Even more gratifying, Kenny polished off this cake. He typically forgets I’ve baked things (because, let’s face it, I’m always baking things) or assumes they’re gluten and therefore off-limits. But he remembered this cake. And he remembered he was allowed to eat it. So while there was some left over after my lunch shindig, it didn’t last long!

To make this even more satisfying, I added a fudgy chocolate glaze to the top, and the glaze was literally the icing on this fantastic cake. Fudgy glaze always takes chocolate cake from delicious to ohmygoodnessthisisincredible.

With no mixer and one bowl on tap here, you have no excuse not to make this! Just don’t expect it to last long, gluten-free or not. It’s irresistible!

When I finally did try a homemade pound cake, I was bowled over by the butter notes, so striking and so, well, buttery. Having not grown up with butter (a different story for another time), I took to pound cake like a new mom to caffeine. It was just so amazing, and I was a sucker for the duality of the tightly-packed crumb with the butter undertones.

My life got even better when I discovered almond pound cake, which is now a birthday staple in my house. You add some almond extract to the batter, and voila! Amazingness. It’s so rich and I could eat five slices in a row. I have, in fact, which is what got me into some major tummyache territory on my last birthday. Worth it!

Because it’s spring, this is a lemon pound cake with just a gentle drizzle of lemon glaze. It’s not overly tart or tangy, but exudes a much subtler lemon finish. It’s perfect to have with some iced tea while sitting on a porch, swinging back and forth in a warm breeze. Or, if you’re a real person like me, you can scarf it in a closet so the kids won’t see. Either way. Whatever works for you!

I used this awesome silicone cake mold, and the end result is beautiful, though your cake slices might look a little spiky when you cut it up. Just tell everyone it’s a themed Game of Thrones pound cake! Spikes! Yeah!

It doesn’t matter in the end. What does matter is how, toward the bottom, this cake’s texture changes ever so slightly. The top is nicely browned, the middle is dense, and the bottom has an almost syrupy finish. It’s what happens when the glaze goes to the already softer bottom and saturates the cake ever so slightly. It’s the best part of the slice.

The other important thing about this cake is the ease of baking it. Most pound cakes require a mixer to cream butter and sugar. Not this one! You can melt the butter in the microwave and mix everything in. So easy! If you’ve never made pound cake, let this be your first. It’s perfect and simple. I’ve said it before: we’re all busy. Why would I ask you to do something terribly hard?

You can also add some variations, depending on your tastes and baking prowess. Lemon zest, in either the cake or glaze (or both)? Go for it! Powdered sugar dusting instead of glaze? Why not?

Enjoy impressing people with this pound cake, so appropriate for the warm weather. It will give you a moment in the sun, I promise!

Cake:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk (I used two-percent)

Glaze:

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a loaf pan or a small bundt or tube pan with cooking spray.

Combine the melted butter and sugar, stirring until smooth. Add the eggs and lemon juice, and mix again. Add the dry ingredients and stir until incorporated. Finally, add the milk and mix until the batter is without lumps.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top is golden. The baking time will vary depending on your choice of pan. A loaf pan will need more baking time than a tube pan.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely.

While the cake cools, prepare the glaze. Mix the lemon juice into the powdered sugar until a glaze forms. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and allow to set.

Cut into slices and serve. Store covered at room temperature for up to one week!