blackberry vanilla almond muffins, two ways

Yes, more muffins. You're not complaining, are you??? By the way, please forgive the lack of pics around here, and the less-than-superb quality on this one -- our camera went kaput, so all I have is an ipod.

Whether you make these whole wheat or gluten-free, they make you think you're indulging in a decadent treat, when really you're giving yourself a whole host of nutrition. As long as you don't eat five in one sitting.

shhhh! they're, ahem, whole wheat

Whole wheat, no butter, and tastes good... impossible, you say? Nay! As luck would have it, I discovered this gem of a recipe on my very first attempt at whole wheat banana muffins, and they're perfect! Perfectly perfect. I do have to confess that, in what was not my proudest culinary moment, I took these from being pure, whole food made from mostly organic ingredients, to having a container of vanilla pudding from my pantry. But I forgot we were out of milk, and I stumbled upon some random pudding we had leftover from something else. So I used the whole container (single serving size) and upped the oil to 6 tablespoons. 

crustless quiche

Sure, it still has flour. And oil (but it's olive oil - hardly counts, right?). And it has an almost shameful amount of cheese. But still, you can feel much better about yourself because there's no empty-calorie crust. And it's all about making yourself feel better, right? Right.

This quiche has so many variations, they're nearly endless. I've listed some below, but really, it's just a sampling of what you could do.

summer chicken, veggie and mango salad

OK, sometimes you take a gamble with dinner and lose. I once decided it was better to toss an entire corningware dish than to attempt to pry of the lid, burned on by starch. I was never able to open that dish to find out if the chicken finished cooking, but the pizza we finally at at 9pm was delicious.

Other times you take a gamble with dinner and score. This was one of those times. I made lemon cilantro dressing for my salad for lunch, but on the salad it was only so-so. For dinner, I had leftover skewers that my family loved, but not as many as we would need. I did have some potatoes for filler, but re-heated chicken and potatoes just didn't sound good. And so this salad was born, with the dressing to coat it. Even picky Lizzie ate it.

Oh, and I'm working on a lettuce-based salad that would be perfect with the lemon cilantro dressing - new salad recipe coming soon!

baked french toast - mother's day brunch finale

The piece de resistance for any brunch, but especially for a brunch that maman doesn't have to make herself.

When I was a kid, about 12 years old, we visited my mom's high school best friend (the same friend whose mom made this taco casserole). She baked the tastiest breakfast dish I'd ever had. I asked my mom if we could have the recipe and make it at home, and she flatly said something to the effect of, "I can't stand my eggs any way other than scrambled really well, and because this french toast has eggs in it, they might not get done all the way and might not be completely dry, and there might be a teeny, tiny drop of not-quite-done egg, and that would scare me and gross me out. So, no, you may not make this at home." Ok, she was nicer than that. But not by much.

However, somehow that recipe ended up in my mom's recipe box and I rediscovered the bliss of nutrient-bare french bread laden with eggs & milk, and gooey with caramelized sugar, butter & corn starch. And my holiday mornings became much better because of it.

*This must be MADE IN ADVANCE - prepare it the night before

mother's day brunch - grilled salmon

To round out the brunch, I'm all about some seafood of some sort. And since crab is a bit out of reach for our humble budget, we more often opt for salmon (also out of our humble budget, but not by as much).

This recipe already made an appearance here, but it's truly worth showing you again. The glaze will be a perfect sweet-savory to compliment the savory eggs and the over-the-top sweetness of tomorrow's centerpiece for the meal.

Here it is again: grilled salmon recipe

breakfast souffles - mother's day part two

Ummm, hello? Did you just read the word souffle? Mom will keel over. In fact, I might keel over just thinking about these things. I stole the recipe from this website, but made a couple additions: bacon (everything's better with bacon) and asparagus. Also, the cheese would be fantastic traded out for sharp white cheddar, smoked gouda, or gruyere. (and sorry I didn't have my own pic to post - I stole the pic, too).

And THIS SOUFFLE IS DONE AHEAD! Who ever heard of such the animal? So Mom can have a gourmet souffle, and you don't have to stress about it the day-of. That's my kinda breakfast gourmet.

Didn't catch part one of the Mother's Day feast? It's right here.

kiwi blackberry salad

This is week is all about mothers because, well, I am one and I know what I like: delicious, brunch-type food. Isn't that what every mom likes? Moms of the world, send this post to your husband's/best friend's/partner's email. And for insurance purposes, send a couple of reminders, and then send another reminder tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, for there's more to come.

***take note: some of the dishes on the menu this week will require advance preparation (make sure your special someone has the necessary time and ingredients by Saturday)

Part One is about setting the stage. We'll get to the highlight of the show later on, but for now, let's talk fruit. Could you simply cut up some kiwi and toss in some blackberries and call it a kiwi blackberry salad? Sure. But then you'd be missing the subtle bite of the balsamic and the freshness of the mint, and that would be a shame indeed. You want mom to say "ooooh la la!" - branch out with the fruit today and make it look pretty. It's Mother's Day, after all.


This salad is perfect for any sort of brunch or special lunch, but it also makes a fantastic dessert, even for a must-be-made-of-sugar kinda dessert girl like me. And the fact that you managed to combine a non-run-of-the-mill kiwi with (gasp!) balsamic vinegar will impress mom. Unless of course she loathes kiwi. In which case, substitute raspberries for the kiwi and make a balsamic berry salad. Mmmmm!

vanilla mousse

What's fancier than peaches 'n cream that will have your guests dying to know what you're serving?

What will turn a perfect glass of iced coffee into a delectable afternoon treat?

This is a cheater recipe if I've ever seen one. But your guests will never know. I'm almost embarrassed to share it, until I taste it and I'm struck by the fact that everyone in the world should know about this stuff. Nevermind that my hips would be better off if I could only forget about it.

blueberry banana muffins

It took a couple times to get this just right, but here's the final version that we all fell in love with. I tried to keep the sugar as low as possible, and use oats to a reasonable extent. If you watch your time, these muffins turn out fluffy and tender, despite the density of the whole wheat & oats. If you're like me and you're missing a kitchen timer, and you can't remember to look at the clock to save your life, well, they're still really good, just not quite as tender.

chocolate turtle bonbons

Yes, you can make bonbons. And yes, they're easy to make. And delicious. And I've been asked to make them again very soon.

I adapted this recipe from the JELL-O website because my people can't have pb or pretzels. What follows is my own version (including the fact that I used a regular muffin pan instead of mini), but I wanted to link you to the chocolate pb version because someone out there in the world should be making them, even if I can't. Oh, and I personally would have used pecans because they're my 2nd fav, but my people can't eat those either. What's a girl to do?!

grilled salmon

Dubbed "Patrick's Salmon" by my mother, who always had my brother make the sauce & then grill the salmon, this came from Sunset Magazine in June 1994, before Al Gore invented the internet (kidding!), so I can't link it. But there's my credit where credit is due, and I believe it comes from some restaurant named Pietro's. We love salmon, and probably couldn't eat it this way every single time we eat it, but almost. It's just so dang yummy. And easy. And it has brown sugar, so really, how can you go wrong? That's what I thought. Enjoy!

butternut squash meets eggplant

My generous in-laws texted me on their way out of town and asked if they could drop off some produce. With the budget a bit extra-tight these days, I was delighted to accept. She dropped off about 20 different kinds of things, including 2 butternut squash and a whole eggplant. I "googled" butternut squash + eggplant, and hit on this hit of a recipe (recipe & picture both from Reader's Digest). The 2 year old wasn't much for it, but she thinks the only foods necessary for life are yogurt & PB, so that doesn't mean it's not a good kid dish. The 5 year old liked it, and the 1 year old couldn't get enough. Mr. Improv & I both had the leftovers for lunch the next day and they were even better.

out of this world potatoes #4 - irish potato casserole

oh. my goodness. gracious. How can this be anything but splendid? I'm all for corned beef & cabbage, but the traditional boiled version is just getting too dull to me. I'm over it. Or perhaps my mom's just much better at making it than I am. Either way, I'm finally excited for the upcoming fare, because these potatoes will MAKE the dish! I just know it. Happy St. Patty's Day!

sausage breakfast casserole

The inspiration for this dish? Pride. Really. It was my week to bring breakfast to our group at church. I didn't want to bring donuts, and had no idea what to bring. So, this was created, and it got rave reviews. I'll even post another one in the future that was waaaay-winging it one morning when my cupboards were bare.

One thing we learned the hard way around here is that the sausage really does make the dish - don't skimp! Just put the extra $3-4 towards your tastebuds - they'll thank you.

french toast

How do you take plain ol' French Toast & make it exciting? Well, I'm glad you asked. I'll tell ya how - you add cream or half-n-half. And plenty of butter. Mmmmmm. Delectable. If you're attempting to have multiple people eat breakfast at the same time, turn the oven on to warm (around 140) and place the cooked pieces on the center rack until you're ready to serve them all.

spring risotto-stuffed artichokes with shrimp

Risotto is one of my great loves. Artichokes are another. If I could marry them, I just might. And they're good anytime of the year, but there's something about spring that makes them taste even yummier (perhaps because they're in season?). Anyway, this is my fav spring risotto, taking advantage of some of the great things about spring, stuffed inside whole artichokes, another great thing about spring. Brace yourself: fall comfort foods will hold nothin' on this.

Not up for stuffing anything? Just buy a jar of artichoke hearts instead of whole artichokes. Add them with the other veggies to the risotto after adding broth - they'll cook up while the water is being added. Cook the shrimp as below, and add it to the risotto at the end of cooking, or serve it up on top.

Oh, and I make risotto dairy-free, just because risotto turns out so stinkin creamy & delicious without the cream so it's a place where I can keep our food nice 'n healthy. That said, cream is one of my other great loves, and so please, always feel free to add a good amount of cream to pretty much anything on this blog. Especially risotto. Just substitute about a 1/2 cup of real cream for the water, near the end of cooking.

my favorite fall salad

I admit that I grew up not liking salads. I'm still not crazy about iceburg lettuce with carrots and tomatoes, but I've learned that salads can be very different from what we had in my youth. This is one I regularly make for lunch because it's so dang fun that I forget I'm eating well. And yes, I know it's currently winter and feels a bit like summer. But whatever, this is my fav fall salad.

chicken salad sandwiches

There are almost as many ways to make chicken salad as there are people in California. This one combines savory herbs with apples, cranberries, and nuts for a perfect luncheon taste.