Step Aside, Sister! An Easy Dessert Makes me the Hero

By Amy Jacbos

Growing up as one of three daughters of a home economics teacher, dinners were always organized and planned. Dessert was my elder sister’s specialty, mine the main course and the youngest, well, she made the Chex Mix.

I don’t do dessert. I’ll think nothing of burning through the daylight hours planning something for dinner but curse dessert if takes more than 15 minutes. So when a recipe this simple comes along with ingredients that don’t require leavening agents or a mixer, I see it as my opportunity to be the dessert hero, the superwoman of sweetness that has eluded me growing up.

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Childhood Ambition

By Andrew Hunter

When I was a child, I loved to scramble eggs. My family said my eggs were the best they ever had. When people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always a high-pitched, “Chef!” And while I rebelled against that certainty for a short stint in my 20’s, my destiny was set early in life.

So it was no surprise to anyone when my cousin Chipper and I, at the ripe old age of 10, decided to open a restaurant called “Andrewshka’s.” We would only serve potatoes… in all their glorious fried forms. I still remember standing together in the backyard by my dad’s grill shaking hands on our business venture.

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Slip Slidin’ Away

By Lori Powell

We know already that I love burgers. But even more than that, I love little burgers because they have so many benefits. They are tiny so you don’t overeat…well, as long as you limit the number. And they are quick to cook.

If you find yourself, as I did last night, with not an idea in your head as to what to cook for dinner, don’t overlook that last bit of ground beef /bison/chicken/ turkey in your fridge or freezer and remnants of Cheddar or other cheese of your choice. And who doesn’t have pickles in the house?

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Juicing In Memoriam

By Katie Barreira

Last month we said goodbye to fitness guru and juicing aficionado, Jack LaLanne, who died at age ninety-six. Upon learning the sad news, however indelicate the association may seem, my mind went directly to the juice extractor languishing in the recesses of my kitchen cabinet. Am I alone in this mildly displaced sense of guilt and remorse over my forlorn appliance?

I hope not. And, given his life’s mission, I imagine that Mr. LaLanne would be pleased as fruit punch to know that his passing sparked a juicing revival in the home of at least one errant juicer. So, juice ‘em if you’ve got ‘em, for Jack and for your health.

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Easy Appetizers for Brides and Valentines

By Sandy Hu

My friend Molly was married in Chicago a week ago Saturday, and by all accounts, she was an exquisitely beautiful, radiant bride who planned a flawless wedding. Molly and John were honeymooning in the Napa Valley so they stopped by to say hello on their way back to SFO, where they would catch a plane home the next day.

I wanted to create a festive get-together for the four of us, with sparkling wine and a few nibbles to celebrate. But since Friday was a work day, it had to be simple.

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