The Fountain of Youth… A Bit of History: While researching this post, I stumbled across a Chinese legend regarding goji berries that I absolutely loved. The story claims that one day a doctor visited a village, in which all of the residents had reached centenarian status in age. Upon questioning, the doctor unearthed that those…
“There & Back Again” for Hobbit Cake A Bit of History: I freely admit that I eat like a hobbit! While I don’t quite fit in all 7 daily hobbit meals, I do give it a solid go. The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings have consistently topped my favorite book list since childhood….
Spy Berries… A Bit of History: Who would suspect that the delicious, beautiful strawberries featured in my Easy Strawberry Fruit Bars are steeped in cloak and dagger intrigues? Nonetheless, modern day strawberries owe their existence to a French spy. King Louis XIV sent Amédée-François Frézier to Chile in 1712, posing as a tourist, to spy…
Sweet & Sour Fruit Slice Skewers A Bit of History Every year around Halloween, I ask my kids what type of candy they hope to collect during trick-or-treating. Interestingly, they always answer Sour Patch Kids. My children remained speechless, upon discovering that their favorite sour then sweet candies have been around for nearly 50 years!…
The Ultimate Finger Food… A Bit of History The date palm tree, Palma dactylifera, takes its name from the Greek word daktylos. Daktylos translates to finger and describes the shape of the cultivated date palm fruit. Historians postulate that date cultivation began in approximately 4000 BCE. Not to be outdone, scientists discovered date palm fossil…
All Quiet in Cologne… A Bit of History I always know the holidays are fast approaching when the supermarkets stack boxes of candy canes in the entryways and Starbucks whips out their red cups. It is a time when my family and I long for the combination of peppermint and chocolate. These No-Bake Peppermint Mocha…
“For Mom and Apple Pie” A Bit of History As a child I loved to create pies with my Grandma Joan, but quite frankly I don’t have the patience anymore for the nuances of dough. On the contrary, I enjoy experimenting with cookies and biscotti, especially this version of Apple Pie Biscotti with Ginger Orange…
No Chumping Around… Ahh ganache, a delectable symmetry of chocolate and cream and, just for good measure, some extra fat either as butter or oil to make it shiny. We all love chocolate ganache in my home and for every birthday my girls always want chocolate ganache incorporated into their cakes. I pondered: why is…
Life is Gourd… A Bit of History The phrase “Life is Good” might just sound like “Life is Gourd” with a mouthful of these delicious Pumpkin Nut Breakfast Cookies. I look forward to the influx of pumpkin and fall foods in the grocery stores and autumn vegetables and fruits in my CSA box. I have…
Watermelon Sugar…Tastes Like Summer A Bit of History: The Harry Styles song Watermelon Sugar has been stuck in my head for weeks now. When I think about the tastes of summer, I immediately conjure light and refreshing recipes. Last summer, I first tasted Crenshaw melons at Boone Hall farms down the road. They were hands…