Recipe for Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake
Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake was a tradition in my family. We always made it for my father’s birthday. My father doesn’t care for crowds, and I never remember going out for his birthday celebrations. Once, we threw him a party when he turned 40. But otherwise, his birthdays were a stay at home affair.

My mother would also make this carrot cake. Which was odd given on everyone else’s birthdays, we ate a lot of store-bought cakes (especially ice cream cakes) or my maternal grandma, the family cake baker and decorator, would make them.

Food processors are genius when making this cake. I have memories of using a cheese grater to grate carrots. Now, I just throw all those carrots in my food processor, and wham, they’re shredded.

This cake stood the test of time with my taste buds. It’s delicious.

Carrot Cake
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Recipe for Flowers in the Attic Sweet Potatoes

Flowers in the Attic Sweet Potatoes
Flowers in the Attic Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is from my friend Sue who claims she was inspired by reading Flowers in the Attic. I suppose if you’re going to be inspired by anything in that book, the sweet potatoes are pretty safe. Though not all the food is.

These recipe’s pretty sweet. Definitely something to make as a treat or part of a larger dinner.

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Recipe for Crepes

Crepes
Crepes

Crepes are wonderful versatile. They work as a sweet treat or a savory dinner. The ones I made in this example were full of mushroom, spinach, and mozzarella cheese. They are delicious so get creative with the filling. Recently, I revisited the recipe and did a cauliflower, tomato, and pepper jack filling. You can always go for a breakfast filling with eggs or something sweet like jam or nutella.

Crepes are super easy to make. If you can cook pancakes, you can do this.

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Recipe for Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
Honey Whole Wheat Bread

I love baking bread. In the past year or so, it’s become one of my favorite things. It tastes so much better than what you can buy in the store, and it’s less expensive than really good bakery bread. This Honey Bran Whole Wheat is really yummy. Makes excellent sandwich bag.

If you need to save your extra loaves for later, these freeze really well. I wrap them in saran wrap and then foil before putting in a freezer bag.

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Cauliflower-Cheese Pie

Jason and I went on a little pie loving streak as we were watching Twin Peaks, and this Cauliflower-Cheese Pie was one of the many I made. This yummy pie isn’t the most healthy vegetable pie, but it is delicious and not too hard to make. Recipe is originally from the Moosewood Cookbook and calls for a grated potato crust, but I rebelled and just used my grandma’s flour pie crust.

Cauliflower-Cheese Pie

Cauliflower-Cheese Pie
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Spinach Quesadillas

I was asked by a reader to post some of my favorite quick recipes. The ones that I make when I don’t have the time, energy, or the willingness to really cook a meal. The times that I don’t make Jason cook, which always ends up with some variation of Kraft Mac’n’Cheese and hot dogs (vegetarian ones for me) on his George Foreman Grill.

My spinach quesadillas were an invention and necessity when I was in college. A combination of inspiration from my childhood — my mother was a big fan of the “cheese melts in the microwave” mantra — and crepes from a little restaurant that used to be in my hometown. In college, I distracted an entire senior creative writing class, who were extremely tired of school food, with their delicious aroma.

Spinach Quesadillas

Spinach Quesadillas
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