Okay. If you say so.

Must go buy Welch's Grape Juice. I swear, he's like my Oprah.

Cooking Light Recipe Exchange

I'm hosting my MOMS Club's monthly recipe exchange tomorrow morning. The theme I chose was 'cooking light' so we're all going to share some low-fat, low-calorie, but--hopefully--delicious and flavorful recipes. The timing is perfect because we're headed for that indulgent time period between Thanksgiving and New Year's when pretty much anything goes.

I just received this month's Cooking Light magazine on Friday and I think I found the perfect recipe to share tomorrow morning. Double-Chocolate Biscotti. I made it today and I've already had a sample. Talk about a chocolate fix! These will make you so happy. And with only 50 calories and 1 gram of fat per cookie, you won't even feel bad about it. Just don't eat the whole batch.

I cannot get over this magazine. There is nothing light-tasting about any of their recipes. Each one I try I love, and they go straight into my permanent recipe box. I may make all my Christmas cookies this year from Cooking Light. I mean, if they're better for you than most cookies and they taste just as good or better, why wouldn't you?

Spicy Cookies

Normally, I would say that something isn't really dessert unless there's chocolate in it, but in October, November, and Decemeber, I just love the flavors of the season. I love the taste of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves so I decided to try out these Spicy, Chewy Molasses Cookies from Baking Bites. I liked the sound of the spices but I wasn't sure about the black pepper and the cardamom. Plus, I had never baked with candied (crystalized) ginger before. I was pleasantly surprised. These are good cookies, but I'll add a little warning. They are spicier than the run-of-the-mill molasses cookie and not quite as sweet. That said, my kids are enjoying them tremendously; if my kids can handle the spice, you should be able to, too. I gave away these little lovlies to my book club friends last night and got rave reviews.

Hey!

Remember me? Nice to see you again. Just wanted to send a note letting you know I'll be baking tomorrow. Meet me here Friday night to see what I made.

It's Coming

Are you looking forward to holiday baking as much as I am? I've already started thinking about it. What will I make? How will I package it? Who will I give it to?

Last year, Brian took boxes of cookies, caramel corn and peppermint bark to all his buddies at work. We gave boxes to teachers, neighbors and friends, too, and I'm anxious to do it all again this holiday season.

I'm no Alexis Stewart (Martha's daughter) so if you want to be impressed, check out her blog. She just made some cinnamon rolls that look sinfully delicious. All through the year she's baking pies, cookies, bars, cakes, and even her own doughnuts, bagels, pop tarts and graham crackers! She gives it all away; she doesn't eat any of it. I don't know how, either. She just doesn't. And at Christmas time, her production line is overwhelming. I'd love to do what she does but darn those time and money constraints.

Happy Birthday, Erika!

After months of staring at the beautiful desserts featured on Smitten Kitchen, I finally found enough confidence to try one of her recipes. If you haven't already noticed, I'm easily intimidated. When I saw the Pink Lady Cake, I knew my friend Erika would love it. And not just because it's pink, even though she is such a girly girl. Erika's favorite cake is strawberry and she also likes cheesecake. And, the timing couldn't have been better; Smitten Kitchen posted this cake a few days before Erika's birthday.

I had to make her a two-layer cake instead of three because I have only two 9-inch cake pans. I put the leftover batter in an 8-inch cake pan for us to try. Hey, if I'm going to make something from Smitten Kitchen for the first time, I want to try it, too! Well, I don't know if I did something wrong or if the frozen strawberries weren't quite right, but the cake wasn't as moist as I would have liked. Also, the cream cheese frosting was decent, but not as good as Barefoot Contessa's. That is the best icing ever (but what would you expect with nearly 2 pounds of cream cheese and butter?).

Poor Erika. She said she loved it, but I'll have to make it up to her somehow. Feliz Cumpleanos, Erika! (That's happy birthday to my English-speaking friends.)

Thumbs Down on Bobby Flay

Everyone knows I love the Food Network, but there is one chef I could really do without. His name is Bobby Flay and I'm sure you've heard of him. He's everywhere now. He even sells blenders at Kohl's. Whatever. I'm sure he can cook; he is one of the Iron Chefs afterall. But why, oh why, is he so cocky and smug and arrogant? How do I know this? Because he has a show called Throwdown with Bobby Flay and here's the concept as taken from Food Network's website:

Chef Bobby Flay is on a secret mission: to challenge the absolute masters in
different kinds of cooking – award-winning BBQers, bakers, pizza makers and
more. In each episode, one of these cooks thinks Food Network is shooting their
profile for a show. What they don't know is that Bobby is going to drop in for a
surprise visit and challenge them to an unexpected cook-off. Since they're in
their element and Bobby's out of his, prepare for an exciting, tension-filled
competition.

Have you seen it? It's as bad as it sounds. He tricks these masters into believing they're being honored by Food Network (which I admit they kind of are, but it's so much more complicated than they think) and then he pops out of nowhere and challenges them to see if he can do what they do...only better. These are locally loved restauranteurs, chefs, and cooks who've been doing what they've been doing all their lives. Some use family recipes that have been passed down through generations. And as the size of the audiences at these throwdowns would indicate, they all have a loyal following among the locals. Imagine Bobby Flay challenging Alex Damianos at Jim's Drive-In in Pittsburgh or Chris Bianco at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix.

It could be all in fun, but sometimes Bobby Flay actually wins the challenges. In other words, there are times when he de-thrones the independent mom and pop business he is honoring on his show. He probably laughs the whole way home on his private jet back to New York while they're stunned, embarrassed and distraught. Who does he think he is?

But, oh how I love it when he loses.