Happy New Year - Appetizers

Well, here I am eating my words (no pun intended). I said a few posts ago that I don't usually procrastinate and here I go doing just that. I wrote this article last Friday and am just now posting it. Hopefully, you will have time to go out and get the ingredients should you want to make this appetizer for a New Year's Eve party.

I've never been one that goes out to party on New Year's Eve and other than an occasional cocktail, I don't consider myself a drinker. However, I do enjoy making appetizers for dinners and parties.

There's one dish that I make where people always ask for the recipe. It's a simple Mexican Dip. So, if you are hosting or attending a New Year's Eve party, you might want to consider giving this dip a try.

Mexican Dip

2 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1 C. sour cream
2 T. milk
2 T. chili powder
1 t. garlic salt
shredded lettuce, green pepper, chopped tomatoes, chopped onion, shredded cheddar, colby, and mozerella cheesess.

Mix first 4 ingredients well. Add chili powder and garlic salt. Blend until mixed well. Spread on pizza pan. Layering on top of mixture with lettuce, green pepper, onion and tomatoes. Finally, top with the shredded cheese. Chill until ready to serve. Use Nacho Chips or Doritos to dip.

Leftovers

Christmas is over. Some of you may have already taken your tree down, some may still have it up for a while, but there's one thing that almost all of us have in common right now; leftover food. I know that I get really tired of turkey sandwiches or turkey salad.

For the last few years, I have tired to come up with something different to fix with all of that leftover turkey. After trying a few different things, I found what has turned out to be one of my favorite winter dishes, Turkey Pot Pie. It's something warm to satisfy us on a cold winter day and it's full of vegetables, which we all need after eating all that holiday cookies and candy. Most important, it uses up a lot of that leftover turkey.


Turkey Pot Pie

1 can Cream of Potato Soup
1 can Cream of Celery Soup
1 C. milk
1/4 t. pepper
1 15-16 oz. package frozen vegetables
2 C. cooked turkey, cubed
1 can refrigerated biscuits

Preheat over to 400 degrees F. In a 3 qt baking dish, combine soups, milk, and pepper. Stir well. Add vegetables and turkey. Bake for 15 minutes. While mixture is baking, cut each biscuit into quarters. Remove dish from oven and stir. Top with biscuit pieces and return it to oven for 15 minutes more, or until biscuits are golden brown. This serves about 5. You can also substitute chicken for the turkey.

Merry Christmas

Between baking, shopping, and holiday dinners, I will be very busy between now and Christmas, so I want to take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I'll be back after Christmas with some ideas on what to do with all the leftovers.

Running out of Time

I usually don't procrastinate with my baking for Christmas, but I have done that this year. I haven't baked anything yet and I'm running out of time. Normally, I have a full day of baking Christmas cookies with my daughter, but this year we just haven't had time.

With the prediction of snow for the weekend, I spent Friday searching the Internet for some new holiday cookie recipes. I found a few good ones, especially on the Betty Crocker site, my personal favorite, and also on Christmas-Cookies.com

We did get our snow and since the roads are slick, I believe we will be staying home and baking today. After looking at all the recipes, I think we'll stick with the cookies we usually make, Old Fashion Soft Sugar Cookies and Spritz's. Of course, there's always next weekend to make more.

Old Fashion Soft Sugar Cookies

6 C. flour
3 C. confectioner's sugar
1 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 C. margarine
2 C. sugar
2 eggs
3 t. vanilla
1 C. sour cream

Sift flour, confectioner's sugar, soda, and salt into a bowl; set aside. Mix together sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Add the sour cream, then gradually add the flour mixture until all is mixed well. It will make a very thick dough. Roll out onto a flour surface and cut with cookie cutters. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let cool and then spread on frosting and decorate.

Spritz's

2/3 C. sugar
1 C. butter
1 egg
1/2 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
2 1/4 C. flour

Preheat over to 400 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl combine sugar, butter, egg, salt, and vanilla. Beat for about 2-3 minutes until mixture is light and fluffy. Gradually add flour and mix for another 2 - 3 minutes or until well mixed. Place dough into a cookie press. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on cookie sheets and bake for 6 - 8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.

Happy baking,

Carol

Christmas Shopping

With only a few weekends left for Christmas shopping, every minute counts. If you're like me, you want to get to the sales as quickly as you can and spending time fixing breakfast in the morning can take up valuable shopping time. My solution for this is to fix breakfast the night before in your slow cooker. When you get up the next morning, the smell of a hot breakfast awaits you. What makes the morning even better if you have one of those coffee makers with a timer so hot coffee is ready at the same time.

One of the best things about cooking with slow cookers, also known as a Crock Pot, is that they retain the heat for quite awhile after being turned off. So, no matter when your family members get out of bed in the morning, a hot breakfast is waiting for them.

Below is one of my favorite slow cooker recipes for breakfast.


Sausage and Egg Casserole

1 dozen eggs
14 slices of bread
2 1/4 cups milk
2 1/2 cups grated cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese
1 lb. sausage, fried and drained
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper

Spray inside of crock with cooking spray. Layer the following inside the crock in order: bread, sausage, cheese, and ending with a cheese layer. Beat eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together and pour over the entire mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours.


Of course, if you would rather use your slow cooker for your dinner meal, all you need to do is chose your recipe, fill the crock, and turn it on before you leave for the mall. When you get home tired from a full day of shopping, dinner is ready.

For more of my Crock Pot recipes, you can purchase "Carol's Crock Pot Classics," an e-book with 19 of my best slow cooker recipes, at
http://www.geocities.com/prepublish/pages/cookbook.html

Foodie BlogRoll

I am pleased to announce that Carol's Food Bites is now a member of the Foodie BlogRoll. If you look at the right side of the page, you will find dozens and dozens of blogs related to food. I highly recommend checking some of them out for some great recipes.

Carol

Kitchen Gifts

Christmas will be here before we know it and it's always been a tradition for me to give gifts from my kitchen each year to family and friends. My favorite things to put together are jar mixes. The idea first came to me years ago when I saw a recipe for Brownies-in-a-jar in a magazine. After that, each year I came up with a new jar mix to give. In the past, I have given soup mixes, cookie mixes, trail mix, and my favorite, home made hot chocolate mix that I have to my co-workers a few years ago. I even get asked each Christmas for more of that one.

Presentation is important. I like putting together gifts baskets with the jar mix being the focal point of the basket. One year, I have a basket with M&M Cookie Mix in a jar, an oven mitt, and a box of herbal tea with a cup. I also always cut a circle from holiday fabric with pinking shears to put under the ring of the jar to make it a little more colorful.

Most mixes work best in a quart size canning jar, but depending on the mix, smaller jars might work better. For instance, this year I will be making a flavored coffee creamer for someone and I will put that in a small bottle that I found at the Dollar Tree store. I stored the hot chocolate mix in a small canister type jar I found at Big Lots. I made a card on the computer with mixing instructions and attached it to the jar with a pretty ribbon.

In addition to the coffee creamer, I am mixing up something new for Christmas this year. What is it? Well, that's going to have to wait because I don't want my family and friends reading about their gift on here ahead of time.

Below is the recipe for my hot chocolate mix that everyone loved. It makes a very large batch to divide into several jars. Attach a bag of mini marshmallows and it makes a great gift. Happy Holidays.

Hot Chocolate Mix

8-quart box of powdered milk
1 15 oz. can chocolate milk mix
1 6 oz. jar plain coffee creamer
2 cups powdered sugar
1 bag mini marshmallows

Mix the first four ingredients together in a large bowl and store in individual jars. Attach a small bag of mini marshmallows and a card with the following instructions: Add 4 1/2 tablespoons of mix to a mug of hot water and enjoy.

"A Kitchen Affair"

Below is an excerpt from the novel that I am working on. It's a contemporary romance about a culinary student who becomes a personal chef to a local millionaire. Well, you can imagine all the things that get "cooked up" in the kitchen. At the bottom, I have put my recipe for the cheesecake mention in the dialogue.

     Derek looked over the list of food ideas and immediately made a comment. "I don't need the pies. I bought them today, remember?"
     "Okay, I'll mark off the pies." Jenny wrote that down on a pad of paper.
     He continued to study the menu. She liked the way he concentrated on it, taking an interest in what would be served.
     "I like the rest of it. It's a traditional Thanksgiving dinner."
     "May I make one suggestion?" she asked.
     "Of course."
     "I think you need another dessert in addition to the pumpkin pies."
     "Why do you think that?"
     "It gives your guests an option, especially if they don't like pie."
     "And, I suppose you have something else in mind?" he asked.
     "I make a wonderful Toffee Cheesecake and have never had any complaints on it."
     She saw his eyes light up. "That does sound good. Okay, add that to the menu."
     "Great. Now, how many guests will be coming?"
     "It will be my executive staff and their wives or girlfriends. Nineteen will be coming?"
     "Nineteen? Is someone not bringing date?"
     After a brief hesitation, Derek answered her question. "That would be me."
     "Oh." She felt her face flush with embarrassment and changed the subject. "Did your cook purchase the turkeys before she left?"

Toffee Cheesecake

Crust
1 3/4 C. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 C. melted butter
1/4 C. sugar

Mix together and press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

Filling
3 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, soften to room temperature
1 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, soften to room temperature
1 1/4 C. sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla
6 eggs
3 Heath Candy Bars, chopped into small pieces

Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time. Mix well and pour over crust. Drop the candy bar pieces over the top of the mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes.

Hot Apple Cider

November is a very busy month for me. My day job is always non-stop during this month, there are a lot of holidays to deal with, and NaNoWriMo is this month. That's National Novel Writing Month and I always participate in order to kick off a new manuscipt. This year's NaNo novel will be related to food. I'm writing a romance story about a Personal Chef who meets the man of her dreams. Of course, the manuscript will be full of food and as soon as I can come up with the menus that my chef will be cooking up, I'll post some recipes and maybe even some excerpts.

For now, how about my favorite hot cider recipe? I will definitely be using this one in the book.

Hot Apple Cider

1/2 gallon apple cider
1 C. orange joice
1 C. cranberry juice
12 oz. apricot nectar
1 C. sugar
cinnamin sticks

Mix all ingredients together and pour into a crock pot. Heat to desired temperature and serve.

Fall means Persimmons

Fall has finally arrived, although with the warm outside temperatures around here, you can't tell it. One of my favorite seasons and with choices like cobblers, pies, and warm punches, fall is one of the best times to cook.

When my husband and I bought our home over twenty years ago, one of the things we liked were all the fruit trees in the big yard. We had apple, peach, and pear trees, a grape arbor, and wild blackberries. But, there was one tree that sold me on the house and that was the persimmon tree. It was the largest persimmon tree I had ever seen.

My memories of persimmon picking were the many times that my aunt would take my cousin and I with her to pick persimmons. None of the trees back then were as big as the one that stood in my future yard.

The apple, peach and pear tree are long gone, but the persimmon tree is still standing tall and full of fruit. Once they ripen and fall, I'll gather and run them trough the colander to get the pulp. I always freeze the pulp in 2 cup portions because that the amount used in my pudding recipe. One fall, I decided to freeze the pulp in zipper bags, which I found to be a big mistake. Once thawed, you can't get all the pulp out of the bag. Now, I freeze them in plastic freezer containers.

Persimmon pudding is nearly all I make from the pulp, but once or twice I like to try something different. By summer, if I still have pulp in the freezer, I like to make homemade persimmon ice cream.

Persimmon Pudding

2 C. persimmon pulp
2 C. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. cloves
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. salt
1 stick butter or margarine
1 C. milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 - 2 C. flour

Grease and flour 9x13 inch pan. Mix all ingredients well. Pour into the pan and bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees f.

Persimmon Ice Cream*

2 3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. persimmon pulp
2 T. flour
8 eggs, beaten
1/4 t. salt
1 pint heavy cream
Milk

Mix together sugar and pulp. Add the flour, eggs, salt, and cream. Pour into an ice cream freezer and fill the container with the milk until the mixture is about 3 inches from the top. Churn according to freezer directions. Serve immediately when done.

* Please take caution in making an ice cream recipe with raw eggs. According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, between 1996 and 2000 there were recorded illness in more than 500 people that were traced to salmonella bacteria in homemade ice cream. You may want to substitute a recipe that cooks the mixture, or use an egg substitute that has been pasteurized.

State Fair Offers Unique Treats

I live in Indiana and every August at the Indiana State Fair food vendors try to come up with a new deep fried item. Past delicacies have included fried Twinkies, Oreos, Snicker bars, and ice cream.

This year's debut treat was something near and dear to my heart; my favorite drink, Pepsi. That's right, this year at the Indiana State Fair they served Deep Fried Pepsi.

Now I know what you are thinking because I thought the same thing. How do you deep-fry a liquid? After a little research, I found out how they did it. Fried Pepsi is actually dough in which Pepsi replaces the water.

The vendor at the State Fair took his a step further by not only putting Pepsi in the dough, but also in the batter that the dough is dipped in before frying. The result is a ball resembling a doughnut hole sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. The taste has a definite undertone of Pepsi taste. Some consumers liked it; some did not. Variations of final product included choosing from confectioner's sugar, cinnamon and sugar, or adding whipped cream.

A new regulation this year at the Indiana State Fair banned the use of trans-fat cooking oil. Even with the non-trans-fat oil, this treat is not one that you would want to over indulge in. As a snack for someone's occasional sweet tooth, it's perfect.

I have yet to try Deep Fried Pepsi at home, but I have included a couple recipes for other State Fair treats that, while again, may not be healthy they are a favorite.

DEEP FRIED TWINKIES
6 Twinkies
4 cups vegetable oil
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
flour for dusting
wooden sticks

Chill or freeze Twinkies for several hours or overnight. Heat 4 cups of vegetable oil in a deep fryer to about 375 degrees. Mix together the milk, vinegar and oil. In another bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk together the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and continue mixing until smooth. Refrigerate batter while oil is heating.

Push a stick into the Twinkie length-wise, leaving about 2-inches to use as a handle. Dust with flour and dip into batter. Rotate Twinkie until batter covers entire cake. Place carefully in hot oil. The Twinkie will float, so hold in under the oil with a utensil to ensure even browning. It should turn golden in 3-4 minutes. Deep-fry only one Twinkie at a time.

Remove Twinkie to a paper towel and let drain. Remove stick and allow Twinkie to sit for about 5 minutes before serving. Don't try to eat the Twinkie with the stick inserted. It will not support the stick. Makes 6.

FRIED SNICKERS BARS

Full size Snickers Bar
Funnel Cake mix
vegetable oil
wooden sticks

Push the wooden sticks into the Snickers bar from the bottom about half way up and freeze until solid. Mix together the funnel cake mix for the batter and dip the frozen Snickers bars into the batter. Fry until golden brown. It should only take a few minutes. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Top the bars with powdered sugar.

Magic Food

I've never really liked magic. When a magician would be on television, I found that to be a good time to get a snack from the kitchen. I remember a series of shows that revealed the secrets of many magic tricks. I never watched them.

As much as I dislike magic, when it comes to food magic, I'm all for it. The recipes I've included are so cool. You mix the ingredients together and when the dish is done, you will be surprised at the outcome.

Pudding Puzzle Cakes

2 T. butter or margarine
1-oz. square unsweetened chocolate
1 C. all-purpose flour
3/4 C granulated sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/2 C. milk
1 t. vanilla
1/4 C light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 T. unsweetened cocoa

Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Spray six 6 ounce custard cups with cooking spray. In a small saucepan melt butter and chocolate, stirring often until blended and smooth. Remove heat and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 C. sugar, and baking powder. Add milk, vanilla, and chocolate mixture until blended well. Spoon the batter into the custard cups.

In a small bowl, stir brown sugar, the rest of the granulated sugar, cocoa powder, and 1/3 C. water. Mix well. Spoon about 1 1/2 T. of the mixture over the batter in each cup. Bake 20-25 minutes un tops spring back when lightly touched.

To serve, unmold pudding by inverting each cup onto individual dessert plates. Serve warm. Decorate with whipped cream and sliced strawberries, if desired.

Magic trick: While cakes bake, they separate into a chocolaty cake and fudge sauce.

Apple Pie Surprise

Filling:
2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 C. raisins
2 T. grated lemon peel
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. grated nutmeg
2 large eggs
1 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. baking mix
3/4 C. milk
2 T. butter or margarine, melted

Streusel Topping:
1 C. baking mix
1/2 C. chopped walnuts
1/3 C. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 C. butter or margarine, melted
1 pint vanilla ice cream, optional

Preheat oven to 250 F. Filling: in an 8-inch square baking dish combine apples, raisins, lemon peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside. Mix together eggs, granulated sugar, 1/2 C. baking mix, milk, and 2 T. melted butter. Pour batter over apples and set aside.

Topping: In a bowl, stir together 1 C. baking mix, walnuts, brown sugar, and 1/4 C. melted butter. Sprinkle evenly over apple mixture. Bake for about 55 minutes or until it's bubbly and golden brown. Serve warm, with a scoop of ice cream.

Magic Trick: A flaky crust forms while the pie bakes.

Fourth of July Celebrations

The Fourth of July was always a great time in my family. When I was young, every year we went to my aunt's home for a picnic. She lived in town and the parade went right by her house and with her big yard out front, we kids had plenty of room to run and play.

My aunt and uncle never had any children, so there weren't too many toys to play with, so we usually had to bring our own. Two things they did always have for us were a badminton set and lawn darts. My cousins and I loved lawn darts. Who knew back then how dangerous they were? We were lucky we didn't put an eye out.

Everyone usually arrived around noon to get things set up and wait for the parade, which never started on time. We knew when it was coming because the police car or fire truck that always lead the parade would blast its siren, then we could hear the band playing. We'd run to the end of the yard and get ready. Oh, but the best part was the candy. Almost every float would throw candy to those of us on the sidewalk. Of course, our parents panicked every time we ran out into the road to retrieve some.

After the parade, it was time to eat. Most of the people in town followed the parade to the fairgrounds where you could find just about any kind of carnival food you wanted. Instead of doing that, we all stayed at my aunt's and had a picnic.

That was 35 or 40 years ago and the small town no longer has a July 4th celebration. But, now that I have a family, we have our own celebration by inviting family and friends over and cooking out on the grill. My favorite is barbecue chicken and I have included my old family recipe for the sauce and also instructions for preparing corn on the cob for the grill.

Barbecue sauce

1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. catsup
1/2 C. lemon juice
1/4 C. Worcestershire sauce
Garlic power, to taste

Layer ingredients in a large measuring cup in the order above. Sprinkle garlic powder on top and mix well. About twenty minutes before chicken is done, apply sauce to each piece. This makes enough sauce for about two chickens.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

There are several ways to grill corn. Someone told me that they put husk and all on the grill andwhen it's done, they pulled the husk away and the silk is so crispy that it just crumbles. I have never tried that. I have heard of pulling the husks down and removing as much of the silk as possible and then putting the husks back up, soak them in water and place on the grill. I prefer to clean the corn of all silk and husks and rinse in cool water. Spread butter or margarine over the corn and sprinkle with salt. Roll each cob up in aluminum foil and place on the hot grill. Turn frequently and cook them for 15 minutes.

The Not-So-Perfect Cookie

Like so many other people, it seems like I'm always trying a new diet to lose weight. When the Low-Carb diets first became popular, I decided to give it a try. Being one who loves recipes, someone told me about a low-carb peanut butter cookie recipe. I immediately thought my diet problem was solved. I could eat the cookies to satisfy my sweet tooth and still lose weight. It might have worked, except for the fact that the cookies were terrible.

When I took them out of the oven, they looked and smelled great. But, when I removed them from the cookie sheet, they looked like they weren't going to stay together. I got them on the plate in one piece to cool, but later, when I tried to pick one up, it crumbled. So did the next one and the next one. I gave up trying to keep one together and tasted the crumbs. It was bad, so bad that I scraped the remaining cookies off the plate and into the trash can. That was a first for me.

So much for my perfect diet. I did lose weight on that diet, but it was without any desserts. I no longer have that low-carb recipe. I think it went into the trash with the cookie crumbs. Instead, I have included my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe; full of carbs.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1/2 C. shortening
1/2 C. peanut butter
1/2 C. granulated sugar
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 1/4 C. flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. baking powder
3/4 t. baking soda

Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugar well. Add egg and vanilla. Beat well. Add shifted dry ingredients and mix well. Chill dough well. Then, form into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Flatten with a fork, making a crisscross pattern. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

Our First Dinner Together

When my future husband, Steve and I decided to get married, he pointed something out to me, "I don't even know if you can cook."

He was right. I had never cooked for him. I was still in college and living at home with my mother. The need to cook for him had never come up. Steve and I always went out to dinner, usually for pizza and beer.

So, the challenge was on. My task was to prepare an dinner for him. On the other hand, I wasn't going to let this challenge be one-sided. He had to do something in return and my choice was that if he liked the meal, he had to do the dishes. He agreed, with an additional provision. He wanted a pecan pie for dessert.

While I didn't cook much, I did help my mother in the kitchen from time to time. One of the meals I liked to help prepare was baked chicken with mashed potatoes. It was easy and very little could go wrong. Unfortunately, I had never baked a pecan pie before, so I turned to mom for help. She had a wonderful recipe and I even took it a step further and planned on making the crust from scratch.

The following weekend was the test. I had everything finished when Steve arrived for dinner. He took a seat at the table and I brought the food over. It turned out beautifully and he enjoyed the meal. What he didn't enjoy was doing the dishes afterward, but that's a story. Below are the recipes that I used.

Baked Chicken

1 chicken, cut up
1 1/2 C cornflake crumbs
2 eggs
1/4 C milk

Preheat oven to 350º. Spray baking pan with cooking spray and set aside. Mix eggs and milk in a bowl. Put cornflake crumbs in a second dish. Dip chicken pieces in egg mixture and then roll in cornflake crumbs until evenly coated. Place on baking pan and bake for 1 hour.

Simple Mashed Potatoes

5 medium potatoes
1 stick butter or margarine
salt, to taste

Peel, wash, and dice potatoes. Boil in water until tender. Pour off water, and mash potatoes with butter or margarine until fluffy. To make potatoes smoother, add a little milk and stir well.

Pecan Pie

1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. butter or margarine
1 C. light corn syrup
1/2 t. salt
3 eggs
1 C. chopped pecans

Cream sugar and butter; add syrup and salt. Mix well. Beat in one egg at a time. Add pecans. Pour mixture into an unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350º for 1 hour, 10 minutes.

Pie Crust

1 1/2 C. sifted flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. shortening
4-5 T. ice cold water

Sift flour and salt together, then cut in shortening with a pastry cutter until pieces are the size of small peas. Add water one tablespoon at a time and combine with a fork. Once mixed, form the dough into a ball. Roll out on a floured surface to make crust. This makes one 9-inch pie crust.

Welcome

I love to eat and I love to write, so it only made sense to combine my two favorite things into a blog.

First, a little about me. I live in Indiana and am married with a daughter in college. In my day job, I am a manager for a computer company, but my dream career is writing. In addition to food articles, I'm hoping to publish romance novels and I have a little cookbook I am working on, too.

Like most of us, I need to lose weight. In my entries here, I will include some healthy dishes that could fit into most diets, but I won't forget the good foods either. I plan to also post recipes for high calorie desserts, high fat meals, and high carb dishes. Just remember to eat in moderation.

I'll try to post here at least weekly; maybe more, maybe less. Either way, I hope you like my articles and recipes.