Cranberry Pecan Muffins

Cranberry Pecan Muffins

While baking these beauties, I pondered where do you draw the line between a muffin and a cupcake?  While a muffin might be considered healthier than a cupcake, once you start adding ingredients such as chocolate and streusel-like toppings or glazes it starts to resemble a cupcake.  And, when you use cupcake liners for muffins…

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Soy and Ginger Shrimp Packets

This type of cooking is one of my favorites as the food cooks in its own juices.  Cooking in packets (en papillote) basically means steaming small portions of food in a wrapper in a hot oven.  You can use parchment paper or tin foil – I’ve used both.  Click here to see how to make…

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Pear Fritters with Lemon and Ginger

I have to admit that growing up I wasn’t too keen on pears.  But as an adult I have come to enjoy them in savory and sweet dishes.  Pears are not only juicy and sweet but are a good source of vitamin C and copper (helps protect the body from free radical damage).  They’re also…

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Ma Po Tofu

This is one of my favorite Chinese dishes which originates from the Chinese province of Sichuan. Sichuanese cuisine is well known for its spiciness due to its geographical proximity to Southeast Asia. Thai, Burmese and Indian cuisines are responsible for the hot and spicy cuisines of this region. Chili and pepper flavored food stimulates sweating…

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Sheila’s Ginger Snaps

Holiday baking in my family goes back a few generations. I come from a line of women who enjoyed cooking and the holidays were no exception…hours of food preparation went into each Christmas season. This recipe is one that my mother gave to her mother back in the 1960’s and now I have it. It…

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