Mazao Fruit Salad with Cultured Whipped Cream

Mazao Fruit Salad with Cultured Whipped Cream

Happy Kwanzaa! Your table is set up with the a kinara. It’s surrounded by lush mazao, fruit symbolizing the reward of productive and collective labor from the harvest. The bananas, oranges, pineapples, mangoes, kiwi, grapes, papaya and other fruit ripens each day during the week of Kwanzaa. As pretty as the fruit looks, a fresh fruit salad needs to be made.  Read more

Parade.com: Earthy and Citrus Meyer Lemon Muffins

Meyer Lemon Muffins

One snowy and freezing day, in which outside temperatures hovered around 10° F, my apartment was filled with a clean lemony and early spring, floral smell of Meyer Lemon Muffins. These aren’t super sweet muffins mimicking cupcakes. They have an earthy flavor from wheat flour, flax seeds and chia seeds as the glaze sweetens the muffins with an extra lemony taste. As temperatures continue to rise and extremely fall (in some places below 0° F), the taste and smell of these Meyer Lemon Muffins reminds us of early spring gardens as we watch snowflakes dance outside our windows.  Read more

Parade.com: Clementine and Rosemary Quick Bread

Clementine and Rosemary Quick Bread

Thanks to Cuties, they delivered a crate of clementines to my office. Each one was easy to peel, had almost no seeds and they’re full of Vitamin C. After a few were shared with coworkers, the rest were taken home and pureed in a food processor to be stirred into a quick bread flavored with specks of fresh rosemary. A day after the bread was made, we toasted slices in the oven, peeled a Cutie Clementine and made a pot of green tea. It was healthy and juicy afternoon snack.  Read more