Butternut Squash Pie with Nairn’s Oatcake Cracker Crust

Butternut Squash Pie with Nairn's Oatcake Cracker Crust
There are plenty of reasons to be thankful. For starters, I live in a non-flood zone in Brooklyn, and our lights only flickered three times during Hurricane Sandy. I woke up the next day with fresh running water and electricity. Other blocks, people lost their cars to fallen trees. In neighborhoods at least 20 minutes away, floods and 100 mph winds destroyed houses and businesses. Although, the hurricane was two weeks ago, the stories continue to increase about the elderly living in high-rise apartment buildings on floors 13, 15 or 18 without running water, heat or electricity. I overhead a conversation about a family’s agony of a finding new home—when everyone in the same, next or other community are looking for a new home to live, too. And, those same families who lost their homes are looking for new schools for their kids. Let’s not forget the holidays are upon us. So, here I am in one of the world’s richest cities, and families are still walking around with just the shirt on their back. Brooklyn is indeed a city of the have and the have nots…. Read more

Chili Spicy and Nutty Brownies

Chili Spicy and Nutty Brownies

Chocolate is what makes Valentine’s Day sweet and infinitely loved. When served with spices and nuts, it’s rich in antioxidants. Cinnamon and cardamom stimulate sexual desire. Chilies quicken the beating heart. The scent of vanilla increases sexual sensations. Nuts and seeds are rich in vitamin E, which is an important nutrient for maintaining the health of sexual organs. Read more

Orangesicle Ice Cream and Roast Bananas with Rum Caramel Sauce

Cara Cara Orangesicle Ice Cream and Roast Banana with Rum Caramel Sauce

Remember when your hearing was sharp as kid? The Ice Cream Truck’s jingle was heard 20 blocks away. We were efficient team multi-taskers, too. At that sound, everyone immediately stop playing to run inside their homes to beg the parents for a couple dollars and change. If Mom and Dad said a firm “no,” we proactively broke the piggy bank after climbing on a stool topped with books to get a few dollars and change (When Mom eventually found an empty piggy bank, it wasn’t a good day in our household… pink slips and red bottoms were delegated). Of course, we ran after that truck to loudly communicate for it to slow down. It wasn’t until the truck saw dollar bills in our hands; it would come to a complete stop. We requested our new client for chocolate dipped cones, fruit pops, cherry flavored candies and Orangesicle Ice Cream. Read more

Salted Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

Salted Peanut Butter Coffee Cake

In 1941, Time magazine referred to George Washington Carver as the “Black Leonardo,” for his studies and work on peanuts. An early thinker of sustainable agriculture, Carver knew farmers needed a crop to provide food for their families and as a source for other products to improve their quality of life. In developing peanut butter recipes, it is only fitting that a man who works as a scientist, botanist, educator, and inventor would enjoy an early morning slice of Salted Peanut Butter Coffee Cake with their coffee. Cheers to George Washington Carver Recognition Day on January 5. Read more

Chocolate Coffee Cake and Gojee.com

Chocolate Coffee Cake with Almonds and Raspberries

Besides, having a Taste of Chobani contest to help keep July cool (Have you entered? Contest ends July 12th), this is a hot month of announcements. The first announcement is MyLifeRunsOnFood.com is one of the many featured food bloggers of the recently launched Gojee.com (site no longer exist). It’s an innovative website linking a select group of food blogger recipes searchable by the ingredients. The photos are a major attraction and the navigation is visually drool-worthy. Time was loss glazing at photos of decadent chocolate desserts. At least that’s what happened to me… Read more