Banana Sesame Streusel Muffins

I still can’t believe I got to intern at America’s Test Kitchen. This was a dream opportunity to experience what it’s like to work in the most renowned professional test kitchen on the planet. While most of the ATK internship involves assisting test cooks and supporting the kitchen operations team (lots of mise en place,…

Chamomile Grits with Blueberry Compote

I confess, I did some panic grocery buying when this pandemic first started. When the grocery isles were low on rice, beans, and pasta, I randomly stocked up on bags of grits hoping to stretch them out into many meals. Being full-time nomads with no home, Dan and I were camping in Arizona when things…

Cacao Coconut Overnight Oats

I was introduced to cacao tea several years back at the World Tea Expo, an annual trade show where tea companies unveil their latest offerings and tea geeks like me get drunk on tea. At the time, the chocolate company debuting cacao as tea explained that the locals on their South American cacao farm would…

Almond Pu-erh Protein Shake

I’m always surprised by the kitchen sophistication of my 14-year-old niece. When we hang out, she often brings a long list of homemade cooking projects she wants to accomplish. Our latest hang-out session included crepes, walnut bread, cardamom buns, granola, seed crackers, and four-bean chili. All of which we tackled over two days. This simple…

Gluten-Free Matcha Pop Tarts

Is there anything better than a homemade pop tart? Especially a gluten-free one that tastes like the real deal. Your G-F buds’ eyes will pop out of their heads when you serve these. The G-F naysayers won’t even be able to tell they are gluten-free. A healthy dose of bright green matcha tea powder in…

Whole Wheat Matcha Almond Waffles

I recently borrowed a friend’s waffle maker, which was a huge mistake because now I want one! Needless to say, I’ve been on a waffle kick. One night we even tried masa harina corn waffles as the base for our taco-like dinner, instead of tortillas. But nothing beats a classic breakfast waffle. Except maybe this…

Chai Latte Oatmeal Mix

Winter, winter, go away. Come again another day. As I spend another dreary day cooped up inside watching the snowfall, it feels more like winter than spring. Being cooped up has its advantages though. In this instance, I’ve got time on my hands to work on some crafty food projects and play around with my…

Cherry “Clafou-tea”

If there’s one thing I can count on being in my fridge all summer long, it’s a big bag of cherries. As soon as they become available at our local supermarket, we snatch them up weekly. Even better when the local Colorado cherries arrive at the farmers market a block from our house. As cherry…

Chamomile Breakfast Quinoa

[Post updated September 2020] I was recently asked to describe my approach to cooking and eating. I described it as, “healthy with a dash of decadence.” While this recipe post leans way to the healthy side, I have no problem whipping up a creamy, decadent dessert or a fatty, buttery slow-roasted cut of meat. All…

Forever Nuts About Banana Muffins

Like last week’s baked oatmeal, this is another great grab-n-go breakfast snack. This time with DAVIDsTEA’s Forever Nuts herbal tea blend stirred right into the muffin batter. This is a delicious blend is made entirely of dried apples, dried beetroot vegetables, almond pieces and cinnamon bark. You could literally just eat a bite of this…

Java Tea Baked Oatmeal

As much as I love food, I’ve never been a breakfast person. My ideal breakfast is more like brunch, really—something around 10 a.m. that involves poached eggs, hearty greens, crispy hash browns, some part of a pig and a hunk of well-buttered toast. Eating something early on a weekday morning between showering and leaving for…

Lavender-Lemon Buttermilk Scones

I was searching for the perfect scone to be the tasting vessel for a tea-infused lemon marmalade that my new friend and fabulous jam maker, Kathy, made using one of my Zanitea organic tea blends. Luckily, I came across this gem of a recipe. Kathy is founder of Modern Gingham Preserves, a local company using…

Chai-Spiced Almond Muffins

These chewy chai-spiced muffins are from my favorite breakfast and brunch cookbook, Mollie Katzen’s Sunlight Café. I’ve made almost half the recipes in this cookbook over the many years I’ve owned it and they’ve all turned out wonderful. I tweaked the original recipe just a smidge: I upped the almond factor and I used grapefruit…

Earl Grey Tea Toast

One morning, while sipping on an exquisite Earl Grey tea and staring at what was left of a large lovely loaf of French bread from our pasta dinner the night before, I had a sudden craving to toast up that bread, cover it with something sweet and nibble on it alongside my tea. That’s how…

Chocolate Granola Tea Cookies

Remember the Goji Berry Granola I made last week? This week I turned what remained of the tasty granola into chocolate granola cookies to nibble alongside my morning or afternoon tea. These cookies are super easy to make and only require a few ingredients, including a new-to-me delicious discovery: chocolate nut butter. I used Justin’s…