A plate of warm pancakes, a mug of coffee and the New York Times is my favorite way to spend Sunday morning. Lately, I'd been avoiding the pancake part of the ritual because, frankly, I was bored with pancakes. So I began to tinker with a new recipe. This is the result.

The recipe combines whole grains, brown sugar and a pinch of ground cinnamon to create what might be my favorite pancake recipe to date. . . . keep reading

I'm always on the lookout for new gluten-free cereal. And while General Mills was a game-changer by offering Chex varieties gluten-free, there still isn't a ton of options in the gluten-free cereal aisle. But things are getting better!

While on a day trip to Massachusetts, I noticed a box of Nature's Path Organic Whole O's cereal. Packaged in a yellow box with a picture of a bowl of "o" cereal on the front, the box reminded me of Cheerios. Could it be? A gluten-free Cheerio cereal? A box quickly found its way into my cart.

The price for a box of gluten-free cereal wasn't too bad. I paid . . . keep reading

I've been a little quiet since 2010 began. So today I come bearing "World Peace Cookies." The original recipe for these cookies was created by Dorie Greenspan, food writer, cookbook author, and all-around baking goddess. For the start of a new year, I thought it would be fun to make them gluten-free.

Dorie created a chocolate sable (French buttery-sugar cookie) recipe that's salty. If you've ever enjoyed the amazing combination of salt and sweet (kettle corn, chocolate covered pretzels, fleur de sol caramels) you know how salt can wonderfully enhance the flavor of sweet foods. And if you've never had a "salty sweet", this is a great recipe to introduce you to the fun of this flavor combination!

To make this recipe gluten-free, I needed to tweak it just a bit. My version contains a little more salt than the original. Gluten-free baking often needs a flavor boost and I found that the original 1/2 teaspoon of salt simply faded into the background. This is not what we wanted. I also use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar. Again, this is a flavor issue. Light brown sugar, while good, didn't have enough "oomph" to make an impression on the cookies. Dark brown sugar, in contrast, was just perfect.

One last word about the salt. Dorie uses fleur de sol. And while I love this salt, I realize that you might not have it kicking around. Since gluten-free bakers don't need another expensive ingredient, I swapped out the fleur de sol for Kosher salt. Even with all of these tweaks, I think my gluten-free version stands up to the original.

So, World Peace cookies. Share these with someone you love. And, in the spirit of peace, maybe share them with someone you don't. Who knows what will happen after a bite of these cookies? . . . keep reading

For years, I have been meaning to make a caramel cake. Recently, while reading Maya Angelou's cookbook, "Hallelujah! The Welcome Table", I finally decided to head into the kitchen to bake one.

Ms. Angelou's book opens with a recipe for caramel cake. And while the recipe looked delicious, it wasn't exactly what I wanted. Her cake had a buttercream icing and I wanted a cake with a caramel sauce icing. I did notice that her recipe used caramel sauce in the cake batter. Now I liked the sound of that!

I dug out my recipe for caramel sauce and went to work. My caramel sauce is really rich and, for caramel sauce, fairly easy to make. Since the sauce needs to be made and cooled, I found it was easiest to make the sauce the night before you wanted to bake the cake. Hence the name, "Weekend Caramel Cake." You can make . . . keep reading

Welcome 2010! During 2009, I had the chance to sample some delicious gluten-free foods. The list below is my "top five" for 2009. Give these products a try in 2010. I think you will enjoy them. And, I want to hear what gluten-free foods you loved in 2009! Leave your favorites in the comment section. Without further ado, my top five gluten-free pre-made goodies of 2009 . . . keep reading

The addition of cream cheese in this spritz recipe makes for tasty little cookies! Since you don't need to chill the dough, this is a quick holiday cookie recipe to make. And, as always. I am completely smitten with how cute spritz cookies are! I like to sprinkle mine with coarse sugar. The added color and crunch add just a little something extra to the cookies and, for me, pretty cookies are fun for the holidays! . . . keep reading

Latkes fresh from the frying pan are one of my favorite holiday treats. I know that everyone thinks their latke recipe is "the best." I'm no exception! This is the recipe I make each year and, I am happy to report, it always wins rave reviews. . . . keep reading

I love baking gingerbread cookies during the holiday season. I think it counts as baking plus aromatherapy because baking gingerbread cookies smell so terrific as they bake. However, I don't always have time to make gingerbread dough, chill it, roll it out and bake it. So, I do the next best thing: I make gingersnaps.

Gingersnap dough can be made and baked in about 30 minutes. That is what I call a holiday treat! Delicious cookies in under an hour? Pass the milk. . . . keep reading

If you are looking for a buttery Christmas cookie that will melt in your mouth, look no further. This recipe makes tender Christmas cookies bursting with the flavor of butter and vanilla. I think a few of these cookies left out on Christmas Eve for the Big Guy will guarantee you a few nice surprises under the tree. . . . keep reading

Is it just me or is peppermint bark everywhere? I've seen it everywhere from the the cover of my latest Williams-Sonoma catalog to the shelves of TJ Maxx. Whenever I see peppermint bark, I always think the same thing, "They are charging how much for it? It is so easy and cheap to make!"

Peppermint bark can be in under ten minutes--and the hardest part is unwrapping the candy canes! I like to make my peppermint bark into drops. It is more fun to eat that way! Of course, make it in any shape you like. It all tastes the same--yummy!

Here is what you will need . . . keep reading