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This is a quick post today since I am currently gearing up for a new television appearance (this morning!) in Connecticut. When I was in Cooperstown earlier this month my Dad and I revisited our favorite Lemon Pudding Cake. This time I made it with Meyer lemons and adored the result. The lemon flavor was light and a little more vanilla-y. I made the mistake of using a metal pan when I think a glass one would’ve been much better! The bottom was a tiny bit too solid, but the flavor was still great.

It is time to think spring. I am ready to put this winter and all of the snow days and icicles behind me. Luckily, a pretty little package of Ball Heritage Collection Spring Jars arrived recently and put me right in the mood. The cheery green color of this vintage-style jars are perfect for spring. If I hadn’t been the mood for more marmalade I might have used them as flower vases for our dining room table and pretended it was summer!

I had all sorts of posts planned to write over the weekend but my time vanished into thin air. Between snow days and…more snow days I am playing the role of the pied piper, entertaining the children all day long. Needless to say, during my down time I find myself dreaming of spring and have started to sketch out my garden plans on paper. In April Uncle Will is going to come visit and help me get started. We both inherited the gardening gene from our parents and love nothing more than to get our hands in the dirt to cultivate flowers and food.

I am all about a great chocolate dessert for Valentine’s Day, but I rarely have time to make something too involved. Instead I keep it simple and make brownie tarts. They are just brownies flavored with a little hazelnut extract and baked in round tart pans. But they are so pretty and decadent, they’ve been upgraded just enough to be perfect for a romantic holiday meal.

I’ve made many a soufflé from scratch but sometimes it is good to know how to hack them, too. This foolproof method of making souffles out of a boxed brownie mix always works like a charm. The soufflés come out airy, moist and rich and you don’t have to spend a lot of time making the batter from scratch. I prefer to top mine with a little caramel sauce and ice cream, but you could use whipped cream too.

Since we’ll be in Cooperstown on Friday we are celebrating Valentine’s Day a little early this year. Per our Valentine’s Day celebration tradition, this year I made a decadent dessert. It all started with my daughter’s new found love of coconut and my eternal love of chocolate. When you put the two together you get this sinfully rich chocolate coconut pie.

To create a little excitement while we slog through the winter doldrums I like to change up our dinner routine. Any break from the norm on evenings when the sun has set by four o’clock is a good way to lift the spirits and keep a smile on our faces. This winter I’ve tried everything from breakfast for dinner, testing new cuisines (more on that soon!), and revisiting our beloved sandwich maker. We received our panini press as a wedding gift nearly a decade ago and it has held up like a champ. I use it all the time to make our favorite pressed sandwiches, grilled cheeses, and even grilled vegetables. Last week I dug it out of the basement for the first time since we moved to make some dinner sandwiches on a particularly cold evening.

I thought I’d pop in with a few Valentine’s gift ideas this week and next. I don’t go crazy with Valentine’s Day like I do with Christmas, but I do enjoy the sentiment of a sweet romantic gesture and a small extra-thoughtful gift. One of my favorite Valentine’s gift ideas is simple: flowers and chocolate. Each year I challenge my husband to find me some unique chocolate treat. He does his research and has brought me little boxes from La Maison du Chocolat, Chocopologie, and See’s in the past. This year I plan to reciprocate with a little chocolate of my own.

Over the years I’ve made endless (endless!) lists about my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes. And, while I like making all of them, I am still searching for new ones. Last week I was inspired by an article on Food52 and wanted to recreate Phyllis’s recipe. However, I didn’t want to use walnuts since many of my daughter’s friends are allergic. I also had a different selection of chocolate on hand. And, I was jonesing to try my big new bottle of bourbon extract.

For Christmas I gave my husband a Moscow mule mug. I collect all things copper for my kitchen and couldn’t wait to add it to our collection. I also know how much he loves trying new cocktails, especially in the deep-dark days of winter. On Sunday night was started the second season of Breaking Bad (yes, we are behind, but it is so much easier to watch in one fell swoop) and mixed our first Moscow mule. I am not one for heavy cocktails on a regular basis but this is one we’ll definitely be breaking out again in the near future.

I am always a sucker for a good baking book and this week I am excited to share a great one: The Dollop Book of Frosting: Sweet and Savory Icings, Spreads, Meringues, and Ganaches for Dessert and Beyond. At first I thought this would be just be a ho-hum baking book but it really is so much more. Not only are the recipes for spreads and baking goods amazing, they are all different from ones I currently have in my cookbook collection. There really is something for everyone in here, especially if you are looking to add something new to your everyday sweets repertoire. Today I am featuring a fun little chat I had with the author, Heather Saffer and am giving away a copy. I am also featuring one of my favorite recipes from the book!

These days my cooking routine has to fit into two categories: cold-weather cooking and busy school night-friendly. The temperature continues to drop every night which means I want something hot and nourishing on the dinner table. However, my days are spent shuttling my daughter to and from school and running around the house after a little boy on a Y bike. (He loves that thing and can ride like the wind!) So, other than naptime, I don’t have a lot of time to cook. When I saw Aimee’s slow-cooker chicken recipe last month I knew it would be on my recipe list in short order. It is ideal for cold winter days filled with school runs and active toddlers.