Ok. Maybe Split Pea Soup isn’t just for spring, but I do associate it with it, especially because I make it using a leftover ham bone (did you save one from Easter? I did … and I have one in the freezer too). But really it’s perfect for any time of year, especially if you remember to save your ham bones for later.It’s not the prettiest thing to come out of the kitchen, but I love it anyway.

The first time I remember having Split Pea Soup was in the springtime with my grandparents. We ate it outside in the backyard from little paper bowls with plastic spoons. I remember sitting at the black metal table, my feet swinging from the chair and being surprised at how good the sweet, smoky soup was.

Whenever I taste it, I think of that day. Amazing how flavors can become so intertwined with memory, isn’t it?

My recipe for Split Pea Soup is simple and easy, just the way I like it. It only takes a few ingredients to combine and create just the right flavor. Making it does take a little while though — close to two hours, plus soaking time for the peas. But much of that time is hands off, so it’s not that bad. Nonetheless, this isn’t for a busy weeknight — save it for the weekend instead.

And speaking of the weekend, I hope you really enjoy yours.

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I am obsessed. Seriously obsessed with desserts in jars. They are just so cute. Oh, and functional too. I mean, you could totally screw a top on a batch of Dark Chocolate Cake in a Jar and take it camping. Or on a picnic. Or to the beach. See? Totally useful and good.

After my success with my recipe for Blueberry Teacake in a Jar, I knew I would be baking more in jars and that chocolate would come next. Do I even need to go into why? I mean, it’s chocolate. It makes people happy and tastes good and is a favorite of just about everyone in my family.

So, here it is in all its fabulousness. You need to make this. It’s easy (don’t let the length of the ingredients list deter you) — maybe 10 minutes to whip up and another 5 minutes to fill the jars. Then it just has to bake.

But that’s not why you should make this. Make it because it’s really, really good. Imagine a rich, moist, dark chocolate cake that’s springy. One that won’t make your teeth ache, but instead is pleasantly sweet. Just right. And so good that it doesn’t need any frosting.

This Dark Chocolate Cake in a Jar is all that. Sure, you could spoon a little frosting on it, if you wanted (a pecan coconut frosting might be good). Or you could dust it with powdered sugar. Heck, a little scoop of vanilla ice cream could be delicious too. But it doesn’t need any of that, because this chocolate cake stands well on its own.

Oh, and one more thing. It can be a little daunting to fill the jars. But I’ll let you in on my little trick to make it easy and mess free.

It’s simple. First, use a funnel to funnel the batter in. Second, take your time. When you rush it, the funnel will leave a few drips here and there. No big deal if there are drips (I had some!), but if you want it perfect, be deliberate about your jar-filling and they will be.

What’s your favorite cake flavor?

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When Will returned to school on Monday, he wasn’t as excited as usual. “I want it to be summer, Mommy,” he told me. After a week of spring break, the sun finally emerged on Sunday and we had an amazing day filled with egg hunts and family and good food. I totally understand what he’s talking about — and I want it to be summer too. But it’s not quite yet.

Spring has arrived here. It’s finally warm. At the first sign of the upturn in temperatures, I threw open the windows and didn’t look back. A cool breeze comes in nearly all day long … and I love it. It’s that divine intersection of warm air and brisk wind.

Spring, so late in its arrival this year, is glorious. The birds are chirping, the flowers blooming, the grass growing (ok, maybe the grass, which already needs to be cut, isn’t that glorious). I’m inspired again. Yesterday, I turned up the music and scrubbed the kitchen before testing four recipes. Then, I visited with my cousins for a little while before picking up the kids from school.

When evening arrived, the sun was still bright and strong so I prepared a picnic. Will and Paige spread out a big blanket in our backyard and we sat around, eating hard-boiled eggs, Lemony Pasta Salad, strawberries, homemade bread spread with butter and ice-cold Lemon-Limeade.

The Lemon-Limeade seemed like the perfect drink to accompany such a simple, spring-y meal outside. The flavor falls somewhere between a tangy lemonade and a mild limeade. Served with lots of ice, it’s so refreshing — the perfect sip at the end of a long and busy day.

And in case you are wondering, it’s pretty darn easy to make too. Score.

More Delicious Drinks:

• Pomegranate Lemonade
• Mango Iced Tea
• Smoothies

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For years I haven’t watched the news at night. While I think it’s important to be informed (and I am), it’s easy to become enraptured with the frightening amount of bad things that happen every day everywhere. I like to believe in the inherent goodness of people, but also realize that for whatever reason some people do very bad things. But it’s my choice not to focus on those things. So, I change the channel when the news comes on.

All of this is a wind up to explain why it was so unusual for me to watch the news last night. I’d heard a preview about rising food prices, and I had to tune in. I handle the budgeting for our family — for everything from food and utilities to vacations — so I really feel the impact when prices rise. I wanted to know what I am in for.

The news isn’t good. We all know that the price of gas and food has risen over the last year. Fuel, which has risen nearly 30 percent in the last year, is largely to blame … and the rising prices aren’t done climbing yet. Gas is expected to topple the $5 a gallon mark soon — something that was unthinkable a decade ago. With this, the cost of meat has and will continue to rise, as will pantry staples. How much? Beef alone is expected to rise by 7% this year. Good thing we don’t eat a lot of beef anymore, right? But the rise in prices is largely across the board, so not eating beef won’t let us escape the costs.

The cost of putting food on the table — any food at all — is rising. Whether you eat all organic or whole foods or cleanly or low-carb, it doesn’t matter. If you aren’t feeling the pinch yet, you will.  That is scary.

This all made me start thinking about ways to cut costs, naturally. There’s only so much my family — and especially me — can comfortably cut back. As a food writer who makes a living developing recipes, I have to buy certain ingredients no matter what the cost. But what I can do is cut back in other ways like cutting back on my coffee habit, getting less takeout and driving less. And I can plan our meals in advance, allowing me to save on gas for the many trips to the grocery store I make each week.

Really, no matter whether food is an intrinsic part of your work or just what you need to nourish your family, planning is absolutely key to frugal eating. This dish — Lemony Pasta Salad — is a perfect example of a well-planned meal. It’s a side dish with 12 portions, so you can make it for dinner one night and have plenty of leftovers for lunches and quick sides all week. Easy.
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My journey to being healthier this year has meant giving up certain things like most fast food (good riddance), soda (though I indulge once in a while) and cutting way down on my sweets-intake. But one thing that didn’t make the chopping block? Coffee.

I savor my morning coffee. It’s a daily ritual, often drank either in bed or standing at my kitchen island. And it kicks off the morning for me. Giving it up? Out of the question.

Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 today is all about what you can’t live without on your healthy journey. Coffee? That’s definitely my thing.

My favorite morning coffee is a caramel latte (or any variation of caramel, cream and coffee). It makes me happy. Look, I know they aren’t the best thing for me, but I love ‘em. Still, I can’t always run to my favorite coffee shop in the morning. Heck, the first six or eight weeks of this year made that near impossible with snow. So, one day I was dying for a latte and came up with a simple homemade version.

Oh, the deliciousness.

It’s super easy: hot, strong coffee, a little milk and sugar and top it off with whipped cream and caramel. It’s the perfect (easy, simple, no fuss required) homemade version for when you can’t get to the coffee shop.

What can’t you live without?

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When I arrived in New York last Sunday, after checking into the hotel, my first stop was meeting a good friend for lunch. We’ve been friends since college, when we were two skinny, food-loving girls. Of course, something delicious was in order.

Hallo Berlin Express

We headed to Hallo Berlin Express, a small German fast food joint on 9th Avenue, and feasted on wursts (German sausages).

Now, I am a total sucker for German food since it was a family favorite growing up. But, since I know what good German food tastes like, I am really super picky about it. That’s why we actually don’t eat a lot of German food at home — I don’t have a great source for wursts around here. The supermarket brands? They aren’t even in the same ballpark.

I really enjoyed my lunch at Hallo Berlin Express. The bratwurst and knockwurst were just as I expected them to be — snappy and tender, with just the right flavors. The sauerkraut was good, as was the red cabbage.

The real surprise was the mustard. Although I despise mustard, I forgot to ask the server to hold the mustard on my plate. Naturally, I was nervous to eat anything in the general vicinity of the mustard. But it didn’t bother me. Heck, it actually was kind of tasty. Of course, being a mustard-hater, I can’t attest to its authenticity or tastiness to someone who actually likes mustard. Read the rest of this entry…

When I came home New York (and meeting Bobby Flay!) on Monday, I was totally inspired … by sandwiches. I haven’t worked much with sandwiches recently, and I couldn’t wait to work on some new flavors.

This sandwich is all about New England. Lettuce from Boston, cheddar from Vermont, cranberries from Cape Cod … Oh, and turkey! First Thanksgiving and all (is that too much of a stretch?). And it’s served warm, panini-style, on marble rye bread. Delish.

The big flavor punch in this comes from a super simple condiment: Cranberry Orange Mayo, which is more spread and less mayonnaise. It’s a little sweet, a little tangy and has a great citrus punch.

The Cranberry Orange Mayo is as easy as it comes to make. You combine dried cranberries, orange zest and a few seasonings with mayo in a food processor. Pulse it a bit and then add a little bit of cranberry juice and pulse it again. Then it goes into the fridge for the flavors to meld and marinate. That’s it.

What do you like on your sandwich?

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At dinner the other night, I found myself talking about how I came to start developing recipes and writing about food. It seems like so long ago now, but I once was a in-the-thick-of-it news reporter, covering politics and crime. I was on a first name basis with court marshals because I saw them nearly every day, and I had local officials on speed dial. And back then, before I had children, I lived and breathed my work — and none of it phased me.

But then something happened. I became a mom. Suddenly, the subjects that I covered didn’t sit well with me anymore. Though I still loved my work, I couldn’t stomach the stories I worked on — ones where people were facing low-points in their lives. I’d changed, and my career had to change with me, so I didn’t return to the newspaper full time after that.

I don’t know what really led me to food writing, beyond a fleeting interest in it. Honestly, I thought I would leave the newspaper, parent full time and churn out a few novels. But after attending a writing conference, I decided to try food writing via a blog … if only for a little while to develop clips. It’s been nearly five and a half years.

It’s funny how that small change in my mindset led me to where I am now. I’m happy writing about food, happy trying new recipes — even when they don’t work out every time, happy being someone who can type up this blog post on a shrimp and pasta recipe and have someone be reading it moments later. Everything changed, and I am glad for it.

This delicious pasta was a Saturday afternoon creation. We’d shivered our way through a freezing, windy soccer practice and returned home to veg. All thoughts of errand running were discarded in favor of an afternoon movie, and some comfy blankets. So, lunch? It needed to be hot, fast and comforting. This Shrimp, Basil and Tomato Pasta with Manchego Cheese is all that.

I’ve used basil and garlic with shrimp in a pasta before (see: Creamy Gorgonzola and Shrimp Pasta) and tomatoes, basil and shrimp are a natural fit (see: Fresh Tomato Basil Pasta with Romano Roasted Shrimp). But changing up the ingredients just a bit can lead to a whole new shrimp pasta dish. This one is different from all previous dishes thanks to the addition of Manchego cheese, an aged Spanish cheese that  is buttery with a mild and pleasant flavor. It’s made from Sheep’s milk.

So, this pasta has a touch of creaminess with the familiar flavors of tomato, basil and garlic. And then there is the shrimp, which soaks up a bit of it all. Delish.

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Yesterday, I woke up in New York to a beautiful blue sky and a day filled with fabulous adventure … and sandwiches.

Do you like sandwiches? I do. But not plain, slapped together ones. They need to be built with precision and care. They need to be well-thought out and considered.

So, when the PR team for Hellman’s contacted me about being one of the Club Sandwich bloggers for their new Build the Perfect Sandwich program, I was happy to say yes. Hellman’s is the only mayo I buy, and it’s what I grew up on. That said, I am a little funny about mayonnaise. I don’t like it smeared on a sandwich. But if you mix it up with other ingredients to make an awesome spread, I am all about it.

Yesterday was the big ol’ kick off for Build a Better Sandwich in New York. The Club Sandwich bloggers spent two fabulous days in New York, eating well and picking up some great tips on sandwiches.

The ultimate highlight of the whole thing? Meeting and interviewing Bobby Flay. Oh, yes I did!

In person, Bobby Flay was a lot like the affable man you see on his many shows – funny, charming and filled with fabulous culinary knowledge.

He did a quick sandwich making demonstration, showing us three sandwiches — including a panini where he spread mayo on the outside of the bread (instead of oil or butter … super interesting). He also shared a tidbit on how to make your sandwiches look amazing when you cut them. Instead of just cutting diagonally, cut them diagonally on a bias (meaning at an angle), so that you can really see exactly what’s inside. Pretty cool idea, right? Read the rest of this entry…

If there is one thing I have learned since we started this Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 journey earlier this year, it’s that change is fluid. Sometimes it moves in one direction, and other times it moves in another. Right now, the fluid of my change is in need of shifting.

I’ve hit a rut where I haven’t lost weight in more than a month. What I am doing — fitting exercise into my day in nontraditional ways — might help me maintain a weight, but it’s not propelling me to lose. And I still need to lose.

Last night, after coming back to my New York hotel room, where I am away on business, I caught a glimpse of my profile in the full length bathroom mirror and was shocked. I don’t know if my mirror at home lies or what, but the sight I saw was larger than I expected. So, back to traditional exercise I go. It’s necessary, and it starts now. (No, really, I am heading to the hotel gym as soon as I hit publish.)

But before I go, today’s Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 topic is workout playlists. What music inspires you to work out harder or longer? What music can you lose yourself in?

Here are my top 10 favorite songs in my workout playlist right now:

1. Teenage Dream by Katy Perry
2. Dynamite by Taio Cruz
3. Born This Way by Lady Gaga
4. Semi-Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind
5. So What by Pink
6. Firework by Katy Perry
7. Empire State of Mind by Jay Z
8. Boom Boom Pow by Black Eyed Peas
9. Gives You Hell by All American Rejects
10. Single Ladies by Beyonce

What’s in your workout playlist?

Be sure to check out the other ELB bloggers for their workout playlist selections too.

• Cate O’Malley from Sweetnicks
• Joanne from Eats Well with Others
• Chris Arpante – Melecotte
• Jenna – Stop, Drop and Blog
• Casey – The Starnes Family
• Patsy – Family, Friends and Food
• Claire – Cooking is Medicine
• Jen – NJ Epicurean
• Rivki Locker – Healthy Eating for Ordinary People
• Jennifer Schulz – Lick-a-Plate
• Sarah Rogers – Sarah’s Sweet Creations
• Gwen – Simple Healthy Family