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A cookie, and a heck of a lot easier to make than a homemade pop-tart. Each issue of Everyday Food magazine ends with a cookie recipe. This month features the Mexican Hot-Chocolate Cookie. A simple chocolate batter that’s formed into balls then rolled in a bowl of sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of chili powder. As Greg put it, “the chili powder really rounds out the complex flavors.” Clearly, he’s watched a lot of Food Network with me over the last nine years.

So, I’m flipping through my new issue of Bon Appetit magazine this week and I come across a recipe that I had to make. Homemade “Pop-tarts”. I love a good pop-tart. A cherry iced pop-tart ranks right up there with a really  great steak, in my book. Ok, maybe not that high, but I do love them. Since starting the diet about a year ago, there have not been many occasions for pop-tart consumption. So I thought that if I was going to have one, a great homemade version was the way to go. What I really learned, was something that I always knew. I am, most certainly, not a pastry chef. I don’t have the patience to deal with making pastry dough and all the chilling and sticking to the board and rolling-pin that always happens. Not a fan. They did turn out quite delicious, even though I wasted a great of dough in the process. Let’s just say, I won’t be baking down this path again any day soon.

I found the healthiest and heartiest looking asparagus at the grocery yesterday. A sure sign that winter’s on its way out and spring is arriving.

The time change from this past weekend seems to be working in my favor. For the last couple of months, I’ve been abandoning Greg on the couch at about 9:30 each evening. Off to sleepy-land I’d go. Normally after falling asleep on the couch about a half hour earlier. The flip side of going to bed so early….the waking up at 5:00 in the morning. But now with the time change, I go to bed closer to 10:30 and have been sleeping well past 6:00 in the morning.

I made this white chicken chili on Sunday. It was amazing. Had it for lunch and dinner again today.

Working 11 days straight. 4 more to go. Greg is a saint.

Stopped at the Home Depot today.  I wanted to browse the summer bulb selection for my garden. Instead, I stumbled upon the most wonderful collection of succulents. Each in its own brightly hued ceramic pot. They were nicely priced and the perfect late winter/early spring pick-me-ups for the kitchen window.

It’s certainly no secret that I’ve been on a bit of a granola kick of late. A couple of weeks ago, the wonderful cooking blog Smitten Kitchen featured a chewy granola bar recipe. Yes, please. Yesterday after we got back from our day in Cleveland, I went right to work. The foundation of the recipe is very simple and adaptable. It’s the mix-ins where you get to have some fun. 10 – 15 ounces of your choice of nuts, dried fruit or other tasty treats. I went with some sweet and tender dried cranberries that I had picked up at Seven Grains Market, sunflower seeds, unsweetened coconut, sliced almonds, chopped pecans and mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Baked for over half an hour, then chilled; they were cut easily into delectable bars. These chewy granola bars are far superior to any of the prepackaged types you find at the grocery. Sweet, chewy and very filling. They are going to become one of my regular weekend treats to make. Just perfect with a tall glass of cold milk.

Greg and I picked up our friend Michele at the Cleveland airport this afternoon. She was returning to the cold tundra of Ohio after a cruise through the Caribbean. We left earlier this morning and headed to the Cleveland Botanical Garden to check out this year’s edition of Orchid Mania. I really believe that this collection of orchids was more impressive than last year’s. I think it’s impossible to take a bad photograph of an orchid. They are such show-stoppers. The exhibit runs through the last weekend of March. I’ve included a small sampling below. To view my entire collection, visit my flickr page here.