Mandarin Orange Salad! Figure Friendly Series 2014

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This is how it looks, frequently! My salad, my lap top and my water!!

I eat a salad almost every day. I grab a big bowl, then toss in whatever ingredients I have on hand. It might be chicken, left over steak, miscellaneous greens, green onions, beets, radishes, shredded cabbage, toasted nuts, cherry tomatoes, crumbled cheese, and so forth – whatever I have on hand. (But I hold the alfalfa sprouts; does anyone really like those?) I make a simple dressing in a measuring cup or salad dressing carafe and I am set. 

Pots de Creme!

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For special occasions it is fun to add a bit of spark! This rich chocolate single-serving gourmet dessert can easily be made ahead for parties, holiday entertaining or for you and your sweetie for Valentines.

Dungeness Crab Cocktail with mustard sauce!

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Perfect for your New Years Eve or New Years Day dinner!

My daughter hosted Christmas day dinner this year and asked me to make a few starters.  Thinking over the last few years of  Christmas dinner, and remembering being pretty full with appetizers by the time dinner was served....because they are just too yummy to pass up! I thought to make lighter choices. I ordered my Dungeness crab at Freshies, here on Mercer Island, Washington state. When Wee Bear went to pick up the crab, they shelled it right then and there!! So fresh, so sweet and delicious, nothing compares to fresh Dungeness crab! I served in a small glass shooter style vessel with a tiny seafood fork. Or, for a casual option, a large party or just to save on time cleaning up, plastic wine glasses, with the detachable bases works well too!

Christmas Wrap up!

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Ideas for your Christmas!

Brie filled Brioche! Perfect for the holidays!

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Brioche may be one of my very favorite breads. Whether I bake or eat it,  there is so much pleasure associated to a homemade brioche. Think about the immense happiness that arises from biting into the sweet, soft, airy bread which, after one roll, invites you to a second one. For me, however, it starts with the smell, the yeast which ferments and diffuses its wonderful aroma in the whole house. As a kid, whenever my Mom used to bake a bread or yeast pancakes, I would hang out in the house, never going too far! Then I would sneak in to smell it, every now and then, lifting the towel covering the dough discreetly so as to check the puffiness of the dough. It was pretty fascinating actually. 

Horseradish mashed potatoes!

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Just in time for Christmas, I am offering a recipe you will use again and again! I can't say I've turned my nose up at any mashed potatoes, but these mashed potatoes take it to a new level! This recipe for horse radish mashed potatoes will become a regular! Perfect to serve along side your Christmas Prime Rib, steaks, roast beef, or braised short ribs. The horseradish gives this mashed potato recipe a wonderfully spicy kick. Yummmmmmmy! 

Hangover Cures! Just in time!!

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 It’s no surprise that drinking takes a toll on your body.
Most of us have experienced this sluggish, head achy feeling or an intense bout of physical illness from a Holiday party, a night out on the town or a Spring break weekender- our bodies tell us when we’ve taken it one drink too far, and it’s a physical reaction to alcohol that we all call a hangover. Today I give you some natural cures!