This simple French classic has only 4 ingredients and comes together in about 20 minutes. Then just pop into the fridge, and it will be ready to impress at the end of your meal! Silky smooth and decadent, there is a good reason that chocolate mousse is a classic.
I have been in a French cooking frenzy lately, but I am still on the hunt for recipes that are simple and don't involve a lot of fuss. This is exactly the type of recipe that makes me happy: simple ingredients, not too long in the kitchen, and an impressive end result.

The trickiest thing about it is that you need to separate your eggs. Truthfully, it isn't difficult at all, but sometimes I look at a recipe and (lazy person that I am) I feel annoyed to see that as a step. This recipe is so simple that I can excuse a little egg separating. I like to do this step right away, so that my eggs are ready to go.

Chocolate Mousse

• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• whipped cream, optional

This is the classic banana bread recipe that I turn to again and again. In my world, chocolate chips are seen as a necessity in banana bread (and never ever nuts).

I have experimented with swapping out 1/2 cup of all purpose flour for an equal amount of whole wheat flour which worked well. I have also used canola oil instead of butter. It is hard to go wrong with this easy, straight forward recipe. I make it all in one big mixing bowl to minimize clean-up time.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf

• 2 to 3 ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips, to your taste

Equipment

• 4 x 8 in loaf pan (Here is a USA-made option.)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Butter a 4 x 8 in loaf pan.

2. In a large mixing bowl, use a fork to mash your bananas until they are almost smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

3. Add the baking soda and salt and mix until combined. Stir in the sugar, egg, and vanilla and mix until throughly combined. Stir in the flour. Finally, add your chocolate chips with a few final stirs.

4. Pour the batter into your buttered loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool before removing from pan.

Adapted from Simply Recipes

This easy to whip up red lentil soup is extra creamy thanks to the addition of a potato. Healthy, comforting, and made from simple pantry ingredients. It can be vegetarian/vegan if you use vegetarian stock.


It should be soup season, although the temperatures just haven't gotten there. But it is Election Day (stressful!) and I have a very sick daughter (sad), so I am in need of the comfort that soup provides.

I love red lentils. Slender little orange disks that puree so beautifully. I feel healthier just thinking about eating a bowl of lentil soup. Unfortunately, brown lentils are boring to me. I just can't get excited about them. If you feel similarly humdrum about brown lentils, give this red lentil soup a try. It is gently spiced with cumin (not enough to bother my spice-sensitive daughter) and reheats well, so make a batch and enjoy leftovers throughout the week.

This recipe uses one of my favorite kitchen tools, a stick blender or immersion blender. There's nothing I hate more than pouring hot soup into my food processor and then cleaning it all up afterwards. This makes pureeing soups a dream!

Red Lentil Soup

Serves 6-8

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 1 baking potato, peeled and diced
• 1 1/4 cup red lentils
• 1 1/2 quarts chicken broth or vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• salt and ground pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and carrot, and heat for 5 minutes or so until things start to soften. Add the potato, lentils, and broth, and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, cover and let it do its thing for about 40 minutes, until everything is tender and the lentils are mushy.

2. Remove from the heat and use a stick blender to puree the soup until smooth. (Alternately, you could puree in batches in a blender or food processor.) Return to low heat and add cumin, lemon juice, and salt and pepper. Serve.

Adapted from Food & Wine.

Fruity, bitter, and bubbly, the Americano is a refreshing summer cocktail that is closely related to the Negroni. Where the Negroni has gin, the Americano has club soda, so this drink has less alcohol (i.e., you can drink more of them!)
 I have already posted about my love of the Negroni, but when my Campari craving kicked in today (it does that), I wanted something a little lighter than my old standby. Oh, and it is the Fourth of July weekend, so... Americano! Because America! This is, of course, a very Italian drink, but one that alcohol-deprived American tourists loved to drink during the prohibition era. Whatever its pedigree, it is a classic cocktail with sophisticated flavor that is perfect for sipping on a summer afternoon.

 Americano Cocktail

Serves 1

• Ice
• 1 1/2 oz Campari
• 1 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
• club soda 
• lemon or orange peel (or slice), to garnish

Fill a Collins glass with ice. Add Campari and sweet vermouth. Top off with club soda and garnish with fruit slice or peel.

This easy-drinking cocktail is made by muddling juicy blackberries, mint, and lemon and then adding bourbon and a splash of simple syrup. Summer in a frosty lowball glass!


Here in Colorado we've been enjoying a rainy but very chilly spring. This means I'm bundled up indoors fantasizing about patio weather, picnics, and summery cocktails like this blackberry whiskey smash. I see lots of sun in the forecast, so I will soon be enjoying these al fresco (the best way to drink them). These are super easy to make, and so delicious. Even if whiskey makes you pause, the big fruity flavor of blackberry means that these aren't bourbon-forward in flavor.

Blackberry Whiskey Smash

Serves 1

• 1/4 of a large lemon (or 1/2 of a small one), sliced into a few pieces
• 1 mint sprig, plus another for garnish
• 4-5 blackberries
• 2 oz bourbon whiskey
• 1/2 oz simple syrup*

1. Place lemon, a mint sprig, and blackberries into a cocktail shaker. Muddle for a minute. The blackberries will release a lot of juice.
2. Add bourbon and simple syrup to the shaker and fill with ice. Shake enthusiastically for a minute. Strain into a lowball glass full of ice. (I suggest straining through a small mesh strainer like this one to get all those blackberry seeds out.) Garnish with mint sprig and enjoy!

* Simple syrup is equal parts granulated sugar and water - heat until the sugar dissolves and then cool. I like to make a batch with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water and keep it in a glass jar in the fridge. It will last 3-4 weeks.

These honey-kissed corn muffins are just the right amount of sweet while also being moist and delicious. They are also seriously fast to make with only about 5 minutes of prep time and 15 minutes in the oven.

This recipe is one that I turn to when I've had a black bean soup or a chili simmering in the slow cooker all day, but then I want to whip up a quick muffin to make it a really hearty meal. It is the perfect last minute muffin! Then we get to enjoy corn muffins toasted with butter for breakfast over the next few days.

I adapted the recipe from this very popular honey cornbread muffin that (in my mind) has a shocking amount of sugar, plus a little too much honey. I cut back both and found this to be my, ahem, sweet spot.

Sweet (But Not Too Sweet) Corn Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 3 tablespoons honey

1. First go ahead and melt your butter so that it has a little time to cool.
2. Preheat oven to 400 F.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. In another bowl (or do as I do and use a 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup - fewer dishes to wash!), whisk together milk, eggs, melted butter, and honey. With a wooden spoon, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients just until combined.
4. Place muffin liners into a muffin tin. Evenly divide the mixture between all 12 cups. Pop into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Don't be intimidated by madeleines. These French butter cakes come together really quickly and easily and they are so delicious. You can even prepare the batter the day before, and then pop them in the oven just before you want to eat them.
Little bite-sized cakes... could anything be cuter? They go perfectly with tea in the afternoon, but I will eat these any time of day. They are certainly at their best within an hour or so after baking, so either prepare, bake, and then eat them right away, or cover your batter tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to bake them (within the next 24 hours).

The only special equipment that you need is, of course, a madeleine pan, which gives the cakes their shell shape. I recommend this nonstick version which makes baking these a snap. This recipe was adapted from The Violet Bakery Cookbook by Claire Ptak. Claire weighs all of her ingredients which is the most precise way to bake, but not the way I normally do it. However, I recently acquired a little scale (small, stainless, and so easy to store) and used it for this recipe. I am also including Claire's cup measurements below.

Simplest Madeleines

Makes about 20

• 7 tablespoons (100 g) unsalted butter, melted, plus a little more for greasing the madeleine pan
• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 3/4 cup (100 g) all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting the madeleine pan
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• powdered sugar, for sprinkling

1. First, brush some melted butter onto your madeleine pan and dust with flour, shaking it about to cover evenly and letting the excess fall away. Pop the pan into your freezer.

2. Preheat your oven to 325 F.

3. Melt the rest of your butter in a small pan, and then remove it from the heat and let it cool slightly.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the (now cooled) melted butter and the extracts. In another bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Whisk this mixture into the egg and butter mixture until smooth.

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared madeleine pan. You only want to fill each mold about 2/3 full. The batter will expand and fill the mold, so better to do too little than too much and have it overflow. For me, it was less than a tablespoon per mold. You should have enough batter to make one full pan, and then about 8-10 more cakes.

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The tops should spring back to the touch and be golden around the edges. Let cool for a minute or two, and turn out onto a baking rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy as soon as possible for maximum deliciousness.

* Prepare in advance: You can make the batter up to a day in advance. Press plastic wrap tightly over the batter, and store in the fridge until ready to bake.