Banana Bread with Dark Chocolate Chunks:

Have you ever noticed how there always manages to be a perfectly-bad banana in every bunch? The banana that accumulates one-too-many speckles. The one that gives, ever so slightly, when touched. The one that releases a potent punch of banana fragrance as it sits, helplessly forgotten, on the kitchen counter. No matter how many bananas you manage to eat within the week, there always seems to be one that reaches the perfectly-bad banana stage. While others may feel fine tossing it into the compost bin, I just can't seem to bring myself to simply get rid of it. Instead I toss them, one by one, into a zip lock bag in the freezer with hopes that one day soon, that perfectly bad banana will find its way into a perfectly delicious banana bread.

Cookbook: Fleur's Place of New Zealand

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When is the last time you had a perfect meal? Where every aspect, from the moment you step foot inside, until you roll yourself back home, is absolute perfection? I've been lucky enough to have a few of these meals, but on this sunny Chicago afternoon, I'm reminded of one in particular. While my honey and I were traveling New Zealand last year, it was recommended that we try Fleur's Place, a waterfront, seafood restaurant set in Moeraki Bay. While I wish I could have come up with the following few sentences to describe just how quaint this restaurant is, restauranteur Rick Stein beat me to it:

Twice-Baked Shortbread Cookies:

Well, I'm happy to announce that after years of purchasing copious amounts of Walker Shortbread Cookies, I've finally settled on a shortbread recipe that I absolutely love! (My bank account will be thrilled, the accountants at Walker's however, will probably be less than satisfied.) My future mother in law recently sent me a cookbook titled Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy: Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich. The cookbook itself is a wonderful addition to my collection, it's page after page (384 to be exact) of delicious baked goods and wonderful tips and secrets. I've been working with Mrs. Medrich's Twice-Baked Shortbread recipe and have come up with two classic variations to pair with any strong, black, afternoon tea.

Strawberry Picking Season:

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Progression of the harvest.

Strawberry season is upon us, depending on your location within the US, of course. Strawberries are in full-swing in the deep South and West coast, starting to decline a bit in the South East and are just starting to ripen after a long, cold winter in the North East. For those of us in the Mid and North West however, we will just have to wait patiently a few more weeks for our berry bushes to thrive. I am the type of person who thinks there is nothing better than harvesting your own food: gathered from the garden, pulled from the ground or plucked from the sun kissed branches of a tree. Which is why, when berry season rolls around, I'm one of the first people searching for the nearest "pick-your-own" farm!