Our family is trying to embrace the concept of Meatless Mondays. Alas, most weeks it becomes Meatless Tuesday, or Wednesday or Thursday, but at least we are trying to trim the amount of meat in our diets.

It seems the only success I have selling this concept to my family is to serve pasta on the meatless day. We come from a long line of pasta lovers, so it is easier to serve pasta and then, for the most part, none of us  miss the meat or at least, I don’t hear a whimper about the missing meat.

This recipe is a variation of one that was served at my culinary book club years ago. I have tweaked it a bit to find the right mix for my family. It comes together very quickly and truly, dinner can be on the table in the time it takes to boil the spaghetti. Not bad on most, hectic school nights. Did I say school? How can it be that there is only 1 1/2 weeks until summer break? Really? Where on earth did the school year go?  Our daughter is already busy planning summer activities and it promises to be a jam packed, fun filled summer with long bus rides, mission work, lunch at Navy Pier, days at the lake and an ocean front home on the horizon. Let the fun begin because dinner will be a breeze with recipes like this in my side pocket. Enjoy!

Test kitchen days. Fun, tasty and busy. Did I mention fun? Oh and tiring, too.

We have been busy developing recipes for our new cookbook, The Big Book of Babycakes Cake Pop Recipes, due out in the fall. (Robert Rose, Inc.) (It and another new cupcake maker recipe book will join 175 Best Babycakes Cupcake Maker Recipes and 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Recipes. ) It is such fun to cook up new ideas and experiment with new recipes. We love it because we get to work together and the room is filled with laughter, wonderful aromas and yummy tastes.

We thought you might like to see some photos of a recent day in the test kitchen.

We baked lots of cake pops. Cakes of every imaginable flavor, plus biscuits, muffins, and doughnuts. Then we tested appetizers—savory morsels, cheesy bites, scrumptious meatballs and more. (We are excited about this new book!)

We have a great test kitchen team! For this book, Julie Bondank, Mandy Totoro and Amy Dowell—are all wonderful assistants that come in to help us. Shown above is Julie Bondank with Roxanne. Below is Kathy with Mandy Totoro.

After a day in the test kitchen, we go home and just like you after a busy day, we are faced with dinner time. I want a big glass of ice tea, a calm table and a healthy dinner. In fact, the dinner I crave on those nights would be great any night. It is so quick and easy and tastes so fresh. My hubby tends the grill, while I toss a salad and enjoy the iced tea. Even if you don’t spend a day in the test kitchen, this easy dinner might be the perfect meal for you after a busy day. Enjoy.

We recently attended the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference in New York City. This is always a stellar conference jam packed with information about food and trends. Not to mention, we get to meet so many food professionals, famous and not so famous.

We went in a day early to participate in a Chocolate and Pastry tour.  What can I say? We had a fantastic culinary adventure through the streets of New York. Here are some pictures of our pastry and chocolate filled day.  My all time favorite was the  Kouign Amann from Dominque Ansel’s Bakery. Dominque’s DKA, as he calls them, are croissant like pastries with a caramelized crust and a soft, almost pudding-like center. Oh, how I have dreamed of a bakery like this in Kansas City. Dominque shared his DKA and a salted caramel eclair with us. I am still thinking about how decadently wonderful they were.

With all the pastry treasures close to mind, I wanted to enjoy a Lemon Meringue Pie.  After researching many new recipes, I settled upon one that I thought would be very easy. Easy was important because I am really suppose to be testing more cake pop recipes in order to meet a pending cookbook manuscript deadline. While this was developed to be a tart similar to what is found in many Paris patisseries, I wanted to make a pie.  I made my favorite pastry crust and added Ina Garten’s lemon filling and meringue.  Perfection! Here is the link to Ina’s recipe. I hope you will give this a try and let me know your results.

Can I share one New York laugh with you all?  We were in Times Square one day and happened upon Minnie Mouse.  I begged Kathy to stand with Minnie for a picture so that I might send it to my daughter, who would be so excited.  She is madly in love with all things Disney.

Notice Minnie coming down the street swinging her purse.

See the perfect pic of Kathy with Minnie?  What you don’t see is Minnie hitting Kathy with her purse until she paid her $1.00 for the picture! I exclaimed to Minnie that Walt Disney would not be impressed. After we got over the shock and awe of the event, I must admit, we giggled about it the rest of our trip.  So be forewarned, no pictures in Time Square without payment!

May your week be filled with lemon tart moments and photo snapshots (if only in your mind). The kind that you can giggle and smile about.

Spring has exploded in the Midwest and painted the country side with vibrant colors and new life. I was just not content to let Mother Nature have all of the fun—and had to get in the kitchen and bake up some sweet creations of my own. Cupcakes and Cake Pops from the Babycakes appliances hatched these darling little lambs. I missed having some little hands in the kitchen to help out—and I think children would be delighted with the little lambs–but even without kids around they are just so fun to make and serve. They are perfect for Easter or any springtime event and they will bring lots of smiles and fun to the table.

Bake your favorite flavor of cupcakes and cake pops using your Babycakes Cake Pop and Cupcake Makers, then follow these easy directions to make your own basketful of lambs, using the cupcake for the body and the cake pop for the head. You might find a fun new flavor of cupcake and cake pop in either of our two new books. The directions to assemble these cute little guys are below, but the photos and how-to information in 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Recipes would make these especially easy to make. (You will find all kinds of tips on dipping the cake pops and painting faces in that book, plus other fun, creative suggestions for decorating cake pops.)

The appliances are just so fun to use we can’t stop using them and are always baking up something new! Now bake some of your own—then tell us about them, or even share a picture of your little lambs . We would love to hear about your fun.

Not only were our days filled with excitement, enthusiasm, smiles and giggles galore, we got to enjoy some fabulous dinners with our friends from Select Brands. It is so difficult to capture our experiences in words, so we thought a picture would represent 1,000 words.

This is a picture of the new booth introduced this year. It was beautiful….two stories tall, with products, our demo counter and our new, improved large back kitchen! The second floor is expansive and takes your breath away with the meeting rooms and new product ideas.

Here we are with Bill Endres, the President of Select Brands.  We have worked with Bill for 3 decades! Did we really reveal that bit of trivia? He is a gem, an entrepreneur and the best salesman in the business. We are so humbled and honored to be able to continue our relationship with Bill after all these years.  The three of us worked together at Rival (the Crock Pot Company) and that relationship has continued for many, many years. It would be a Guinness book of records entry if we had only counted how many laughs and great times we have enjoyed with Bill.

Our big news at this show was the introduction of two more books we are writing that will be available in the fall. We have had so much creative time in the test kitchen and truly, had more than 200 recipes that wouldn’t fit. That’s how versatile the Babycakes Cupcake Maker and Cake Pop Maker can be.

Don’t you love these creations? Many of the directions are found in our current book, 175 Best Babycakes Cake Pops Recipes and here’s a sneak peak of the second cake pop book….Goldilocks and The Three Bears!

As the lights dimmed on the show and we returned to Kansas, once again we are pinching ourselves. Thank you Select Brands for your confidence in us and for counting us as part of your team. Thank you, our friends, family, colleagues and loyal followers, for your support, for believing in us and for making Babycakes appliances part of your lives. We are humbled and in awe beyond belief.

It’s funny how we get “hungry” for a specific food.  Why does a salad sound great one night and the next you must have a juicy burger? This week, I was hungry for Tortellini Soup. Why, I don’t know, except I hadn’t made it in several weeks. It’s easy and really is one of those soups that tastes like it simmered all day, but is done in about an hour or less. Best of all, it tastes fresh and fills the house with mouth-watering aromas.

I think I like it because the vegetables taste fresh, so it is a great transition from winter to spring. Roxanne would tell you that  I like the vegetables nearly raw. That’s probably true and this is one soup that I can cook quickly enough the vegetables keep all of their bright colors and a hint of that crisp texture I love. If you like them more done, just simmer a bit longer. The only trick is to add the tortellini during the last 7 to 9 minutes so they don’t overcook.

It is also just a bit different from our typical dinner and that makes it special. Enjoy!

Tortellini soup

3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3/4 pound link Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5 oz each) low sodium beef broth
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, not drained
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced
1 package (9 oz.) refrigerated cheese-filled tortellini
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add sausage links and cook, turning frequently, until well browned. Reduce heat to low. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink inside. Remove to a platter and allow to cool slightly. Drain pan and return to heat.

Add remaining oil to hot pan. Increase heat to medium high. Add onion, carrots, bell pepper and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Add broth, tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Stir in 1/2 cup water. Cover and heat until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.

Thinly sliced sausage. Stir sliced sausage and zucchini into soup. Simmer 15 minutes.

Increase heat to medium high. Stir tortellini into soup. Cook, uncovered, 7 to 9 minutes or until tortellini are tender.

Ladle into serving bowl. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

Makes 6 servings

Tip: I choose mild or sweet Italian sausage. Hot or spicy is great, too, so choose your favorite.

2012 has gotten off to a rocky start in our home. Tough times call for tough measures, most importantly hope, faith, love and prayer. A close second would be food. In order to show my love and devotion, I do the best thing I know……get in the kitchen and cook. Comfort food has been in order these past several weeks. My #1 go to comfort food is Chocolate Cream Pie. This recipe is so very easy to stir together and there are no worries about tempering the hot mixture with the eggs. This is as easy a “one saucepan method” as you can find.

I’ve written about this before, but I don’t think it hurts to say it again. Pies are really, really easy to prepare.  Don’t be frightened and for goodness sake’s, don’t stop making pies. My mother has never entered a pie baking contest, but if she would, I know her house would be filled with blue ribbons! She is a master pie baker! You know the kind I mean!  No measuring involved– a handful of this and a pinch of that.  She is more than patient with her “Home Ecy Becky” daughter, who of course, measures to the nth degree and even uses pastry flour for the crust. Whichever method you decide to use is fine, and by all means don’t discount using a purchased, refrigerated pie crust. Select the method of pie crust that you feel most comfortable with and get started. Pie baking evolves with each and every pie you prepare.

Life is short and so very precious!  It sounds trite and over used, but I believe it means more than the silly little phrase—eat dessert first.  Please, this week why not cherish life, enjoy each day and of course, eat dessert first!

My taste buds are fickle and get bored easily. I love to cook with the seasons as the weather changes—a salad and fresh corn in the summer, a soup or stew when it snows. Yet, this time of year, I tire of winter fare and long for fresh—especially this winter with the weather so oddly warm. So I hunger for fresh and different, yet in reality, it must be simple and quick.

This week, the answer to my dinnertime dilemma was this Asian Sesame Pork Tenderloin with Napa Cabbage Slaw. I really do mean quick and easy as it uses a bottled salad dressing for the marinade and dressing. Pork tenderloin is at the top of the scale for effortless—pop in the oven and roast! Best of the, the aroma of the glazed, roasting pork fills the kitchen like only a very special dish can and the flavor is bright, fresh, crisp and wonderful. It transcends the seasons and broke my dinnertime boredom.

Valentine’s Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. I can sill vividly remember the excitement of receiving valentines and decorating boxes in elementary school.  The excitement would mount each year through middle and high school.  It is a fun, pitter patter kind of day.

My family adores brownies of any kind. This picture includes the Bateman Family Brownies without frosting but with the addition of a white chocolate drizzle. My favorite are these crunchy almost toffee-like Chocolate Flecked Mocha Blondies.  They mix together in a snap and they are a nice change from rich, decadent brownies.  I decided to make both to satisfy all the loves of my life.

This is the week to remember how blessed I am to be married to my very own prince charming, parent to an adorable 14 year old and able to spend precious moments with my mom and dad….yea! And last but not least, the fluffiest toy bichon ever, Daisy.  Life doesn’t get much better than that.

May each of you enjoy a moment to reflect on the blessings of those you love and indulge in a sweet treat.