Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last February, the American Women’s Club of Antwerp celebrated its 89th anniversary at our annual Founder’s Day luncheon. An elegant affair, as always, we traveled through the decades celebrating fashion and the history of the club. We were invited to dress in the decade of our choice, applauded the women of the club who were celebrating significant anniversaries, and concluded the already-sophisticated meal with a luscious slice of red velvet cake. The cake was homemade by our Activities Director, Ariadna and I messaged her afterwards for the recipe. Months later, my son turned 7 and he requested red velvet cupcakes

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Pecan Pie Cookies

Pecan Pie Cookies

One of my best friends from Texas sent me a Southern Baking magazine this year for Valentine’s Day. I’ve worked my way through lemon pound cakes in the spring and blackberry cobblers in the summer, but I’ve been keeping my eye on the pecan pie cookie recipe for the past few months. Waiting. Anticipating. For the day when it would be perfect. I whipped these little jewels up on Thanksgiving Eve and I’m pleased to say, they were the perfect addition to a simple, but sufficient Thanksgiving. I halved the recipe because 60 seemed too exuberant a number (and 4

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Sunshine Lemon Tea Cookies

Sunshine Lemon Tea Cookies

I hosted a Christmas Tea party this past weekend and out of all the goodies I prepped, these seemed to be one of the favorites. Tart and sweet, small and light, they were like sunshine on the cold winter day. If you want them to balance on the saucer of your tea cup, make the dough dollops tiny before sliding them into the oven. Preppin’ 1/2 cup (115 grams) butter 3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1 large egg 1/3 cup (80 ml) milk 2 teaspoons lemon juice 1

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Snowballs

Snowballs

I used to make these with my Mom when I was a little girl. Last Christmas, my daughter and I made them together. We bundled them in little bags and passed them out to anyone who’d ever talked to us in our new Belgium neighborhood – my new mom friends at her school, the principal, the secretary, our babysitter, and the old man who always waves at us when we open our garage. This Christmas, we proudly displayed them at her Christmas Tea for her friends from school. These little goodies will bring a smile as big as a West

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Dirt Cupcakes

Dirt Cupcakes

Tasked with a Halloween cupcake bake sale I’m perusing websites looking for ideas. . . there are so many cute ones out there, which can take a lot of time and with ingredients I just can’t find around here (without a lot of effort or money, anyway) Reese Pieces? Uh no. Candy corns? Um. . .an arm & a leg at the American Store. . . I even saw adorable skeleton cupcakes using twisted pretzels for the ribs and a flattened marshmallow for the face. (Mine would end up looking like stick men – no pretzel twists around here!) Then

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Island Margarita Pie

Island Margarita Pie

Cool and salty, like an island breeze, describes this Island Margarita Pie. It’s one of my Mom’s most favorite desserts to bring to potluck functions, especially in the summer. I requested the recipe from her, knowing the re-creation in Europe would be the ultimate challenge – the key ingredient is Cool Whip! Cool Whip – not frozen, not watery, but that perfect consistency every time, is not available in Europe (that I know of anyway). I put my Google skills to the test and ran through a couple of trials with errors. The final result (I’m happy to say) is

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Peach Crisp

Peach Crisp

There’s nothing that says summer like peaches. My roommate from college had a peach tree in her yard in Big Spring. The tiny tree branches hung to the ground, heavy with gorgeous, juicy peaches. I helped harvest them one Memorial Day weekend years ago, and her aunt turned them into a luscious peach cobbler. This weekend my Belgian friend hosted a BBQ – and asked everyone to bring something. With the sun shining, temperatures warm, and promises of spending an afternoon outside just chilling and grilling, I knew a peach. . . something would be the only thing that would

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the first questions my Belgian friend asked when she discovered I liked to cook was “Do you have a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie dough? You know, like the stuff in the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream?” Do I? Of course! What self-respecting American doesn’t? I thought it was so cute that this common recipe is a mystery overseas. But considering the lengths you must go to in order to obtain chocolate chips. . . well, it makes sense. This recipe makes a lot – so I often cut it in half. Preppin’ 2 ¼ cups (280 grams)

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Slutty Brownies

Slutty Brownies

A few months after returning to Texas we had a housewarming party, of course! Like any good southerner would do, we invited everyone from high school to college to old co-workers, and bring your friend or two! In Texas, it’s customary to bring a contribution to the party – either an appetizer, dessert, or drink. Well, my good friend Caroline, brought these little goodies, and oh my, they were the HIT of the event. I’ve made these slutty brownies several times over using box mixes in the U.S. and from scratch in Europe, and no matter what, they aren’t a

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Wacky Cake

Wacky Cake

Fridays was always Pizza Day in my elementary school in Texas. Sure, they served it with onion rings and corn (which I wouldn’t touch) but I begged my mom to let me eat at school those days because what kid doesn’t want PIZZA and WACKY CAKE for lunch. (and with a carton of milk, this is part of a nutritional meal, right? I’m sure those days are long gone.) BUT, lucky for you, I have, in my possession, the secret passport to all those youthful fantastic fridays. In grown-up world, I found this was a handy recipe for other reasons.

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