Mandy Pan of Fresh From the Oven and Just Baking -  "As much as I love my trustworthy chocolate cake recipes, I decided it’s time to try my hands at making chiffon cake last week. But which recipe should I entrust my first chiffon cake experiment? In the end, I decided to go with Espresso Chiffon Cake ... from Carole Broom’s Essential Baker ...The final result was light and flavorful. But not too sweet. I like how the espresso aroma filled the room when the cake was out from the oven. The soft and airy texture was reminiscent of my childhood. This is the kind of cakes which I liked to buy from the Asian bakeries... View this Recipe / View all Recipes

Cate O'Malley, Fit Fare - If the Iowa Women’s Health Study is to be believed (and I don’t see why they wouldn’t be), then yes, popcorn is good for your health, possibly protecting you against heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Their recent study indicated that women over 55 who eat the most whole grains are 35% less likely to die from inflammatory diseases (including emphysema, asthma, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis and more). But how much popcorn is enough? ...

A fabulous banana sale hit my local grocer this week, "forcing" me to load up with close to a dozen bunches.  After a morning of slicing, flash-freezing, and packaging the bananas for later use, I stopped short, leaving out a bunch or two for some baking endeavors.  After all, with so many inexpensive bananas, who could can resist the temptation of banana bread? ...

Kim Moldofsky, Scrambled CAKE - We searched for the best allergy-friendly snacks around and then we tried them all. I’m here to tell you about our favorites. This post can help you if follow school rules: Nothing homemade! Nothing with peanuts! Or tree nuts! Or milk!. Or simply host an inclusive class party. It’s also a handy guide if you simply want to keep some packaged snacks on hand when your child has a playdate with an allergic friend...

I grew up in Portland, well, a very close suburb of the main city.  I ventured into town often for the Saturday Market, festivals, and summer work.  However, at that time, taking in the culture of the city itself was not forefront on my agenda.  Now, returning as a visitor rather than a resident, I was fascinated by the wonderful diversity of people, from a punk subculture to hoards of biking fitness junkies.  Yet, my biggest preoccupation was with the incredible array of restaurants.  Since it had been so many years, and we only had one day in the city itself, I decided to do some research before the trip on where to go for lunch...