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Flaky, buttery pie crust tops a pile of fresh berries in this easy dessert; a little time in the oven and everything is transformed. This simple berry pie is a great way to highlight fruits as they come into season. If you are lucky enough to have last year's berries tucked in the freezer, this is an easy dessert year round. Topped with whipped cream, ice cream, or simply eaten warm straight from the pan, any way you serve it, this is a treat.

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Smooth, sweet, and crisp with a hint of citrus, these Pear Martinis celebrate the best of the fruits that are in season right now. This martini is made with fresh ripe pears, citron vodka, a splash of lime, and St-Germain liqueur. A few weeks ago, I tried a Pear Gimlet while out with my sister, and it inspired us to play with the perfectly ripe pears that were already in the kitchen.

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Soft, fluffy bites of potato, crisp on the outside, generously seasoned with spices and cheese are roasted with fresh green beans to create this side dish. I served this with the Honey Soy Chicken and my whole family enjoyed the meal. This is a very easy dish, the amounts for the spices are approximate, use your own judgement and adjust the amounts according to your family's tastes.

Turmeric is the star in this dish, despite the small amount used. It takes just a pinch of turmeric to brighten the dish to a lovely yellow and add just a hint of something unexpected. Turmeric is a fragrant and mellow spice, and I really enjoy what it adds to this recipe. However, if you don't have it on hand, you can certainly skip it. I've roasted potatoes using this same combination of spices, both with and without the turmeric. The dish is delicious both ways.

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This pasta with a creamy lemon sauce and just a hint of heat has been my lunch and dinner for a couple of days now. I'd been craving Brussels sprouts for a while and I chose to load the pasta with them; feel free to use whichever vegetable you might happen to be craving. This dish keeps well in the refrigerator and reheats nicely, so it is a great option for lunches too.

The entire meal comes together in very little time at all, making this my favorite kind of recipe. The lemon keeps this pasta fresh and light, while the pepper adds just a bit of unexpected heat. If you aren't a fan of much heat in your recipes, start with a tiny pinch of the pepper flakes and add more after tasting it.

As the main Brussels sprouts fan in our house, I loved every single bite of this dish. However, the rest of my crew enjoyed their pasta without my beloved Brussels sprouts. So, feel free to tweak the recipe however you like. Mushrooms and tomatoes would be great with this pasta, as well as asparagus tips, broccoli, or almost any other vegetable you love. This is an extremely versatile recipe and will work well with almost any vegetable.

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I tasted Laffa Bread for the first time while visiting my sister over the holidays and it was bread-love at first bite. Chewy and elastic, laffa bread reminds me of both naan and pita bread, with a better flavor and chew. It is amazing to me that we are able to bake so many different breads, crackers, tortillas, and more, using the same basic ingredients.

The grilling method used for cooking this bread gives it a unique flavor. Laffa bread is typically served with Middle Eastern foods and flavors, although, I'd happily eat this on its own or with just about anything. We served our laffa bread with hummus as it was coming off the hot pan and then piled on some awesome toppings flatbread-style. (recipe for that will be coming next week!) My boys slathered peanut butter on the leftover pieces and devoured them in an instant.

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Lemon Crinkle Cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center are one of my favorite lemon treats. Lemon desserts are always a great thing in my world, but these cookies are truly sublime. (I don't use that word lightly either!) Perfectly crisp around the edges, with a soft center, even three days later.

Just a heads up, these cookies are even better after a day or two. (Can you believe I managed to make them last that long, to test this?!) So, feel free to double the recipe, and trust me, these cookies will get eaten.
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Crisp on the outside, hot and juicy on the inside, steaks bites are a hit every single time I make them. This is one of my favorite ways to cook beef. It only takes a few minutes and the result is bite-size pieces of the juiciest steak you will ever eat!

Last time I made steak bites, I tried this quick honey soy marinade and WOW. The whole family went crazy for these and they disappeared in just a few minutes. I've served these with Roasted Red Potatoes, Spicy Caramelized Cauliflower, and Salad Skewers. This is a quick dinner that everyone loves and these juicy steak bites work well with almost any side dish.

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I shared this photo along with some of my thoughts on Instagram late one night a couple weeks ago. I woke up to a flood of truly amazing comments (that made me cry!) and that inspired me to begin the #lovemylaughlines project.

I spent last week at a photography workshop and as homework for the first session, I was asked to journal about myself and who I am. Then, brace yourself, take a self portrait (with the real camera) that represents that AND print the photo (8x10 size) and bring it with me for the first session.

I thought about it a bit and almost didn't do it. That's when I realized that I am no longer that person. The person I am now is not worried about what people think. I actually like the lines on my face because they are proof of laughter. I didn't edit my photo to smooth any wrinkles. I'm comfortable in my skin for the first time in my life and that amazes me. I think aging works for me.

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These chewy, dense, peanut buttery cookies are an unforgettable memory from my childhood. The recipe is a classic; just an egg, a cup of peanut butter and a cup of sugar. After you've made them once, the recipe will be forever in your memory too. When I was in high school, I remember stirring a batch of these together with a girlfriend in the middle of the night. There is nothing like being able to satisfy a sweet tooth craving on a moment's notice! We sat and nibbled on the warm cookies and talked half the night.

In less time than it takes to preheat the oven, you can have these ready and waiting to bake on a tray. There are plenty of variations here and I've played with the recipe a bit in the past. In the end, I keep going back to the original. I love it for its simplicity.

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When I heard about the "Cans Get You Cooking " project, I grinned to myself. I frequently cook using only ingredients from the pantry when we head to our cabin for the weekend. Over the years, we've lived quite frugally at times and limited our grocery shopping to once a month. Keeping a well-stocked pantry is one way to make the most of your grocery budget.

I've become fairly adept at pulling together quick meals with the canned goods that we keep on hand. Canned foods cut down on prep time when I’m in a hurry and they are often a more affordable option than fresh or frozen options. As an added benefit, some fruits and vegetables can be tastier canned than fresh when they aren't in season.

This soup is a favorite and I've made versions of it countless times. As listed below, the soup comes together in just a few minutes, quite literally, in the time it takes us to unload the car we can have a hot meal waiting on the table.

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What's not to love about a flaky pie crust filled with fluffy cheesy eggs and plenty of bacon? I adore make-ahead and casserole style breakfast dishes, preferably ones with plenty of protein as well. This recipe combines some of our favorite breakfast foods into a single dish that everything in the family loves to eat.

Looking for a low carb or gluten free option? I make crustless quiche more often than not, although I do enjoy both kinds. If you love the crust and don't want to give it up, here's a link to the best gluten free pie crust ever!

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Toasted pearl couscous with pistachios and pine nuts, chewy raisins, a hint of cinnamon, and a squeeze of lemon combine in this incredibly flavorful dish. Over a year ago, my sister, Jenny, told me that she had a dish she wanted to make for me. She described this Israeli Couscous to me and I have looked forward to trying it ever since the first time she mentioned it. This past month, we finally had the chance to make this recipe together. Served with Pan Fried Chicken Thighs, this is a meal that is as perfect as it can possibly be.

I loved this so much, I hid the leftovers in the back of the fridge and helped myself to them frequently over the next couple days. This is a wonderfully easy side dish that is substantial enough to stand alone for a meal. This keeps fabulously in the refrigerator and I can see myself making future batches to eat for my lunches all week long.

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Hot tea is a perfect match for steamed milk in the very popular London Fog. I've enjoyed my tea with a splash of milk for as long as I can remember. My sister recently introduced me to the London Fog while I was visiting her over the holidays. The London Fog is my favorite tea drink these days and I've been making this almost every night for two weeks now. This is one of the easiest drinks you will ever make and I promise it is so much more than the sum of the ingredients.

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Vanilla Coffee Syrup is a staple in every coffee house and it's one of the easiest things you can make at home. There's no need to ever again pay for store-bought syrups with extra ingredients. You can make Vanilla Coffee Syrup at home, using just a few common ingredients and no preservatives or artificial flavors. It takes less than 5 minutes to stir together this syrup and it tastes better than any store-bought options.

I am so happy to back from vacation and sharing new recipes with you once again! I hope that your holidays were everything you hoped they might be. We spent our time in NM with family and friends; it was a very relaxing holiday. My sister and I had a ridiculous amount of fun cooking together while we were there and I can hardly wait to share all the great new foods with you this month!

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