The last, but not least, recipe in my Make Ahead Brunch series: a Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bundt Cake. This buttery and bright cake, spiked with fresh berries, is perfect for brunch, especially with warmer weather upon us. It can be baked in a regular baking pan, but using a bundt playfully hides a cinnamony crunch at the bottom and allows for a lemon glaze over the top. Because who doesn’t need an extra punch of lemon flavor on a sleepy weekend morning?
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I wanted to make something different for Valentine’s Day. Something chocolate, of course, but with more. With a twist. My burning desire for something new led me down a long road paved with failed experiments before coming up with these gems. I wandered (way) far afield before remembering that it’s little adjustments made to the familiar things we know and love that make for the most pleasant surprises.
These chewy chocolate chunk cookies, first discovered on Orangette, are a staple at our house. I hate to admit it, but the first thing that drew me to Molly’s recipe was its use of yogurt (she suggests full fat, but I use non- or low-fat Greek style which always works). There’s still some butter and a cup of sugar, so I’m not claiming that these are completely guilt free (c’mon people—if you’re going to make cookies, enjoy them!), but they aren’t gut bombs either. Which might be why it didn’t occur to me right away to adapt this recipe for our Valentine’s Day treats. Valentine’s Day is supposed to be sinful, right?
All weekend I churned out decadent treats that just weren’t right. Then, it occurred to me: Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be over the top. Instead, it can be mellow and warm. Familiar yet surprising. Quietly romantic. And that’s just what my new version of these cookies are.
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Photo: Martha Stewart

You can’t have a party without cake, right?! I love serving cupcakes, at children’s parties especially, because they allow you to offer a range of flavor combinations without too much extra work. And they are just the right serving size—cute little packages of baked goodness!
Lately, my ChowBaby has been very excited by all things chocolate chip. Even just 5 chocolate chips—all on their own or thrown into our “trail mix” with walnuts and dried cranberries—totally make his day, so chocolate chip cupcakes were a gimme.
Because, as I said, variety is part of the joy of cupcakes, I wanted to make a second flavor cake that would go with the chocolate chip icing (so I wouldn’t also have to make two kinds of frosting). Devil’s food cake, a moist chocolatey delight made with sour cream, sounded perfect. So, with Martha’s help (I wasn’t about to experiment with recipes for my son’s party—this was all about reliable sources), I got to it. There’s not much more to say, except… utterly delicious
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Photo: Gourmet

I warned you. More decadent sweets. Today: Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie (aka the best dessert at our big, dessert-filled family Christmas). Like I said yesterday, you’ll thank me when you find this in your bookmarks. Trust me!
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Photo: Giada, Food Network

Do you like how I go from talking about eating more fish, vegetarian meals and going to the gym to talking about cheesecake? Smooth move, right? The thing is, I have yet to fill you in on the highlights of my holiday cooking, which was mostly holiday baking. I know that my timing isn’t great, but my favorites are all year around recipes definitely worth sharing. So, in an act of defiance against new year’s resolutions, I present to you cheesecake today and Chocolate Espresso Pecan Pie tomorrow. Now go ahead, use your bookmark tool. You’ll thank me later.
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This week is all about the Best Of ChowMama 2009! To help ensure that you begin 2010 with a recipe box loaded with quick and healthy recipes that your whole family will love, I’ve hand selected my favorites (recipes that I return to over and over again) and the most popular recipes as measured by traffic and comments (ones that worked out well for me and you).
Phew! 2009 was a busy year filled with lots of ChowMama goodness. I hope this week’s picks help kick off a delicious 2010 while we gear up for a new year of recipes, tips and discussions. To end the “best of” extravaganza, I’m highlighting a few posts that fall under the “parenting” header. Instead of highlighting a recipe, these posts focus on a tip that (hopefully) makes cooking for your family easier, a way of thinking that (maybe) sparks a shift towards more inspired eating, or a topic that (with any luck) gets a thoughtful debate started. These are my favorite posts to write. I hope you enjoy them, too. Let me know if you do!
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