The DIY Diet

I’d been paging through my many cookbooks looking for ideas for a light, delicious dessert to serve when my friend, Karen, and her husband joined me for supper. Like me, they are both on a calorie diet so I wanted to make something that kept our calorie count at a reasonable level.

(more…)

When I was growing up Christmas always meant my Aunt Sig and Uncle Chet would bring a box of meringue cookies when they came up north for the holiday.

I loved the sweet, melt-in-your-mouth treats. My favorite was the light green wreath shaped cookies with colorful sugar sprinkles on top. I’ve never tried making them but intend to do so next Christmas. I’d also never tried making meringue shells because I thought they’d be both very high in calories, because of the sugar, and difficult to make. I was wrong on both accounts.

(more…)

Even with me being on a diet, it wouldn’t be Christmas if I didn’t make many varieties of Christmas cookies to share with the family and friends I invite to my home during the holidays.

This year every cookie I’ve made thus far has been made from commercially-available refrigerated cookie dough. It’s much faster than making the cookie dough from scratch and I’ve come up with some simple ways to make the cookies special.

(more…)

When the Fall air turns crisp, I think of pumpkins and apples and food that is comforting.

The pumpkins I grew this year didn’t ripen properly, and though the shells were a lovely deep orange color, the interior flesh was very pale and immature-looking.

I had wanted to bake my own pumpkin filling. I bought Libby’s Pumpkin filling instead; it’s so much more convenient than baking my own and I know it was prepared at the proper stage of maturity.

I found this Pumpkin Dessert recipe in the Ostmark Lutheran Church 80th anniversary cookbook published in 1974 by this rural Watkins, Minnesota congregation of which my cousin is a member.

It’s a nice fall dessert perfect for the time between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

(more…)

When fall arrived and crisp, fresh apples were available, the Slovenian-heritage ladies in my hometown made the most delicious apple strudel you can imagine.

My mother’s good friend made a dough that she stretched paper thin, then rolled up with a filling of thin-sliced apples, cinnamon sugar, and butter.

I love apple strudel, and I appreciated greatly when my mother’s friend gifted us with one of her home-baked apple strudels.

She shared her recipe with me; I’ve never tried to make it myself using her recipe. I found a quick method that I think has a nice, homemade taste.

(more…)

There’s no question, pumpkin is the focus of much attention between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

Here’s a Pumpkin Bar recipe that I’ve been making for years. It is one of many recipes that was passed around among the Post Office ladies and other accomplished cooks and bakers in my rural Minnesota hometown.

(more…)

Fresh fruit is always a good choice. When the best seasonal fruits are combined into a compote, the taste is divine, and it makes a wonderful side dish to most any main dish entrée. Here’s my favorite recipe for fruit salad.

(more…)

One day when I expected visitors, I decided I’d like to make my Uncle Chet’s Cheese Pie to serve for dessert and wondered how many calories a serving of the dessert would have.

The calorie count would impact what I’d serve for lunch - high calorie dessert, low calorie entrée. My Uncle Chet was a baker and developed some of his own recipes. Cheese pie is one of my favorites from when I was growing up. The Cheese Pie pairs well with a nice, light Polynesian Chicken Salad for the lunch.

(more…)

Eating comfort foods occasionally is a nice way to treat yourself on your diet. Banana bread is one my favorite treats, especially when the weather starts to get cool.

(more…)

Evelyn’s Rhubarb Sauce is a great dessert, a favorite of Finnish-heritage people.  Rhubarb, a perennial plant, is something a lot of people grow in their gardens in Minnesota, then freeze for use during the winter.  It can be bought fresh in grocery stores during the growing season.  I’ve noticed it for sale in Cub grocery stories in the frozen fruit department, packaged by SuperValu.

(more…)