Welcome to the weekend, my friends! I’ve been traveling since last Wednesday (first to NM and then to AZ) and finally made it home last night. I am so very happy to be waking up in my own bed and enjoying a lazy day with my family today.

ON THE BLOGS this week:  Creamy and cheesy, with wonderful lingering heat, this green chile mac and cheese is a keeper, transforming the quintessential comfort food into a dish that is positively irresistible.

The ever-popular and timeless rainbow fruit salad combines a variety of bright and colorful fresh fruits with a tangy honey lime dressing to create a crave-worthy summer side dish.

Bold and spicy flavors meet the refreshing crunch of fresh cucumbers in this spicy Asian cucumber salad. This simple side dish is endlessly snackable.

Tender crisp cabbage, carrots, and peppers combine with savory ground beef and leave a subtle, lingering heat that will have you wanting more. It’s a fully loaded skillet of eggroll flavors we love.

Grandma’s German pancakes meet irresistibly caramelized apples in these German apple pancakes. You won’t believe how easy it is to make such a scrumptious breakfast treat.

Filled with plenty of fresh strawberries and blueberries, these fluffy hotcakes are heavenly. These berry pancakes will make everyone smile this weekend.

Get ready for a tasty combination of fresh fruit and cool mint in these blueberry mojitos. You’ll find yourself hooked from the first sip!

Creamy vanilla ice cream swirled with tart lemon curd is a treat worth making year-round. Brighten up your next dessert with this refreshing lemon curd ice cream!

What I’m CRAVING: This Chicken Parmesan Gnocchi caught my eye yesterday and it sounds so good! It needs to be on our meal plan soon.

What I’m READING: He Who Fights with Monsters 8: A LitRPG Adventure by Shirtaloon and Travis Deverell. I’m hooked on this series all over again with the 8th book. It’s been a fun read / listen while traveling. 

What I’m LISTENING to: Houndmouth. This group is new to me and I’ve been enjoying them. It’s Americana meets rock, blues, alternative, folk… I don’t even know exactly how to describe it, but it’s a whole feeling. If you lik

Creamy vanilla ice cream swirled with tart lemon curd is a treat worth making year-round. Brighten up your next dessert with this refreshing lemon curd ice cream!

Lemon Curd Desserts

When I first had the idea for this ice cream, I tried making it with freshly churned lemon ice cream. While that was delicious, it was overwhelmingly lemony, without a strong flavor from the curd itself.

Well, I adore lemon curd desserts, so that wasn’t going to work for me. Next, I tried swirling it into a batch of cheesecake ice cream.

That was delicious as well, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted. The cheesecake flavor was dominant, and I really wanted the curd to be center stage in this ice cream.

I should’ve known that I’d wind my way back to classic vanilla ice cream for this recipe. The base is simple with just five ingredients: heavy cream, milk, sugar, salt, and vanilla.

Those pure ice cream flavors allow the subtle brightness of the lemon to shine exactly the way I imagined it could. For a real treat, warm the leftover curd and drizzle it over each cold, creamy scoop. You won’t regret it.

Microwave Lemon Curd

When I first saw a recipe for microwave lemon curd, I have to admit that I was skeptical. I love lemon curd, but I am such a slacker about making it. I never want to stand by the stove and Read more

Get ready for a tasty combination of fresh fruit and cool mint in this Blueberry Mojito recipe. You’ll find yourself hooked from the first sip!

Blueberry Mojito

These cocktails are perfect for sipping at a party or for relaxing on the porch with friends on a warm summer evening. A blueberry mojito is just summer in a glass, for me.

Having lived in one of the hottest cities in the US for a very long time, mojitos became a favorite pretty much year-round. But, the blueberry mojito adds a twist on the classic beverage.

Blueberries have a distinct flavor that starts off sweet but leaves a tanginess that lingers. The taste will vary depending on the ripeness of the berries, with riper blueberries tending to be sweeter.

But, I adore the way that the sweetness of the muddled blueberries in this drink balances the zesty citrus of the lime juice. This recipe is so good, it makes it harder to appreciate the drinks that are made outside your kitchen.

Blueberry Mojito Recipe

• fresh mint leaves
• fresh or frozen blueberries
• lime juice
• simple syrup
• white or light rum
• ice and club soda

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Forget about leftovers with this recipe for German Apple Pancakes. You won’t believe how easy it is to make such a scrumptious breakfast treat.

German Pancakes with Apples

I added apples to a batch of these pancakes for the first time over ten years ago and my family went absolutely crazy over them. I made this recipe one morning a couple of weeks ago to reshoot the photos and fell in love with these pancakes all over again.

I enjoyed the German apple pancakes so much that I’ve already made them again for family dinner. Whether it’s my grandmother’s traditional recipe or a grain and gluten free variation, we just plain love German pancakes.

For a fun change, try making miniature German pancakes in a muffin tin or these cranberry almond German pancakes during the holidays. (You know I can never have enough cranberry recipes!) However you make them, they are always delicious.

My grandmother handed down a recipe for sweet orange sauce that has become traditional in my family when eating German pancakes. I love that sauce, both because it is delicious, and because it reminds me of her.

But, honestly, I like these German pancakes with apples best on their own. Sweet enough from the apples, all the finished pancake required was a light dusting of powdered sugar. (My kids sure do like them with a drizzle of maple syrup though.)

A word of warning when you’re making the apples for these pancakes, you may want to make extra. It’s hard to resist tasting a few straight from the saucepan–just try not to eat them all before you can bake the pancakes!

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The ever-popular and timeless Rainbow Fruit Salad combines a variety of bright and colorful fresh fruits with a tangy honey lime dressing to create a crave-worthy summer side dish.

Rainbow Fruit Salad

Fresh pineapple, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, oranges, kiwis, and blackberries come together fabulously in this flavor-filled Rainbow Fruit Salad.

Any combination of fruits will work nicely in this recipe. You’ll need a total of 8 cups worth of chopped fruits. When prepping the fruits, I like to use this simple homemade fruit wash.

The fruits are then tossed with fresh lime juice, honey, and a sprinkling of poppy seeds to create a side dish worthy of any occasion.

This fruit salad can be arranged on a tray for a stunning fruit tray rainbow, layered into rainbow fruit cups for individual portions, or tossed and served in a large bowl to deliver a rainbow of fruit colors in every spoonful.

I’ve served this all three ways, but my go-to option for family meals is a large bowl simply for the ease of preparation and serving.

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

The simple honey and lime dressing brightens the fruit flavors nicely. I’ve used this dressing combination in several fruit salads and it’s become a favorite way to dress up a bowl of fruit for snacking or for dessert.

The Winter Fruit Salad and the Summer Fruit Salad are seasonal favorites. And this Rainbow Fruit Salad is everything I love about both of these, plus even more colors and flavors.

Rainbow Fruits 

You’ll need the following fruits for this fruit salad:

• pineapple or mango
• strawberry
• red grapes
• blueberries
• oranges
• kiwis
• blackberries

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