Mango, Banana, and Coconut Loaf (Sugar-Free)

I first ate mangoes in Mexico as a high school student. They were ripe and slightly squishy, and faintly smelled of pine. Someone showed me how to slice off a slab from the side, and scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon. The juice dribbled down my chin and arms, falling in fat, orange drops from my elbow to the dusty ground below.


There were ten of us high schoolers on an outreach project near Tijuana. We spent the week running kids' programs and hosting evening gatherings at local churches. And every day at breakfast I ate a juicy mango. I savoured every bite of them. I used my teeth to gnaw off the stringy bits of flesh around the huge seed.

Ricotta Cheese

In this month's Secret Recipe Club I was lucky enough to be assigned Parsley, Sage, Desserts, and Line Drives. It's written by Lisa Michele and has a wide-ranging archive of recipes to browse. I viewed so many delicious things on this blog, but somehow found myself coming back time and again to homemade ricotta cheese.

Meatless Meatballs

Now here's a unique way to make meatballs: with lentils and brown rice. These meatless meatballs are a good party snack or a dinner main dish with spaghetti. They are made more interesting with the addition of pesto, garlic, oregano, and paprika. They tasted scrumptious with a pesto and mayo dipping sauce.

Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas

This month for the Secret Recipe Club I have been assigned to the lovely blog Cooking with Chopin, Living with Elmo. Ginny, who writes it, has two young boys and the recipes are simple but inventive. I immediately fixated on her "sneaky" chickpea chocolate chip cookies. Ginny says that she likes to sneak in some healthy stuff to her baked goods, which is exactly what I love to do. But only if the taste is still good. In fact, I like my cookies to taste like cookies first and healthy second. Which is what these amazing chickpea-stuffed cookies were.

Spicy Split Pea Dip

As part of this month's Secret Recipe Club I was assigned the blog Ilke's Kitchen. Ilke is a lovely Turkish lady who has moved to the southern United States. She writes recipes for Turkish food and other dishes that she makes at home. I was engrossed by her inventive ideas, beautiful pictures, and engaging stories.

I made this split pea dip to form part of a casual tapas meal with friends. It's smooth yet chunky, kind of like the best hummus you have tasted. It's got a spicy edge but not sharp. It's a simple recipe that I'm bound to adapt again.

Pan-Crisped Devilled Eggs

I really enjoy getting to know new bloggers. My favourite hobby is hopping around from food blog to food blog, leaving comments and looking at all the great recipes and photographs. This month I had the privilege of meeting Debbie from The Friday Friends as part of the Secret Recipe Club. Her food blog covers savoury and sweet recipes, with some books thrown in for good measure. I found this recipe for pan-crisped devilled egg salad on her blog and was intrigued.

creating blog community -- and party pinwheels

How do you increase community connections on your blog? This is a key question for successful bloggers. We try to create a feeling of camaraderie here on our blogs and recently I have felt very much befriended and involved with others on the web. One strategy that has helped me was joining blog events like this one, the Secret Recipe Club. My assignment this month was Jam Hands, written by Ali. She uses some incredible methods for improving the community on her blog--simple ideas that are effective, too. (Oh, and she makes some mighty tasty party pinwheels.)

rainbow salad with corn, carrots, and tomato

This salad is so brightly coloured you almost need sunglasses to look at the picture above! This gorgeous salad is my part of the Secret Recipe Club. All the blogger participants are assigned, secretly, to one another. This month I have been enjoying the food blog It's Yummy to My Tummy, and I've chosen a recipe from Heather, the mother behind the blog, to recreate here. She called it Shamrock Salsa, but I saw it as more of a side dish salad. I've renamed it in honour of its full spectrum of bright colours.

cauliflower soup: the secret recipe club

I am taking part in a wonderful new blog event: the Secret Recipe Club. Each participant is assigned another blog: this month I have received Jeanette's Healthy Living, a blog that is new to me, but has quickly become a favourite. As part of the Secret Recipe Club, I have been enjoying reading Jeanette's blog, and trying out her cauliflower soup, made with two ingenious ingredients you will never guess!