Once the leaves abandon their trees and crunch underfoot, fall takes a second to slow things down before the hard stop of cold winter. In order to match the pace of the season, I wanted to deliver a bit of spice without the usual fare of pumpkin, apple, or pecan.

Before I knew better, my taste for croissants was solely based on the mass-produced butter crescents purchased from Costco snug in a cellophane twelve pack.

It was an ordinary Saturday, not my birthday or another special occasion, when my mother made the prettiest cake the neighborhood had ever seen. 

Sometimes you just need a couple of cream puffs to round out your weekend.

During an emergency room visit, visions of cinnamon rolls dance in my head....

Mom’s Seven Layer Bars, a family favorite, stick me right next to the sink at my parents house pouring sweetened condensed milk out of the can and licking my sticky fingers before popping the pan into the oven.

One of the things my brother and I always agree on is the pairing of peanut butter and chocolate.

Through the years my best friend C has been the keeper of all of my secrets, my personal shopper, my makeup artist, and my advice-giver, even when unprompted.