Fair season isn’t always that fair. Funnel cakes, Sno cones, eight dollar tilt-a-whirl rides, and deep-fried corn dogs. Heck, the State Fair of Texas prides itself on the art of deep frying the unimaginable from banana splits to bacon to Coca Cola. My son, on a moment of carnival independence, discovered these puppies and has been begging for them ever since. Carnival independence could have turned out a whole lot worse than corn dog discovery. What’s not to love, salty dogs coated in a sugary batter and deep fried into crispy, juicy nitrate glory. Corn dogs have that salt-sugar-fat whammy that most fast foods houses rely on to sustain these proven additive properties in their foods.

So you know, we don’t ban less than nutritious treats at crunchtime (I mean we don’t want carnival freakshow kids), rather we modify and remake the foods where we can. Whole Foods carried a brand of corn dogs that I accepted shamefully without reading the nutritional label. Then one day they removed them from their shelves feeling that the dogs inside were not up to Whole Foods’ standards. And while we might not ban treats and sweets, we very much ban nitrates from the kids’ diets, so it appeared that corn dogs might forever be off the menu until I found this recipe and modified into a food I could live with. Why corn dog it all you ask?

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When we think of gifts for the dads in our lives what comes to mind? golf shirts, ties, briefcases, massages, a day of feeling like their 25 again without kids? This year, give him a little something extra; something he’ll treasure on the inside. Uh huh, you guessed it.

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Sometimes it takes only one ingredient to make a recipe go from edible to incredible and you go from dinner fixer to – ah-hem – chef.

Chipotle chili pepper is the humble performer, the drummer of the band if you will, in this oh-so simple chicken tortilla soup. And, the chipotle, which is the dried smoky jalapeño pepper used in Mexican cuisine, is neither exotic, challenging, or seemingly found in remote Mexican villages reachable only by mule. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is find and use. read more

Many years ago, I worked in cable television to support my culinary habit of wanting tasting menus at fine restaurants. Thank you Charlie Trotter for helping me part with many hard earned dollars. In my business, we had a group of customers we referred to as “truck chasers.” These delicious customers were the ones who were so eager for any cable channel or technical service we offered, they nearly chased down Installers’ trucks for service. These guys were the sure bet for business.

Today I’m the truck chaser.

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When you can’t get away with serving fruit and girl scout cookies to guests for dessert one more time. When you wake up too late to make anything of quality for your kids before school. When no one is around and you crave another handful of chocolate eggs from your kid’s Easter basket that you’ve hidden from them for say five weeks all the while nibbling from it knowing those jeggings, you never should have owned in the first place, will be the centerpiece of your vacation wardrobe in a few days.

Eat this lemon olive oil cake. Low cal, high nutrition, satisfying, crunchtime defying, dessert to breakfast to snack is your solution. A little effort comes with a payoff. Read on to find out. read more