Our featured recipe is Chocolate Layer Cake .  It's a perfect dessert for Valentine's Day!

The month of February is Bake For Family Fun Month.  We have four lesson plans to choose from, each with its own unique recipe.

Week 1 - Let's Get Started Baking!
A lesson plan for baking that outlines main baking ingredients and their funtions.
Recipe - Elephant Ears
Week 2 - Baking for my Valentine
Bake up some tasty Chocolate Crackles with Cranberries - Your Valentine will love you for it!
Week 3 - History and Traditions
Learn about leavening history
Recipe - Lemon Poppyseed Cupcakes
Week 4 - Baking for Others
Try a quick and easy recipe that fits any menu.
Recipe - Cherry Coffeecake

Going Ape Over Banana Bran Muffins by Nancy Baggett

When new foods appear, they often impact not only our diet but our language and culture. This is certainly the case with the banana. The colorful modern expressions “going bananas,” “top banana,” and “second banana,” as well as the falling on a banana peel comedy bit all popped up in America on the heels (or is it peels?)  read more . . .
Recipe:  Banana Bran Muffins

The Seduction of Sesame  by Marcy Goldman

February calls for a palate perker -something to pep up the post-holiday (pre Purim) taste buds. I chose sesame seeds for this month’s flavor focus. Versatile sesame seeds turn up in Jewish cuisine in all manner of breads, pastries, and sometimes, as in the new spin on Israeli Salad, in savory dishes as well.  Read more. . .

Recipes:

Cheddar and Sesame Challah Pull Apart Bread - Buttery, cheesy, crusty. This bread is cut into rough slabs before rising. Once it rises, it merges into a unique loaf. Perfect with a mid winter Caesar Salad lunch or an omelet supper. This bread is bigger than the sum of its parts.
Giant Sesame Cookies - This makes a huge batch of cookies – but they freeze well (and/or you can divide recipe in half). These cookies are wonderfully satisfying and rolled in sesame seeds before baking makes them crunchy and irresistible afterwards. Nothing beats the crisp texture and toasty goodness of lightly baked sesame seeds. Perfect with a homemade espresso or café au lait.
Israeli Salad with Ginger Sesame Dressing - This is a cool, make-ahead salad that takes a summery concept and matches it with sesame Oriental panache. It gets a double whammy of sesame power in the sesame seed oil and the use of tahini (sesame seed paste) which also helps thicken the dressing.
Sesame Seed Halvah Orange Pound Cake - A little vanilla halvah offers flavor and tenderizes this delicate pound cake just so.

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See you next time!