So how have you handled our weather, and all the nerve wracking waiting for the next advisory? I "stress-baked" most of the weekend along with a lot of cleaning and laundry, and making sure my supplies were up to speed. But no matter what, I’m taking all the stress goodies to work. I do love to bake, and it’s rather soothing to have the scent of vanilla, cinnamon and lemon throughout the house, but I’m not all that good at the hands off portion of the program. So I share! But I also wanted to use up some things in the fridge on the off chance the power would go off while I wasn’t home.

   We do share a lot at the station, and believe me, with the hours we can put in when a storm is in the area, never hurts to have something homemade around. And to try out a few new recipes is always an adventure. So I Googled a few of those copycat recipe web sites, found one called Picky Palate and came up with one that’s supposed to be just like the Lemon Pound Cake you can find at Starbucks. The beauty of this one is that it’s another one that starts with a boxed cake mix, and it will make two loafs per recipe. Freeze one for yourself and bring one to a friend that might also be stressing out a bit.

   I also came across one for Jumbo Sweet Cherry Muffins. You can use those delicious fresh cherries that are just about out of season (but there’s plenty in my fridge) but I had a large bag of dried cherries and rehydrated them and it worked just fine. Instead of the liqueur that was suggest for the hydrating liquid I added just a touch of orange extract that worked very nicely. There may be on part of the recipe that might make you wonder exactly how much is that? They have a "pinch" of cinnamon and nutmeg, and generally that amounts to no more than an eighth of a teaspoon. And for nutmeg which is a strong spice, feel free to just actually pinch a bit from the spice.

   Kelly’s Kitchen wishes all of you a safe week, and sweet dreams of blue skies and sunshine. I think the RNC would like that...

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM KELLY’S KITCHEN

"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable."- Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa