Oatmeal Cake (furnished by Kim) thanks!!!

Oatmeal Cake from Southern Living

1 ½ cups boiling water
1 cup uncooked regular or quick-cooking oats
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
2 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ to 2 cups flaked coconut
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/3 cup milk

Stir together 1 ½ cups boiling water and oats; let stand 20 minutes.

Beat ½ cup butter, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup brown sugar in a large bowl at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; add cinnamon and next 3 ingredients, beating well.

Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt, just until moistened; beat in oatmeal. Pour batter into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Combine remaining 1 ½ cups brown sugar, coconut, and remaining ingredients in a bowl, spread over warm cake.

Broil 8 inches from heat 2 to 3 minutes or until golden. Note from Kim here – Pay attention during this phase or you will burn the coconut.

Serves 12 to 15

Chocolate Cherry Cookies

Adapted from The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook, by Tanya Petrovna (Shambhala, 2003).
Simple Solution
Here is a sweet but healthy way to tell someone you care: packed in a lunch box, or served on a fancy plate with a snifter, these flavorful treats are dairy-free, but long on flavor and pleasure.
This well-known vegan head-chef at the Native Foods Restaurant has come up with some sublimely healthy--but sinfully delicious--treats. In these fetching little cookies, for instance, dried cherries add healthful antioxidants! You can feel good about baking a batch for your loved ones.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached or whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 cups organic sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup nondairy trans-fat-free margarine or vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sunflower oil
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup pecan or walnut pieces
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried sweet cherries (chopped if large)
1. Preheat oven to 300F. In a mixing bow, combine flour, baking soda, and sea salt.
2. In a separate bowl, cream sugar, maple syrup, margarine, oil, coconut milk, and vanilla. Gradually mix in dry ingredients. Stir in pecans, chocolate chips, and dried cherries.
3. Drop in spoonfuls on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes.
Makes 3 dozen.

The Scents of Love - How-To

By Wendy Strgar, founder and owner of Good Clean Fun Inc.
Simple Solution
Essential Oils are some of the oldest known aphrodisiacs on the planet. As far back as Cleopatra, lovers have employed the use of scent in their intimate rituals. In fact, the power of scent in love is profound. True scent--flowers, spices, herbs and essential oils--travels from your nose to the limbic center of the brain in .05 seconds. Unlike our other senses, aroma is carried directly to the area of the brain, the limbic system, one of the most primitive parts of the brain which holds memory, emotion and sexuality.
Discover the range of scents that have been used through history to evoke romantic encounters and learn how to try this yourself.
Fragrance is the primary gateway to the mind, scents are recognized more quickly than pain, remembered more permanently than sight and more precisely than sound. Smelling something again after years brings up such strong memories, including love: the scent of a cologne or perfume of an old lover will forever bring back that first kiss. Scent is also an aroma that can repel: it is almost impossible to kiss someone that smells bad to you.
Essential Oils
Fragrances from plants and trees are contained in tiny droplets of highly volatile oils which are considered the essence of the plant. Essential oils are produced and stored in minute oil glands located throughout the plant (on the leaves, flowers or in the bark). The oils that are extracted from the plants readily disperse into the air and are described in part by their speed of evaporation. Scents are blended using their different qualities: The top notes, the scent that arrives and dissipates first, the middle notes that create the body of the scent and the base notes that linger and finish the scent.
If you are excited to work at making your own love oils, I encourage you to access some of the great books that are available on essential oils.
Safety precautions are extremely important in working with essential oils. They are composed of hundreds of complex chemicals and are not designed for direct contact with the skin. Always dilute your essential oils in high quality carrier oils which are vegetable or nut oils. Jojoba oil is a great base oil because the body recognizes it as sebum, and also has an indefinite shelf life.
This is a very short list of a few of the most well known aphrodisiac essential oils: Clary Sage, Black Pepper, Ginger, Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Rose Absolute, Sandlewood, Vetivert, and Frankincense. I can assure you of the efficacy and romantic allure of these scents, as I use all of them in my love oil formulations that we sell across the country.
Here are three easy ways to enjoy essential oils: Remember, essential oils are measured by the drop, a little goes a very long way.
-Try an atomizer, which is easily purchased, where the oil is dropped in a small amount of water and then heated with a candle which makes the oil evaporate and scent the air.
-Blend a few of your favorite essential oils in 1-2 TBSP of high quality carrier oil.
- Put 8-12 drops of essential oil in a bath.
Open heart
4 drops of rose
4 drops of Frankincense
2 drops Vetivert
Passion and Depth
4 drops Clary Sage
4 drops Black Pepper
4 drops Sandlewood
True love
3 drops Jasmine
3 drops Rose
4 drops Frankincence
2 drops Vetivert
Wendy Strgar is the founder and owner of Good Clean Fun Inc. The company offers a wide range of love products including love oils, water base personal lubricants, love flower perfumes and soy/hemp candles. Formulating new products is the most fun, Getting them to market - that’s the tricky part. You can see her products at Good Clean Fun Inc. or Naked Scents.

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake
Adapted from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann (Harvard Common Press, 2005).
Simple Solution
Now here is a marvelous idea: a decadent pudding cake that you cook and serve in a slow cooker. A custard-like sauce forms on the bottom with a chocolatey layer of sponge cake on top. You can serve it warm, room temperature, or chilled. Calling all chocolate-lovers: this one sounds absolutely divine.
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sweet ground chocolate, such as Ghirardelli
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Topping:
1/4 cup sweet cocoa powder, such as Ghirardelli
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1. Coat the slow cooker with butter-flavor nonstick cooking spray.
2. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the flour, ground chocolate, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center, add the milk, melted butter, and vanilla, stir the liquid ingredients until well blended, and continue stirring in widening circles, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients, until you have a smooth batter. It will be thick. Spread evenly in the cooker.
3. To make the topping, combine all the ingredients in another medium-size bowl and whisk until smooth. Gently pour over the batter in the cooker, do not stir. Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed and the top layer is set, 2 to 2 1/4 hours.
Serves 4-6.

Zesty Fresh Citrus Dessert

Zesty Fresh Citrus Dessert
By the Care2 Staff.
Simple Solution
After the indulgence of the holidays, a fresh-fruit dessert to tingle the palate and satisfy the craving for sweets without sugar is just the ticket. (Besides, Valentine’s Day is coming, so we have to save some room for chocolate!) This seasonal citrus delight is simplicity itself, but the sweet-tart results are so refreshing and lively.
With so many of us concerned about too much sugar and too many empty carbs in our diets, it is lovely to know you can have such dessert pleasure straight from the tree, with just a little preparation. Loads of Vitamin C delivered with panache, right here:
INGREDIENTS
This dessert benefits from using a variety of citrus fruits, so feel free to cruise the supermarket and use whatever you can find that looks fresh and appetizing. We give suggestions here:
INGREDIENTS
5 well-chilled assorted citrus fruits: navel oranges, tangelos, blood oranges, pink grapefruit, regular grapefruit
Optional enhancers:
Splash of pomegranate juice, champagne, or other sparkling wine
1. Using a sharp knife, remove the peel and white pith from each citrus fruit. Holding each fruit in your hand, carefully cut the flesh free from in between the segments of membrane, working over a bowl so that the citrus flesh falls into the bowl. Squeeze the juice from the remaining membranes into the bowl and discard what’s left in your hand.
2. Toss with a splash of pomegranate juice or sparkling wine, if using, and serve immediately.
Serves 4.

Rustic Italian Bean Soup

Rustic Italian Bean Soup
Adapted from The Findhorn Book of Vegetarian Recipes, by Kay Lynne Sherman (2003).
Simple Solution
This classic Italian soup is a one-pot supper filled with Mediterranean-style nutrition, good for heart and soul. When wholegrain pasta is added to tender kidney beans and vegetables simmered to perfection, the results are hearty and warming, a perfect meal for the end of winter. Satisfying without any dairy, and reminiscent of Tuscan farmhouse cuisine at its best.
INGREDIENTS
1 onion, chopped
Inner stalks of a head of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 quarts water or good-quality vegetable stock
1 cup dried kidney beans, rinsed and soaked in water to cover overnight
1 teaspoon dried sage
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and diced
2 carrots, scrubbed and diced
1~24-ounce can tomatoes, diced, with juice
1 1/2 cups kale, thick stems removed, coarsely chopped
4 ounces dried pasta of choice
1 teaspoon dried basil
Salt to taste
1. In a heavy-bottomed soup pot, heat the olive oil and saute onion and celery until tender and beginning to brown. Add water or stock and bring to a boil.
2. Drain soaked kidney beans and add to soup, along with sage. Cook until beans are tender, about an hour.
3. Add potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and tomato juice to soup; simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 1 hour, adding more water or stock if needed.
4. Add kale and pasta and cook around 10 minutes, until pasta is tender. Add salt to taste and serve hot.
Serves 10 to 12.