Because sometimes, you've just got to give in to the craving...and because there really is nothing better than a homemade chocolate fudge sauce - especially when it's served over a bowl of your favourite vanilla bean ice cream.

You can't be good all the time. I can't, anyway. I do try, obviously (don't we all?), but let's be honest, that Skinny Bitch voice inside us all can be grating at times. And when that happens, sometimes it really is okay to say screw it, I'm having dessert.

This chocolate sauce is perfect for those moments - it's childish oodgy-goodginess is delightfully comforting, but its sophisticated velvety gloss reminds you that this is still a sauce for grown-ups.

What You Need

1. 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips (I love Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips)
2. 1/2 cup golden local honey
3. 1/4 cup half & half (you can also use double cream or heavy whipping cream, just remember it will up the cream factor - and the calories)
4. 1 tsp Pure Orange Extract

Optional: Substitute half of the half & half or cream for a single shot of dark espresso. You can also add a small amount of fresh orange zest.

What You Do

• Assemble your ingredients, then fill a medium-sized saucepan with water and place it on the stove on medium-high heat.
  
• Take a smaller saucepan and place it gently into the water in the medium saucepan so that you create a double boiler. (You must do this to avoid burning the chocolate).
  
• Place all ingredients in the smaller saucepan and stir constantly until it melts into a loose, glossy sauce. (If you prefer a looser, runnier sauce, add more half and half).
  
• Remove from heat, drizzle, pour or flood it over a bowl full of vanilla bean ice cream, and serve immediately (it goes perfectly with a strong black espresso).
  

There are few people who would disagree that one of life's simplest, most beautiful pleasures is a slow, lazy Sunday morning. One spent with a rich, dark coffee and the Sunday Times, preferably outside on the patio in the warm spring sun...

This morning I made a favorite sweet treat, my highly simplified version of sopapillas. I know they're probably not technically "true" sopapillas, but I started making these a few years ago as a last minute dessert and  have found them to be a great alternative to crepes, pancakes or waffles for breakfast. I love the fact that they're quick and effortless to prepare, so the decadently easy pace of the morning isn't interrupted with the assembling and juggling of myriad ingredients. In fact, you need only four items: flour tortillas (I love using spelt tortillas), canola oil (or some other vegetable oil - olive oil works too but changes the flavor), honey and ground cinnamon. That's it!

Just take a frying pan or saute pan and pour about 1/8 of an inch of oil into it (you need enough to "float" the tortilla on top, but not enough to drown it). Heat the oil until it just begins to bubble and spit, then drop one tortilla into it and fry it for a few seconds until it puffs up. Flip it over quickly and continue frying a few more seconds - the puffs will sink when you flip it then rise again. When the tortilla is mostly golden and it seems to be staying puffed, remove it from the pan with a spatula and place it on a plate. (I usually take a paper towel and blot up any extraneous oil at this point).

Pour as much honey as you want on top along with a light sprinkling of powdered cinnamon, then serve almost immediately, while the warmed honey winds and pools deliciously between the tortillas golden puffs and crenellations. To be truly decadent, follow Frontera Grill's example and add brown sugar, cinnamon and orange peel to your coffee...or make the most of the sweet and savory contrast with a deep black espresso, straight up. 

Ever since I first flipped through my latest read,  Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking, these banana muffins caught my eye. They're actually a variation on the Espresso Banana Muffins featured in the book, since I'm cutting out most caffeine and didn't want to include the espresso (though I might take up her suggestion of stirring some chocolate chunks into the next batch). Anyway, this makes a good baker's dozen, so I had enough to share with friends, too! 

These muffins were also a golden opportunity to take my new stainless steel KitchenAid Artisan 5qt Stand Mixer for a whirl...talk about a new favorite kitchen gadget - I can't keep my hands off it!  One caveat though. If you're used to light, cake-y sugary muffins, these are not for you. These are all about the banana and they're lighter on the sugar and denser than their store-bought or package-mix counterparts (which means they're actually filling, too - perfect for a working girl's breakfast on the go).

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 2 tsps baking powder (Swanson recommends aluminium-free)
• 1/2 tsp fine-grain sea salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted walnuts (this is where I depart from Swanson's recipe)
• 6 tbsps unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup Florida Crystals (natural cane sugar) 
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain yogurt (I actually used Stonyfield Farms Organic Vanilla yogurt)
• 1 1/2 cups mashed over-ripe bananas (since the only bananas available in Greenlife Grocery were small little organic ones, I used six small-medium sized bananas)
• unbleached paper baking cups
• muffin tray (12-cup)