It isn’t the holidays until someone breaks out a cheese log, am I right? Well this year I guess that someone is me. I can honestly say I’ve never really been all that into cheese logs. The whole concept is so odd…rolling out cheese into log form, crusting it in nuts and serving it with crackers? It’s just always seemed like this strange retro holiday food that’s continued to show up on appetizer tables inexplicably over the years.

I decided to make one – what the heck? What convinced me was the ingredient list in this recipe, which actually sounded like something I’d want to eat. Feta, cream cheese, Swiss cheese and honey? That combo was sure to be super tangy and a little bit sweet. And I’ve definitely demonstrated my affinity for cranberries and pecans over the past month. It would come together quickly and I could easily refrigerate and transport it to the holiday party I’m attending on Tuesday. Really…what’s not to like?

So I abandoned my past judgments on the issue and made one tasty holiday cheese log.

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Despite being almost two years old, my daughter still prefers her sweet potatoes in the form of baby food purées with nothing else added. I suspect this has as much to do with the appeal of the natural sweet potato flavor as it does with the entertainment value of practicing the transfer of bright-orange mush from jar to mouth with her new spoon-wielding skills. If you’ve ever tried sweet potatoes just on their own you know they’re naturally pretty sweet. But if you’ve ever tasted streusel topping you also know that it pretty much makes anything even better.

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I have to admit, whenever I hear the words “pecan pie” I immediately think of the line “But I would be proud to partake of your pecan piiiiiiiiie…” from that sweet museum scene in When Harry Met Sally, when Harry is gearing up to ask Sally out:

It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years since that movie first came out! It’s still one of my all-time favorites. Anyhow, I digress…back to the pie.

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Do you have a “baking buddy”?  Mine is my friend Gillian. Since we both love to bake more than we can (reasonably) consume in our respective households we’ve developed this fun tradition of exchanging baked goods via our husbands, who work out together at the gym every week. My favorite items that she sends are some amazing banana muffins with pecan halves on top. Those little pecan halves always seem to make the muffins extra special and inviting. So when I saw the recipe for these melt-in-your-mouth Pecan Praline Cookies – complete with pecan halves as toppers – I knew I wanted to make them. And I made sure to send over a dozen to Gillian too.

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We love living in California but if my husband and I could change just one thing it would be to have our families closer. Both sets of parents and most of our siblings live on the East Coast. On Mother’s Day we catch up with our moms on the phone and send cards but we usually aren’t near enough to sit down together for a good old-fashioned Mother’s Day brunch. So this year, in honor of our moms, I’m preparing a little “virtual” brunch on Cooking On the Side  – along with an IOU to make the real thing the next time we see each other. Two dishes, this post and the next, both special occasion-worthy and incredibly delicious.

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