Summer's here, cue "SkinnyBoy" Banana Bread

Inspired by a recent binge on Bravo shows (how can you not love Real Housewives or Top Chef?), I have been trying new ways to make my cooking and baking a little lighter.

One of the "Real Housewives" of NYC, actually, I should say, a former 'real housewife', Bethenny Frankel, who now has her own hilarious show, "Bethenny getting married?", is the successful natural foods cook and author behind the SkinnyGirl Margarita and a line of books on dieting and healthy eating.

Jason is a lucky man. Lucky and brave.

A Very Special Birthday

Back at the end of April (oh boy, I'm behind) my good friend Katherine (Kay) turned 21, quite a step up from 20, so I felt that I would really have to try and top the cake I made for her last year, a citrus-flavored yellow butter cake filled with lemon curd, raspberries and whipped cream and covered with a white chocolate ganache. Yes, it was delicious.

This year, as you can see, I went a slightly darker route.  I went with Ina Garten's chocolate cake and a delicious frosting from "Hey, that tastes good!", a cocoa and espresso mascarpone whipped cream.

I took my inspiration from Kay's recent world travels- she was studying in Bologna, Italy last semester when I was in Barcelona...