That's me in Cooking Light!

I have a weakness for cooking magazines, and Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, Gourmet and Taste of Home all come through my mailbox on a monthly basis. (Bon Appetit and Taste of Home are gifts from my thoughtful mom and mother-in-law, respectively). Gourmet and Bon Appetit are fun to read from a "what foodies are eating" perspective, but I can't say I cook a whole lot from them. I have used a number of recipes from Taste of Home , but their recipes can be pretty heavy.

For my day-to-day cooking, I use Cooking Light the most. I like the fact that their recipes are a good compromise between taste and nutrition -- they may not be quite as tasty as their high-calorie counterparts, but they also don't use such wretched products as fat-free salad dressing and sugar-free Jello.

That's why I'm especially excited and honored to be in the March issue of Cooking Light. I was a finalist in the magazine's reader recipe contest last October. They did a very nice job photographing my cookies, and I'm even ok with the photo of me (which is a rarity).

My recipe for Autumn Maple Cutout Cookies can be found in the March issue of Cooking Light, or on theCooking Light Web site. Now, these are a light cookie, so don't expect that they are going to taste like a gooey, chewy, full-fat cookie! They are very crispy, like a gingersnap, and not very sweet. They are something that go nicely with tea or coffee. I'm not sure they are a "wow" recipe, though, so I wasn't surprised that the recipe was beaten by a cupcake.

If you want to read about my experience at the contest, here are links to Day 1 and Day 2.