[P]robably the most curious item I’ve ever seen brought to a potluck was a tortilla espanola. It was served in a basket, wrapped in a towel…a potato and onion omelette, so firm it was cut in wedges and could be eaten by hand. Having consumed more eggs over my years […]
[I]ts appearance is simple; its diminutive texture, light as air. Yet the hot cross bun carries a lot of symbolic weight. Originally a little tea roll created to celebrate spring, it was adorned with a cross and — if eaten during the Easter season, usually on Good Friday — has […]
[H]ave you ever juiced a key lime? You can get blood more easily from a turnip or paint from a marble. Yet, I spent an afternoon recently wrangling with these tiny green but potent creatures, feeling oversized myself, giant wooden reamer in hand, as I violated nearly a dozen limes […]
[I] wanted to feature a spring bread in honor of St. Patrick’s Day, preferably a scone. But my mind kept going back to something I baked several years ago and hoped to return to again. Was an Apple Scone Cake — a layered scone and apple creation — a bread, […]
[P]eople may joke about the Irish and potatoes, but the true story of what happened to the Irish in the 1800s is no laughing matter. If you know anything about the Great Famine, you know the Irish were oppressed on their own land, forced into tenant farmer-hood, working on properties […]
[S]ay what you will — or say nothing at all to remain nutritionally chaste — but fried dough is a thing unmatched. Looking beyond any wickedness, how can one say that a hot doughnut, a hushpuppy, a fritter — all warm from the fryer — is anything but a good […]
[C]ertain things quell a troubled soul like no other. Comfort foods — they have just the right combination of taste, texture, color and smell to bring immediate relief and send all worry and strife scurrying. If I could choose just one comfort food — or one dessert, for that matter […]
[O]f the vast array of grains available to cook and bake with on the market, I continue to return again and again to a favorite — oats. The old standby, the stick-to-your-ribs standard, that reminds one of childhood and the comforting warmth a bowl can bring. So humble, yet versatile. […]
[T]his blog is devoted to certain recipes, tried and true; others, brand new. I love to try something I’ve never done before. The bread-of-the-month adventure reflects this, and with the end of 2013, I approached making a holiday bread I’d eaten many times but never made myself. Each holiday season […]
[T]he phenomenon of reaching for the crunchy/salty in times of need — stress, depression, boredom, etc. — is not new. Studies have shown that the crunchy/salty elevates the mood, with both a texture and taste satisfaction. Thus, popcorn and other crispy sorts have always been high on my list. And […]