I can certainly be accused of “procrastibaking†that “practice†of baking when you should (“shouldâ€?) be doing something else (I’m also guilty of its flipside — procrastinating on getting baking projects done). But in that same vein, I also fall under the spell of what I call “escape baking†or […]
It’s been colder than usual this winter. I’ll use that (or any) excuse to fire up the oven, morning, noon or night. The side benefits of baking are warming up the house (and spirit) and perfuming the air with something good. [I] came across a recipe in Elizabeth Alston’s “Biscuits […]
Amazing, when a recipe can restore one’s faith…in oneself, in taking risks, in trying something new, despite doubts. I tried a recipe recently that, by my accounts, seemed not only unlikely to work but definitely would not work under my hands (even with AWS’s experience at cooking and baking, she […]
Every holiday season, even as I bake cookies and make candy, my mind is never very far from cinnamon rolls. [I]’ve written here before (in my blog post of 12/17) of my mom’s cinnamon roll-making, nearly every Christmas for most of my childhood and beyond, the hours (beginning before any […]
It’s nice when making food can transport you…to another time, another place, another person, another season. Even a salad can do this. A salad! Sorry, but I have to admit, I often see salads as boring, and it could be my own fault, as I limit my imagination as far […]
Every year, as the holidays approach, I study countless cookbooks and recipes that share cookie traditions from other places, and for awhile, I’m overwhelmed in trying to choose which cookies I’m going to make. At a certain point, it gets to be too much — I get behind, and I […]
As I move scone-ward through the year, I try to look at seasonal flavors when testing out a variety of monthly scone recipes. The tastes of fall run into spices, nuts, earthy and orange-y colors, apples and pumpkins, and yes, carrots! I’m a huge carrot cake fan, and while this […]
The name Vincent Price, to most people ,immediately conjures something at the minimal spooky or sinister, at the most the stuff of nightmares. For decades, Price (who died in 1993), with his moody ominous presence (in the characters he portrayed) and THAT VOICE that was at once irresistible and shiver-inducing, […]
Just what is a torte? I have such limited experience with them. Actually, I have had no experience with them until making my first one recently — an irresistible recipe for Apple Cream Torte seemed to promise a range of many of the things I found delicious in dessert: a […]
Rarely a month passes that I don’t make a biscuit of some kind. They are simply my favorite bread, probably because they are so simple to make (and comforting to eat). I’ve been celebrating the scone all year with recipes each month and decided to honor the biscuit in September, […]