A few good muffins…it really doesn’t hurt to have a handful of go-to recipes for these underrated (and too infrequently made) breakfast and coffee-time treats. Why don’t I make more muffins? After all, they are easy (even kids can stir them up) and come together quickly. In a matter of […]
Certain ingredients create certain sensations, like those whose tastes create the illusion of cool, despite not actually being a lower temperature. Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar is one…a fine dusting of this soft sweetness automatically tempers any sort of sweet — even one as strongly warm-flavored as coffee or chocolate or cinnamon […]
Certain baked goods win in the comfort category, those old, tried-and-true traditional recipes that make you feel better just to think about them. Homey treats like apple pie, biscuits and chocolate chip cookies have that soothing quality. So, too, in this category are blueberry muffins. Blueberry muffins have always been […]
Sometimes, you can’t see the recipe for the blooms. I’m twisting an old phrase here, but it applies to my obvious lack of perception when trying to decide on a scone recipe for this month. I was set on something with raspberries or white chocolate or coconut. Or white chocolate-raspberry-coconut, […]
Spring fever hit me hard this year. It began way back in January, with the greening from the rains here in California, and it has not let up. It has had me pondering the moon, cricking my ear for every croak and chirp, sniffing every blossom. It had me sitting […]
Life, baking and the Internet can sometimes take you down paths you never expected to go. On one innocent afternoon about a year ago, I was “tossed†one of those random food videos that come our way, generated by our googling interests. Sometimes when these are sent in my direction, […]
Fusion baking has become popular — taking two favorite baked goods and making one new hybrid, aka, the “scuffin,†cro-puff,†“cronut,†“pretzel challah.†Cookies have been turned into pizzas, and pies have been enlarged into sheet cake-sized “slabs.†Versatile and sturdy scones lend themselves very easily to some hybridized new […]
The first time I tasted parsnips — and I’m embarrassed to admit that it was not all that long ago — I was astounded. To say that parsnips are like the freshest, sweetest, spiciest carrot is too simplistic. The complexity of a parsnip’s flavor is far more reaching. Slicing into […]
I’ve made zillions (and eaten nearly as many) of chocolate chip cookies. I’ve written here before that it was the first recipe I remember baking, climbing on a chair at age seven to assemble my ingredients and make my first batch from the recipe on the back of the yellow […]
February was National Chocolate Month, so I took it upon myself to do as much sampling of different forms of chocolate as was humanly (and healthily) possible, including that magic and luxurious elixir of winter — hot chocolate. I’ve always had a few issues with hot chocolate mixes. One would […]