[C]learly — as one could see from the name of this blog — I am a scone fan. I’ve written of my love and admiration of scones here before, but I don’t have a problem making a new scone recipe to remind me of everything good — and great — […]
[I] have made countless loaves of banana bread over the years, always hoping for THE one…the one that will end my search for the perfect version. Then, I can just stop trying and always have MY go-to method at the ready. I’ve made banana breads that have ended up too […]
[J]ust what are sugarplums, anyway? According to Clement Moore’s classic holiday story poem, “’Twas the Night Before Christmas,†children had visions of them dancing in their heads. And sugarplum fairies flit magically in the most well-known and traditional of holiday ballets, “The Nutcracker.†When I have done my own envisioning […]
[S]ometimes, when you do a baking blog, it’s nice to make something a little easier, sans oven. In an arena of lengthy ingredient lists and stages of processes (creaming butter, sifting flour, proofing yeast, zesting citrus, chopping nuts, rolling dough, frosting layers, etc.), a simple cup of hot, warm comfort […]
[P]eople talk — and joke — a lot about pumpkin spice, but have you noticed chai spice showing up a-plenty, too, in recent years? It’s been a slow integration, this chai thing, but it now seems to be a part of nearly everything — from tea or coffee to desserts. […]
[W]hen I was a kid, I had all the cool chores. I got to shell the peas, gathered to the brim of a bottomless five-gallon paint bucket. I got to guard the rows of cabbages with a swatter, set to strike down any moths fluttering along. I got to lie […]
[B]eyond some of her work and her unforgettable image — dark-haired, piercing-eyed, flower-crowned — I didn’t know enough about the Mexican artist and icon Frida Kahlo until the 2002 biopic “Frida,†starring Salma Sayek, in a stirring performance examining her life. That movie, for me, ignited an admiration for the […]
[T]hroughout my childhood, I was treated to a tale of candy. The imagination can almost act as the proverbial “candy store,†and I was the kid who went there, as my parents recounted a magical place. Next to a local movie theater, there existed a candy store where the proprietor […]
[I] know that I’m not the only one who associates doughnuts with Halloween, although I suppose I could associate doughnuts with anything, given a chance. Sunset magazine also pondered the connection between the traditionally fried treat and our favorite fall holiday. In an online article, Sunset reminisced on issues of […]
[I]’ve been thinking a lot about stars lately, in part, because of the season, but even earlier in the year than that because I noticed a very bright star in the sky that I’ve come to look for every morning. Sometimes this star is companioned by a crisp slice of […]