ShareTweet There’s a certain magic to cooking, to taking a few raw ingredients and transforming them into lasagna, quiche, or apple pie. Whipping up egg whites into tall peaks is far more thrilling than pulling a rabbit out of hat. In my mother’s kitchen, the magic is in another dimension. Operating with a few dog-eared… Continue Reading
Category Archives: baking
Sweet, Dark Cherry Clafouti
ShareTweet Baby birds have to leave the nest some time. We drove North, way North around Lake Michigan this weekend to drive Jack to summer sleep away camp. I made his bed while he paced, eager for us to leave. But I took my time making it warm and comfy. A mother knows… soft sheets… Continue Reading
Sconepalooza: Blueberry, Chocolate, and Tea Scented Raisin Scones
ShareTweet Great cookbooks bear the marks of passionate cooking: splotches of batter, smears of butter, dark chocolate stains. My recipe packet from the French Pastry School is so splattered that it takes it to a whole new level. I’ve been walking around for days, cradling it lovingly like a Bible, but a little daunted to… Continue Reading
Are We Ever Too Old To Enjoy Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce?
ShareTweet Is there anything better than a hot fudge sundae? I spent a summer scooping ice cream at Haagen Daz in Paris, developing a scooping muscle in my right hand that I still have to this day. I wish I had a picture to share of the sexy little lace apron and black skirt I… Continue Reading
Strawberry Yogurt Cake: Great for Snack or Breakfast
ShareTweet My kids have 6o minutes left of school this year. 60 minutes. I barely have time to gulp down a cup of coffee after dropping them off before I have to turn around and pick them up, wired and bouncing off the walls, free to play for three whole months. Yes. Three months. Thanks… Continue Reading
Food As Love: Chocolate Toffee Meringue Trifle
ShareTweet Food is love. My courtship with my husband evolved over food. On our first date, he made me dinner, a sweet and tangy chicken stew that we balanced on our knees in his tiny studio. The next night, I cooked for him: a simple French meal of sole with a light sauce and some… Continue Reading
Indulge with this Flourless Chocolate Cake. Stop Dreading Passover Desserts.
ShareTweet Why do Passover desserts have to be something endured rather than enjoyed? Chocolate covered matzoh, drier than the desert Passover cake mixes, and stridently colored fruit slices … none of these so-called treats do it for me. Instead of trying to replace forbidden flour, why not celebrate its absence by indulging in a little… Continue Reading
Rustic Pear Tart
ShareTweet Rustic Pear Tart Amish Chicken Slow Roasted Baby Beets Hand-Carved Turkey Heirloom Tomatoes Micro Greens Isn’t it amazing how one well chosen adjective can make a dish sound irresistible? Once a marketer, always a marketer. My days slogging hours devising marketing strategies in a little cubicle are long behind me, but my fascination with… Continue Reading
In Honor of National Pi Day: Shortcut Peach Tarte Tatin
ShareTweet Today is National PI Day, which pretty much takes the cake (ha!) for random national holidays. The fun factor of anything involving pie definitely overcomes the randomness factor and makes it definitely worth celebrating by making, buying, giving, and eating lots of pie. National Pi Day is tied with World Nutella Day in my… Continue Reading
Diving Into the World of Chocolate at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy
ShareTweet I spent a delicious morning yesterday diving into the world of chocolate at the Callebaut Chocolate Academy. The class was Chocolate 101. It was a thorough overview of the chocolate making process that concluded with a chocolate tasting and demonstration of chocolate crystallization by Chef Richard Cusick. I’m not going to pretend that tasting… Continue Reading
Butter Bliss Valentine
ShareTweet Some women buy shoes. I buy butter. Since my husband got an iPad, books, magazines, music and games suddenly became completely useless presents, destined to sit in a sad pile on his nightstand. So instead of resorting to hand colored sex coupons, I gave him the next best thing: butter. Before you cringe and… Continue Reading
A Sweet Valentine’s Baking Giveaway
ShareTweet Just in time for Valentine’s Day, I have a heart themed baking set to give away. The prize is courtesy of a new teen and tween girl website called Sweety High. Kids can also compete to win a grand prize baking kit with more than 20 pieces by submitting pictures of their very best… Continue Reading
Chocolate Kissed Dulce de Leche Cookies: my Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap Reveal
ShareTweet This December, over 600 bloggers took part across the world in the first annual Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap. And today is the big reveal day. We’ve definitely done our part to revive the ailing US post office with all the packages flying around the country in the last week! So without further ado,… Continue Reading
The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap
ShareTweet I love cookie exchanges. Love everything about them. The planning, the cooking, the opportunity to show off, the eating, the sugar coma, and, most of all, the end result: the addition of vetted, delicious new recipes to my Christmas cookie repertoire. Cookie exchanges are a great time to experiment and test out what cookies… Continue Reading
Gold Medal White Whole Wheat Flour Giveaway
ShareTweet Whole grains are important for growing bodies, and I try to maximize my kids’ fiber by buying whole grain products, but it can be a tough sell. Whole grain goldfish crackers and whole grain cereals are consumed without complaints, but they are not big fans of brown pasta or any bread that is remotely… Continue Reading
a Totally Cool Totally Tween Birthday Cake
ShareTweet We’ve been navigating the waters of tweenhood for a few years now, but they still feel like uncharted territory, where vicious bouts of eye rolling await at every turn. What was cool and acceptable last week becomes horribly embarrassing the next. From peace signs to fluffy puppies, nothing is safe. While I enjoy getting… Continue Reading
Sour Cream Gjetost Peach Pie
ShareTweet Other people’s grandmothers always seemed so special to me as a child. There was something sacred, something intensely private about hearing my friends address their grandmother with their own special name, whether it was Mamie, Meme, or Grand-Mere. Witnessing their interaction was like peeping into a keyhole at their thrillingly different family traditions. Occasionally,… Continue Reading
Inspiration for a Double Birthday Celebration
ShareTweet We try to stretch out birthday celebrations as long as possible in our house, waking up to a pile of presents and closing the day with a big birthday cake. Because my daughters share a birthday, I usually prepare months in advance to make sure each one feels special on her shared special day,… Continue Reading
Brownie Bite Surprises and a Decadent Chocolate Giveaway Worth $176
ShareTweet Have you ever been invited to a home shopping party at a friend’s house? Of course you have. And I’m sure the invite puts that same pit in your stomach as it does in mine. You feel compelled to accept, knowing that you’ll then feel compelled to buy an expensive piece of jewelry or… Continue Reading
Postpartum Nutella Roll Up Sponge Cake
ShareTweet It’s easy to lose yourself amidst the routine of newborn care. After a few sleepless nights, I find it hard to remember my middle name, never mind the passions that enrich my life. After three days of caring for Sophie, I suddenly felt the urge to cook. I wanted to fill my kitchen with… Continue Reading
Celebrating a Life Cut Short Through Creamy Peanut Butter Pie
ShareTweet Does your husband, your child, your loved one have a favorite dish, something that fills you with love every time you bake it for them? For Jennie Perillo’s husband, Mikey, it was this Creamy Peanut Butter Pie. He passed away suddenly last Sunday, leaving behind Jennie and her two young daughters. They’d been busy… Continue Reading