That Marie-Hélène’s Apple Cake I made last week was so easy and delicious that I’ve made another one already! The surprising and somewhat unexpected reason why it has been such a winner around here however, is the fact that it doesn’t call for cinnamon. You see, cinnamon is not something my entire family agrees on […]

I ran into some “rare late summer peaches” at the farmer’s market that were surprisingly sweet even though it was rainy and drizzly this weekend. It made me wonder just how ‘local’ this local produce is? I really hate to think our farmer’s market is a fraud but these peaches were REALLY good. I decided […]

The love affair with the ice cream maker continues… I’ve been awash in figs the last few weeks trying to take advantage of the wonderful Black Mission and Honey figs that have been showing up at our local farmers market. Mostly they have been destined to become versions of the same fig jam we made […]

You didn’t think I would give up on candy making so easily did you? When I get an idea into my head I don’t let a little set back stop me from figuring it out. My first attempt at a chewy caramel confection ended up brittle and crunchy. Much like an Almond Roca so I […]

My bigotry free ice cream maker continues to get a workout. Its amazing how good food can be when you omit the hate from your kitchen tools! This past weekend my hubby and I were out doing errands when we remembered we needed a new garden hose and a wheely thing that a hose goes […]

(Note: I wasn’t going to post this particular creation as it didn’t quite turn out the way I had intended. I wanted a chewy, “bacony” caramel and instead got a crunchy toffee. I was convinced to share otherwise by a friend who had tasted more than a few pieces and thought it would be a […]

Please bear with me but I am going to try to go somewhere with this ramble. First, just take a look at that ice cream! All I could say while I was stuffing it in my face was “wow, just wow.” This dish struggled against all the odds to be born…and the fact that it […]

This torte deserve fame. “Original Plumb Torte” has been in my clipping pile for so long that I can’t even remember how it got there.

Summer is pretty fantastic if you have friends who grow their own fruit. Sure, vegetable gardens are in full swing — but we all know that it is the fruits that makes the world special. Know what I’m taking about? I mean, who here hasn’t been on the receiving end of a neighbor’s overgrown zucchini? […]

Every now and then I run across a recipe for something with what immediately sounds like unusual ingredients for the genre. Then the more I think about it the more I ‘get it’. Such was the case when one of my blog idols, The Food Librarian, plucked this recipe from the Giada Delaurentis archive at […]

I’m not much of a cake-baker. I’m grateful for the fact that frosting can cover a multitude of sins. I’m also smart enough to know that people first eat a cake with their eyes so that by the time that they actually take a bite they have already decided if they are going to like […]

Hot Cookies I’m in full party plan mode right now. For me, the key to party survival is in the planning and menu selection. That is all done now and we are in the “Time minus 24 hours” stage where the shopping gets done and any dish that can be made ahead of time is […]

I made two different batches of Chocolate Chip Cookies this past week. I had purchased several varieties of chips and wanted to nail down a good recipe. First up was the Alton Brown’s “chewy” recipe that I posted earlier. While it certainly did not disappoint I thought I owed one more entry in the contest […]

If it weren’t for the fact that the recipe for these cookies was already plastered all over the internet I would probably refuse to post it and never tell a soul how they are made. Things of high value are meant to be protected and kept scarce. Alas, they come from Dorrie Greenspan and she […]