Someone told me last week that I don’t really qualify as an amateur baker, since I’ve been writing this column way too long for that, but I still claim the title, especially after taking on a recent huge project. A dear friend of the newspaper, Debbie Pierce, celebrated her retirement last week, and since we …
Continue reading “Cupcakes the best way to say ‘auf Wiedersehn’ to a good friend”
There is really only one part of winter that I like: getting to eat soup. But then I realized one day that you really don’t have to reserve having a big bowl of soup, stew or chili to the cold months. Honestly, despite being a warm food, it’s not an awful summer meal. You don’t …
Continue reading “Think you can’t eat chili in summer? That’s your ‘poblano’”
We attended a high school graduation this past week, and since I only knew one graduate, I had a little time to let my mind wander during the ceremony. I thought about how making friends has changed for me in the 20-plus years since I was in high school. It used to be so easy: …
Continue reading “Look cool at your next gathering with an icebox cake”
Any time I find pork shoulder at a great price at our local grocery store, it’s a no-brainer for me to put it in the cart and let Joey know that I wouldn’t mind if he threw it on his smoker over the weekend. That’s why it was a little weird last week when Joey …
Continue reading “You ‘nita’ stop what you’re doing and try this pressure cooker recipe”
According to the website “The Kitchen Project,” asparagus is a very old vegetable. Historical records show it was grown in ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt. It takes a few years to get a plant going, but once you have an asparagus plant established, the growing season will last about three months, and a healthy plant …
Continue reading “A fresh veggie-based pasta sauce will keep them ‘aspara’guessing”
In the past seven years, I have written a number of columns that stemmed from my life goal of being the “cool aunt.” This week’s is another in that installment, after I asked our family group chat if anyone had any dessert requests for Easter, and my sister responded with one from my niece for …
Continue reading “Take a poke at creating a whimsical cake this week”
Sometimes, in reflecting on my childhood, I realize just what a weird kid I was. I’ll forever be thankful that I had supportive parents who had a “go with the flow” attitude about my idiosyncracies. One of those strange traits flashed in my mind recently, when I decided I wanted to make a Mexican-style rice …
Continue reading “Prepare to paint the town red with a from-scratch Mexican rice”
I had a moment recently where I thought I was going crazy. Joey was making something that required kitchen twine, which I knew I had, and I even knew which drawer it was in. But after shuffling everything around in that drawer and several others, I just couldn’t find that darn ball of twine. About …
Continue reading “Holy ‘mole’ were these enchiladas out of this world”
I’ve struggled over the years with the definition of coffeecake. Generally speaking, it’s cake that is meant to be enjoyed with coffee and doesn’t actually contain any. But then I run into a recipe like I made for this week, which is a coffee cake—a cake that includes coffee. We hosted an event at the …
Continue reading “Every night is date night with this great coffee cake”
Joey and I have a shared joke when we go out to eat about which one of us “won” dinner, especially when we’re trying someplace new. A few weeks ago, Joey definitely won. He ordered a special that included fish (which I was not all that interested in) on top of an absolutely amazing mushroom …
Continue reading “Prepare to be mesme‘riced’ by creamy risotto”
