I have always been a sucker for poppy seeds. If there is a tray of pastries that includes poppy seed bread or muffins, that is what’s going on my plate. That nutty flavor is just irresistible. That being said, I rarely bake with poppy seeds, for some reason. I had to change that, and what …
Continue reading “‘Poppy’ in the kitchen and try some beautiful scratch-made cupcakes”
If anyone tries to tell you that I don’t suffer for my art, please correct them. After all, I spent a lovely afternoon recently, shoulders deep in my oven with some Easy Off and a scrubber, all thanks to this week’s recipe. Did my oven probably need a good scrub down anyway? Yeah. Probably. But …
Continue reading “Turn cookies on their heads with these pineapple treats”
The names people choose for recipes often crack me up. There’s the embarrassing-to-talk-about “better than sex” or “sex in a pan” variety of dishes, followed by “blue-ribbon” and “award-winning” options, and of course, there are a million recipes purporting to be “Mom’s” or “Grandma’s,” although few identify which matriarch those actually belong to. So you’ll …
Continue reading “Get lost in a piece of amazing cake”
Every week, I go have lunch with my Little for Big Brothers Big Sisters. We solve the world’s problems over school food and Uno cards as only a 13-year-old and a 39-year-old can. Recently, we discussed the nature of sandwiches. Is a hot dog a sandwich? How about a taco? Where do quesadillas come into …
Continue reading “A crustless pie recipe can really take the cake”
I have had cinnamon rolls on the brain lately. Making them from scratch has always intimidated me a bit, and after making a particularly dry batch a couple years ago, I just haven’t had the bravery to try them again. I have two distinctly different recipes—one from my grandma and one from my great aunt—that …
Continue reading “Overcome your baking fears and give these rolls a ‘swirl’”
I have been thinking about this week’s recipe for nearly a month. I was asked back then if I would be willing to make a dessert for Peace Connections’ annual soup supper and dessert auction. The event is a fundraiser for the Harvey County Circle of Hope, which does amazing work in helping families, and …
Continue reading “The best ‘tart’ of a fundraiser is the dessert”
We had an early Christmas celebration this past week, and of course, I volunteered to make dessert. I knew I wanted to make a cranberry orange tart that I first tried last Christmas (check out my website for that one), since I had a full bag of cranberries in my crisper drawer, but I was …
Continue reading “You’ll be ready to poke into this chocolate-filled cake”
I would normally tell a little story to kick off my column, but if you have read ahead, you know that I have a monster of a recipe to share with you this week. I took this cake to a Friendsgiving meal with friends, and it was definitely a hit. Beware, though, you will spend …
Continue reading “Get ready for the ‘mousse’t complicated pumpkin dessert”
For all the complicated dishes that come along with the holidays, I tend to be especially attracted to all the fun snacks, candies and sweets that people make throughout November and December. Our family get togethers always feature a wide array of goodies on the snack table. It would be easy to skip the actual …
Continue reading “You ‘cran’ easily whip up these delicious holiday bites”
I’m constantly amazed by the things I don’t know, despite having spent a lot of time trying new ingredients and recipes over the years. One of my favorite discoveries over the past couple of years came from a random post I saw online about store-bought graham cracker crusts. I’m sure I am the last person …
Continue reading “The holidays are the ‘zest’ time for refreshing lemon pie”