I used to love field trips as a kid—visiting the Wichita Art Museum, the Kansas Cosmosphere, the zoo, the Kansas State Fair, etc. It was always an adventure in a new place, and I’m the type of person who enjoys learning something new whenever possible. As an adult, you don’t seem to get to do …
Continue reading “The Sweet Granada’s avalanche bark truly rocks”
One of the pieces of advice you get if you ever put your house on the market is to bake cookies before a showing so that your home feels more inviting. When we had a house on the market several years ago, our real estate agent also banned us from cooking anything too pungent—like curry …
Continue reading “Pumpkin spice donuts make for a ‘gourd’ fall recipe”
One of my favorite Internet memes is a photo of a blue Royal Dansk butter cookies tin. The caption reads, “Why are there cookies in Grandma’s sewing kit?” It always makes me smile, mostly because I’m glad I wasn’t the only child who was fooled by the reuse of a cookie tin for storage. What …
Continue reading “Nothing is ‘butter’ than simple-to-make cookies”
It seems like everyone has an extravagant friend. The person in your life who likes the finer things, the fancier stuff, the flashy side of life. I have a few, but one who truly fits this description recently looked at me and said, “You know what’s delicious? White chocolate chip matcha cookies.” Challenge accepted. If …
Continue reading “There’s no ‘matcha’ for tea-flavored cookies”
Thanks to the Newton Rotary Club’s annual peach fundraiser and my three-year-old niece insisting that I buy blueberries for our recent fun day, I had quite a bit of fruit in my refrigerator this week. That, combined with Joey itching to use a cast iron Dutch oven he recently got for his smoker, meant we …
Continue reading “Baking cobbler outdoors can be ‘berry’ satisfying”
Several years ago, Danielle Oteri wrote a column for the website “Good Food Stories,” where she explored the differences in personality between her friends and family who preferred to cook, versus those who preferred to bake. It’s a fun read, if you get the chance (goodfoodstories.com/the-psychology-of-baking), but one quote from her friend Melissa resonated with …
Continue reading “Family pie recipe is ‘choc’ full of flavor”
If anyone can tell me the trick to pitting a firm peach, I’m all ears. So far, my strategy includes cutting numerous slits down the sides, grunting and murmuring regrets under my breath while trying to pull the first slice off, and I can tell you that it doesn’t work all that well. Luckily, the …
Continue reading “Peaches and fresh ginger will help you snap into August”
I normally like to start this column with a story about the week’s recipe, but I have to tell you about my most recent kitchen fail. It’s a doozy. My parents-in-law gifted us with several packages of frozen tamales that are made by simply boiling the bag for 20 minutes and then serving. They’re great …
Continue reading “Come out of your shell with pistachio cake”
As a general rule, I have no concept of how long it takes me to complete recipes. Poor Joey has had to wait until 8 or 9 p.m. on several occasions for me to complete a meal, because I was just sure I could finish it for a normal eating time. And he’s thrown up …
Continue reading “Try a spiced cake that’s perfect for your next par’tea’”
As a complete sweets addict, it figures I would marry somebody who would rather have an extra portion of a savory main dish than eat dessert. That being said, Joey does still have a sweet tooth—it’s just fairly particular. So, while most sugary concoctions I share with you are decidedly something I made because I …
Continue reading “Feel like you’re on ‘toffee’ the world with three ingredients”