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”
One of the benefits of being married for as long as Joey and I have is that there are times when I can perfectly judge what his reaction to a recipe will be before I even make it. When I spotted this week’s recipe—featuring cherries, coconut and pecans—online, I knew I had a hit on …
Continue reading “‘Chews’ something sweet and nutty this week”
I am often lost when it comes to buying preserves, jams, jellies, etc. I know there are differences, but for some reason, my brain can’t seem to keep it all straight. If you ever see me at a store, staring at my phone in front of a shelf of spreads, you’ll know exactly what I’m …
Continue reading “Preserve your time with a quick strawberry bar”
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 …
We were able to spend a fantastic evening with some great folks this past week for a celebration of Christmas in July. We hosted the meal last year, so it was our friends’, Adam and Samantha’s, turn to do it this year. They decided to celebrate the theme of the night by creating an entire …
Continue reading “Make their tummies ‘rum’ble with tropical cake”
This weekend, I stumbled on an article by Gabrielle Drolet called, “In Defence of Garlic in a Jar: How Food Snobs Almost Ruined My Love of Cooking.” It’s a long read, but Drolet makes the point that cooking shortcuts are a great way to make the kitchen more accessible to people who have disabilities. She …
Continue reading “Make ’em go ‘coco’nuts for fudgy, layered brownies”
A couple years ago, my folks moved into a house that had a huge garden of rhubarb in the backyard. I have to admit, I wasn’t sure if that was an even trade for missing out on the mulberry trees I used to be able to exploit at my childhood home, but I’ve been meaning …
Continue reading “Amazing cake recipe is raising the ‘barb’”
Up until I married Joey, German chocolate cake was a dessert I was vaguely aware of but not one I’d eaten very often. But it’s Joey’s absolute favorite—the flavor he chose for his groom’s cake at our wedding, in fact—so it’s become something I’ve had more often over the years. Since Joey recently celebrated a …
Continue reading “You (pe)can’t miss out on German chocolate icing”
