My sister is five years older than I am. I have been eating pie with her my whole life. So it absolutely floored me when she told me that Strawberry Rhubarb was her favorite type of pie. My mother never made a strawberry rhubarb pie. I don’t think we ever had rhubarb in any form in my childhood. It wasn’t until I was married and in my late 20’s that I even tasted rhubarb, occasioned by early food memories of my then-husband and the loving desire to make him a dish he liked. So, I never saw my sister eat a strawberry rhubarb pie. I never heard her mention it was one of her ...
Baking
LET’S GET ROUGH! (ROUGH PUFF PASTRY)
If there is a theme to my blog, or a driving force behind my cooking, it is this: Does it taste better if you make it from scratch and, if so, is the time invested in making it worth the difference? For example: butter can be made at home but it’s not going to be appreciably different from a good quality store-bought butter. Homemade bread, on the other hand, gives a pleasure measurably greater than that derived from commercial bread. However, if you live near a good bakery, where they bake the bread onsite, the pleasure gained from one of their loaves may be as great or better than the ...
EASTER BRUNCH: EASY DANISH PASTRIES
Yes, you read that right. Today we are making Danish Pastries. And it’s NOT hard. I've been looking at the blogs and magazines for April and they are all about Easter Cakes and sweets. That's all well and good but in our house Easter Brunch is what counts and for brunch you need pastries. If you have been following my blog, you know I have been working on making rough puff pastry. “Rough Puff”, as it is known, is a simplified process for making puff pastry. It’s pretty easy but it does take some time to make as it includes multiple rests in the refrigerator for the ...
SPRING RADISHES AND SMOKED SALMON TART
I love the changing seasons! There is something wonderful about moving from hot to cold and back again. The colors of the world change along with the temperature and the foods we eat change with them. Spring puts me in the mood for colors and lighter food. It also makes me feel like baking fruit tarts and pastries. Maybe it’s an Easter thing, I don’t know! This Spring I have been working on making my own puff pastry. Or actually, Rough Puff Pastry which is one step below traditional puff pastry in labor. Don’t worry, I’m not throwing that at you yet. I need to make it a few more ...
GOING THERE: GLUTEN-FREE WHITE CHOCOLATE AND BUTTERSCOTCH CHIP COOKIES
I never thought I would be baking gluten-free cookies. But here it is, a plate full of White Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Cookies, gluten-free. How did this come about? At the Carolina Bed & Breakfast it was not uncommon for people to specify a gluten-free diet when they came to visit. We were happy to accommodate them with some of the amazing gluten-free baked goods made by specialty bakers here in Asheville. I could have made them myself, and I did look at some gluten-free recipes, but the range of ingredients needed to make a decent substitute for wheat flour was daunting ...
LANE CAKE: A SOUTHERN TRADITION
As a rule I am not terribly fond of cake, which made it odd that I suddenly had a desire to bake one. Until I realized the fact that my birthday was this week might have something to do with it. You may think baking yourself a cake for your birthday is weird (and perhaps a touch pathetic) but it’s a gift to myself. I enjoy the process of baking and I get the kind of cake I like: three layers (more room for gooey filling), bourbon and coconut. Lane Cake, kind of a Southern version of German Chocolate Cake but without the chocolate. It’s gooey and decadent and I’m ...
BETWEEN WINTER AND SPRING: GINGER AND PINK GRAPEFRUIT TEA BREAD
It’s that time of year when winter teases us with warm and sunny days when we can sit outside in the sun and think of working in our gardens. And then the cold air blasts back in and once again the skies are grey. Why does it always seem so much colder? I, for one, am done with hearty winter foods. I crave green salads and bright flavors. I think of citrus fruits with their acid bite and vibrant colors. Pink grapefruit is one of my favorites. I eat them like oranges, peeled and in slices. I eat them all winter long from December to March and then I put them aside in favor of the fruits ...
COOKING WITH FRIENDS: DONNA’S APPLE CRISP
Yes, we are back to brown food again! I promise this is the last one for a while. At least until next Winter. And besides, for those of you who watch “The Worst Cooks in America” (my not-so-guilty-pleasure), as Anne Burrell says, “Brown food tastes good.” This brown food comes from my daughter’s future Mother-in-law. Joe’s favorite dessert is his mom’s apple crisp. So much so that he asked for it to be served at the rehearsal dinner for their wedding. But the crisp the caterer gave us to taste was subpar so, good mother that she is, Donna has agreed to make it for the ...
PINK PEPPERCORN AND CHOCOLATE POT DE CRÈME: A VEGAN VALENTINE
Those of you who follow me on Instagram and/or Facebook know that I just spent a week at Miraval, a Wellness Resort in the Sonora Desert outside Tucson. For those of you who don’t follow me, you should! Click Here for Instagram and Here for Facebook. (And for more on the Miraval experience, check my post under Adventures of an Asheville Cook) Anyway, it is a beautiful resort with food which manages to be mindful and delicious at the same time. They aren’t dictatorial about it. We weren’t prohibited from things we liked. You could get bacon and Diet Coke but the alternatives ...
January Reflections: Cereal Muffins
January. It's a hard-to-sell month. For most of us the weather sucks and we are cold and dreary and longing for hearty, stick-to-the-bone, comfort food just at the time we are trying to regain our balance after the excesses of December. Friends don't want to meet for a drink because it's "Dryanuary" and our cupboards are full of left over cookies and candy which we attempt to ignore (or failing that, eat them). But there is also a lot to be said for the first month of the year. With little else to do, I organize my shelves and try to make a little order out of the chaos. This year my ...
