Yesterday I decided it was time to inaugurate my new oven. Which of course meant that once I was ready to get baking I discovered I had to wash all the parts and run it for two hours at a high temperature to burn off the factory oils. But once that was done I was ready to go. It’s pumpkin season, have you noticed? Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin candy, and more, fill the stores and shops and pages of magazines. But is it pumpkin flavor? No. It’s pumpkin spice. That’s because, to my mind, pumpkin doesn’t actually taste like much so we add lots of flavoring to ...
Breads and Pastries
BLACKBERRY AND FIG LATE HARVEST QUICK BREAD
Before I get started with this recipe, two quick announcements: I will be returning to posting once a week for now but will go back to twice a week when we hit the holiday season in November. And Be sure and check out the details of my culinary trip to Tuscany next spring. I would love for you to join me! You can read about it here: Culinary trip to Tuscany On to my Quick Bread: Today is Labor Day: along with Memorial Day, it is one of Summer’s bookends. But while today is 85 degrees and sunny, I can see the end of the season in the soft golden light and hear it in the ...
GAD ZUCCHS! (Part 1): OLIVE OIL ZUCCHINI BREAD WITH CARDAMOM AND DATES
I have such a conflicted relationship with zucchini. I have read countless tales of neighbors passing off the excesses of their zucchini crop to one another. I have seen beautiful expansive plants in my friend’s gardens. I have lusted after their zucchini blossoms and loved the gifts of zucchini bread. How hard, therefore, can it be to grow zucchini? Harder than you would think, at least for me. The first year, my plants never made it past a few feeble blossoms before developing a mold that had them brown, shriveled and goopy. The second year I moved them into raised beds and watched ...
TURN THE BEET AROUND: BLUEBERRY AND BEET MUFFINS
I like beets well enough. I am not someone who raves about beets but I enjoy them in salads. That sentence pretty much encapsulates my relationship with beets. Outside of a salad, what can you do with them? The last time I tried to do something different with beets I used them in a 1980’s British dish called “Ruby Beef”. It was not a success. My family (read children) took umbrage at being offered beef in a pale pink Play-Doh colored sauce and, bolstered by their father’s similar refusal, held a full-scale rebellion. And that is where my experimentation with beets ended. Until this ...
CORN, TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI MUFFINS, DON’T FORGET THE CHEESE!
A friend recently asked me why I grow vegetables and get a CSA share from my local market. It’s a fair question. But for me the two things serve completely different functions. My CSA share stretches me. Left to myself I would spend the whole summer eating my holy trinity of vegetables: tomatoes, corn and zucchini. I would, and do, walk happily by the produce shelves loaded with greens, root vegetables, and other less favored foods straight to my go-to’s. I can’t do that with my CSA. The dang things are in my home! In my refrigerator right now are Japanese eggplants, radishes ...
PEACH MINT JULEP HAND PIES
(It's Summer and things are heating up. So in order to bring you seasonal recipes when you need them most I will be posting twice a week from now on. Look for my new posts on Wednesday and Sundays. Sign up to receive notification of new posts above. I promise I will never, never, never give your email to anyone else!) You might not think it based on this but there are other things I like beside food. Food just always makes good times even better! One of the things I like a lot is the theater. I have always been involved in theater: acting, directing, teaching, working with kids, ...
FIRST DATE ROSEMARY RHUBARB MUFFINS
The other night I went on my first date in 45 years. Now just try and get your head around that because Lord knows I have trouble with it. It’s been a very long time since I have felt attractive and desired so I am not averse to the idea of meeting people who are interested in getting to know me. It feels good. On the other hand, I just got out of a 37 yearlong marriage, more than half my life (!), and I am enjoying doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I knew right after I said yes that this man was not going to change my mind about my freedom. But then I thought why did he ...
Almond Croissants and More: The Easy Way!
It all started with Easter and Hot Cross buns. I was in Chicago with my daughter, Emily, and we spotted some sweet looking little Hot Cross Buns in a bakery shop window. We both said, “Awww” and then “Nah.” Because is there anything more disappointing than a Hot Cross Bun? They sound like they should be neat and special and, like everything else Easter, they should be worth the once-a-year effort. But in essence, Hot Cross Buns are just bread rolls with a little candied fruit and a dab of insipid icing. Re-imagining Hot Cross Buns has been a yearly quest of mine for ...
