Using the contents of my cupboard I created these Honey Roasted Almond and Fresh Apricot Bars as a final treat for a picnic in the park. The honey almonds add some sweet and salt to the flavor, the apricots are a bright pop of fruit and the bottom crust gives a buttery finish to each bite. It has been a crazy spring! In March, we took our first family trip since returning from Anguilla in March of 2020. Later, in the last week of May, we got married, went on a short honeymoon, came back, and bought a house in Charlotte—all in the space of ONE week! And then life slowed down ...
Baking
THE BEST STRAWBERRY PANCAKE I EVER MADE
What makes a pancake a pancake? Is it how it is cooked? The ingredients? When you eat it? Does it matter? This delicious “pancake” may or may not meet the common definition of a pancake, but it will knock your socks off for its delicious strawberry filled flavor, the slightly crunchy top, and the soft, pillowy interior. As a former Bed & Breakfast owner, I have cooked a lot of breakfasts in my life but it’s been a while since I made a dish that got the reception this one did at our Easter Brunch. And since I told you I would share any recipe I thought worth your time, I could ...
BANANA BREAD LIKE MAMA USED TO MAKE
It has taken me some time, and I have eaten a lot of banana bread, but I have finally come up with a recipe that produces a loaf like my mother used to make. It is moist and rich with the flavor of banana, studded with good sized chunks of apricot and a faint bite from pecans. It was a childhood treat and a grown-up’s memory until my sister told me she thought the recipe came from the Joy of Cooking. My mother’s edition of The Joy Cooking would have been a very old one. The original was published in 1931 and, while my mother may not have had the first edition, she would ...
JANUARY DUMP COOKIES
I don’t know about you but I am sweeping the remains of this January out! Cold, snowy, disease ridden, oh-my-god-will-covid-never-be done-with-us-January is history. And in celebration I went through my cupboard and made some cookies out of every remnant I could find of the previous month. They started with my Murray cookie recipe and ended up somewhere in the next stratosphere. I dumped January into a bowl and sweetened it up. Two fats: butter for flavor and Crisco (vegetable shortening) for texture. Two sugars: brown sugar gives depth and cane sugar gives a little extra ...
SCONES FOR JANUARY
It’s the first week of January and my cupboard is full of the detritus of holiday baking. Miscellaneous bags of dried fruit vie for space with walnuts and pecans. Spice mixes prepared for mincemeat and plum pudding need to be used up as they will not last until next December. In my fridge I have buttermilk and cream crammed in next to an absurd number of eggs. What to do with this mess? I opt for scones. Scones are the British cousin to a biscuit. Unlike muffins or quick bread, they have a gravitas to them. Slightly dense and crumbly, they suit the cold, dark days of January. The ...
BRING ON THE HOLIDAYS! CRANBERRY CHOCOLATE TART
I'm taking a break but I couldn't leave you without a fabulous dessert for the Holidays. I posted this blog last year and will be making it again this year. Tart from cranberries, rich with chocolate and lovely to look at, it's a sure winner! It’s November 29th, the Sunday after Thanksgiving. My tree is up and decorated. The outdoor lights are on. My house smells like cinnamon and pine. For the first time in my life I bought my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving and decorated it on Thanksgiving Day. I went for a walk this evening. The glow of lights on many of the houses and ...
FRENCH 84’s: ALMOND, STRAWBERRY AND TOFFEE COOKIES
Inspired by a walk through the markets of Paris in the Spring of 1984, these thin cookies snap when bitten revealing an interior filled with the flavors of almond, strawberry and toffee. Thanksgiving 2021 was very special at my house. All three of my daughters were present, each with a lovely baby boy born this year. And as if that weren’t special enough, we were also joined by my middle daughter’s British in-laws who were seeing them for the first time since 2019. Gratitude was definitely on the table! It was such a treat to be able to feed all of them and host them at my ...
PRALINE PUMKPIN PIE
Every Thanksgiving I find myself faced with people who actively want a pumpkin pie. And every Thanksgiving I search for a way to make it better because I’m not a big fan of pumpkin pie. Last year I experimented with a homemade squash puree. It was good but not, to my mind, memorable. This year I decided to use some of the skills I learned in my Master Class with Christina Tosi; specifically, how to test a number of options and flavors without having to make four or five different pies. I combed through cookbooks and magazine for suggestion then refined the ideas into ...
WHY YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE A FRUITCAKE THIS YEAR
I hear you. Fruitcake is awful. It's a hard rock of weirdly colored candied fruits which doesn't taste much like fruit. In addition, most commercial fruitcakes are sickeningly sweet. No one wants to make that! But what if it wasn't? What if fruitcake was a joyous celebration of dried fruits: pineapple, golden raisins, cranberries, along with pecans, candied ginger and delicate candied peel? What if the cake was moistened with apple brandy, heady with the taste of fall? Would you make it then? Gather your fruits and nuts in a bowl and toss them together. If you like a bit more ...
CANDIED CITRUS PEEL (MIXED PEEL) AND THE SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT
A while back I was approached by a casting agent for a new cooking contest featuring home cooks with “a unique prospective and good short cuts”. I declined. Not that it wouldn’t have been fun, but I am not a good fit for that. More than anything else I believe that if you are going to the bother of cooking at home then you should use the best ingredients and give your efforts and the food the time it needs to be the best it can be. Also because rushing causes things like this: The Slow Food Movement was founded in 1986 to promote locally sourced, home cooked meals. According the ...
