WinterSpringSummer

Friday morning, the snowy gray skies — the omen of yet another homebound day in so many weeks — inspired me to bake.  And such wintry weather made me immediately crave something pumkiny. Okay, I crave pumpkin treats all year round, but I think they are especially appropriate any time from say mid-September to late-February/early-March.
I’ve [...]

Until recently, I severely undervalued the Rice Krispy Treat. Since it doesn’t require much time or technical prowess, I didn’t give it much thought. But in a quick pinch the classic Treat is an easy win. Actually, not long ago, I made two batches for a whole mess of house guests and found that I [...]

Nothing makes you want to bake like being snowed in. Snow drifts pushing up into the house on all sides, wind blowing clumps of snow from the tree branches into the windows, and not even the mail delivery to make you feel connected to the outside world. (Yep, that’s right, they’re not even delivering mail [...]

The Little Mister often wonders at my beloved bread machine. So rarely used, yet so fondly thought of. I usually crack out the bread machine about once a year, and yesterday was the day. With mountains of snow locking us in and the Little Mister’s beef stew in the crock pot, I decided to throw [...]

What do you get when you’ve got PMS, a full bag of leftover rolled oats, and a bag of Ghiradelli chocolate chips?  Why Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, of course!

A few weeks ago the Little Mister had a requested oatmeal cookies:  “..the kind with carrots in them.  Have you ever had those?”
Well, no, in fact I hadn’t.  But I was intrigued.
I started by checking out the recipes for oatmeal cookies in Baking Illustrated, How to Cook Everything, and The Joy of Cooking.  No carrots [...]

These are one of my favorites!
Straight out of Baking Illustrated (my baking bible), these muffins are light & flavorful.  Unlike those banana blueberry muffins, this recipe calls for plenty of dry ingredients (2 c. of flour) so there is a good, firm cake to balance the gushiness of the plump, fresh berries.  The real zing [...]

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law emailed me this recipe from Self magazine for Banana Blueberry Muffins.  I love bananas. I love blueberries. So I thought these would be yummy. I also thought they’d make a tasty housewarming treat for my other sister-in-law.
Flavorwise, they are tasty — the sweetness of the banana helps balance the [...]

The Boy turned 1 last Thursday, and we celebrated on the 4th of July with a not-at-all patriotic, doggie-themed birthday party.   What better for a kid who flails his wee arms and says “woof woof” almost any time he hears barking in the distance?
To complement the pooch-covered plates, napkins and balloons, I decided to make [...]

The Little Mister & the Boy have birthdays exactly one week apart — exciting and exhausting for someone who, like me, loves to bake.  This year is a big one for both of them:  the Little Mister turned 30 last Thursday & the Boy turns 1 this Thursday.  So I wanted to do something special [...]