Edible stories told here
a lightly sweetened spicy cast iron “cake’’ that you can make as fancy or as straight forward as you want- if you have a mandolin to slice the apples a decorative pattern makes for a stunning presentation but equally tasty and almost as pretty is the apples cut into bite sized pieces. more things apple […]
Tiny tart flecks of garden fresh rhubarb macerated overnight and baked into easy food processor cream scones baked to golden brown and topped with a quick pink grapefruit glaze. What to do when the rhubarb arrives? Just a few short weeks ago I actually purchased Rhubarb at the farmers’ market and the rhubarb gods said […]
This strawberry cider quick bread is the taste of spring made as simple or as fancy as you’d like. Baking with strawberry cider adds an easy and delicious layer of flavor. My favorite variation of Strawberry Cider Quick Bread w/ fresh strawberries and balsamic Want to get fancy? This recipe calls for one cup of […]
It’s always good to have a few snack items in your arsenal that are easy to remember, have very little hands on time, and can please a variety of palettes and preferences. Socca, the original gluten free flat bread made with equal parts chickpea flour and water and little else, is one of those snacks. […]
Part comfort, part Sunday morning this chicken pot pie flavored with an untraditional tomato based sauce and topped with a tender biscuit topping studded with green olives can be on the table in less than an hour. If you want to serve it for valentines -hello bloody mary valentine!- but don’t have heart shaped cutouts […]
There is something immensely satisfying about baking something that is both beautiful and tasty, add two notches of oh yeah for using up some garden fresh tomatoes. With just a whisper of sweet, this mostly savory skillet cornbread does double duty as a summer tomato upside down cake. Whether you call it cornbread or corn […]
Most days tortillas are one of the few items I give myself permission to buy pre-made, but some days call for homemade, for the flavor and slight imperfections of made from scratch. It is a truth universally acknowledged that a perfectly round tortilla lacks the flavor found in a tortilla just slightly off center. Sure, […]
Jam packed with fruit and flavor- I was delighted to “have” to test this recipe more than once. The first batch was just the right amount of tender and perfectly balanced between rhubarb, pastry, and sweet cardamom glaze, in short, amazing, once I finally got it together, but handling the dough, measuring out rectangles, […]
Five ingredients, twenty minutes, tender, flavorful. These pickle brine biscuits, lined with a green layer of pesto, just happen to be vegan. I’ve been happy to test and re-test this recipe over the last few days. These make an amazing lid for egg salad (or its faux egg alternative if vegan is your thing). My […]
Tajin Chile Lime Seasoning and Chocolate Marbled Banana Bread: whew that’s a mouthful. I’m addicted to this not too sweet combination of dark chocolate swirled with a subtly spiced banana batter, the result is tender and flavorful without veering too far into dessert territory. Even the Mr. who, maddeningly, can take or leave most desserts […]
Not too sweet and loaded with blueberries these muffins, if I’m honest, are really just my favorite cornmeal pancakes made into easily storable/snackable muffin form. Looking for a more straight up fruit muffin? Try these strawberry ones instead (You can sub out blueberries 😉 I grew up on the west coast so I was raised […]
Summer snuck up on me. The long hot days, fruit ripe and heavy on the vine, roses in full bloom- all clues I missed. Graduation ceremonies, squirrels doing mad dashes and dances on branches dappled green and shadowed, the sun high in the sky, the hum of air-conditioners, and the intermittent buzz of sirens. My […]
Cast Iron Crumb Cake with lemon and cardamom Baked in a well seasoned cast iron skillet this crumb cake is bright with lemon zest and cardamom and comes together in about 45 minutes including cooking time. This past week, as I edited photos for an outside project, I was watching Girls, which made the outside […]
Sometimes things don’t turn out as expected. Sometimes that is a good thing. Exhibit A-this cake. Far more complex than I imagined in my head- on the first day the spice is more pronounced, by the third day it has mellowed. And on that third day, if you’ve been busy or patient, you will discover […]
These crackers don’t mess around. Like the man who came up with the recipe they are not a mindless snack, they require some chewing. Chock full of flavor and fiber and adaptable up to a point, a batch takes some time (mostly unattended) but these addictive snacks are worth it. Wally, my Dad, would make […]
This Zucchini bread with fresh blueberries is what I packed for an unexpected trip out-of-town in the middle of my garden’s summer bounty. Not too sweet, zucchini bread moist and tender, and bursting with fresh blueberries, perhaps a bit messy for a flight but totally worth the mad flurry of baking up the perishables I […]
Tender moist cornbread swirled with fresh strawberries and honey. The strawberries, in addition to adding a whole new level of yum to the scent of baking cornbread are also the perfect foil for a tangy vinegar barbecue sauce. Delicious slathered with butter and topped with some of the remaining strawberry sauce. Sub this out for […]
Fresh Strawberry Biscuits with Basil Butter Biscuits, tender and buttery: strawberries two ways- roasted, sweet and softly perfumed and fresh, tangy, bright and perfectly balanced with just a hint of finally it’s summer fresh basil. These delicious biscuits are what happens when you want to bake strawberries in something but not something sweet, no muffins or […]
No yeast, no pre-packaged biscuit dough, rather a compromise, not in flavor, but in time spent. By all means feel free to use a yeast dough or biscuits from a can. The filling’s the thing here, what lies nestled between each warm and delicious pull apart layer. Butter soaked garlic and a cheesy artichoke spread […]
A simple and light sponge cake, made with either duck eggs or chicken eggs, the perfect complement to fresh spring strawberries and whipped cream. Call this what you will: Chiffon cake without oil or a sponge cake, this recipe, if you have a stand mixer, is so easy and such the perfect foil for tart […]
Quick and delicious Individual Irish Soda breads slathered with chive butter. Made without eggs and kneaded in the food processor these rolls, adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, are as quick as biscuits but as versatile as yeasted bread. Feeling Lucky: on finding four-leaf clovers For my fifth and sixth grade years we […]
Be still my blueberry heart Biscuit dough subtly scented with vanilla wrapped around blueberry cardamom filling, baked until bubbling. A heart shaped box filled with fruity blueberry love and cardamom. We had this for breakfast but each bite reminded me of shortcake and summer, eating dinner while the sun is still golden on the tips […]
Party snack, dinner side, cheesy accompaniment for chili: bread sticks, made with flaky pastry dough, expected and unexpected all twirled into one addictive savory treat. Bread sticks are often a disappointment. Too much bread and not enough topping, or so overwhelmingly large that committing to even one seems too much. Or they’re thin and brittle, […]
Tender whole wheat yogurt biscuits topped with a silky, flavorful shiitake mushroom gravy. So good and just enough for two. Biscuits do not make good leftovers. But the beauty of the biscuit is you don’t have to make a whole batch. You can be baby bear about your biscuits, always just right. I, on the […]
With just enough meyer lemon to brighten your day these scones don’t need glaze to be delicious. But why not add a bit of sweet tea? Another layer of citrus flavor? All I had to do to make these scones on a week day was get out of bed a half hour earlier than usual. […]
Smoked paprika, fresh ground black pepper, roasted green chilies, and healthy sized chunks of cheddar cheese make these biscuits assertive enough to take on bully eggs or aloof winter soups. I remember three things about high school home economics: chocolate chip cookies to warm up the room in winter and getting a “D” in […]
Satsuma mandarin oranges blended whole with rooibos tea for orangetastic, simple, tender muffins flecked with poppy seeds and topped with an optional orange glaze. Let’s be honest. Okay, I’ll be honest. My ingredient lists are largely dictated by what I have lying around. Rooibos tea. Satsuma oranges. Let’s be really honest. I am not […]
Lying in bed predawn with only the glow of my smart phone to give color to the gloom. Did I suffer from insomnia before the internet? How ever did I fill those hours? What story remains unwritten because I just checked Facebook? What classic remains unread because of Words with Friends? Enough! Out of bed […]
“What’s that?” Her hands are covered in butter but she’s scratching her nose oblivious and the cabinet doors are also buttered and floured- ready to bake. The homey scent of apple and onion floats around her like a homespun halo. She turns towards you and repeats the question, the tip of her nose decidedly not dairy […]
The tomatoes have finally arrived. After seemingly endless weeks of staring at green tomatoes things have finally started to turn. Straight up, on the rocks, I want to put them in everything. These biscuits are tasty on their own and over the top with gravy. I made a sausage gravy with tomatillos and cilantro […]
Every Wednesday I go to the farmers’ market downtown and buy a half flat of berries- four blue and two raspberry- and strap them to the back of my scooter, which makes me feel like Audrey Hepburn until I catch my reflection in a passing shop window.
May. Suddenly spring veering toward summer. A garden to plant. Warm sunny days and days where the weather changes every ten minutes. And two weeks where nothing went as planned. Not in the kitchen and not out in the real world. Nothing earth shatteringly good or bad just not as planned.
No one taught me how to make pie crust (or pate brisee). Throughout my twenties I viewed pastry crust as a mysterious shadow figure made by others, crafted only by people who wore aprons. I’m no expert but, despite my ineptitude and impatience, my food processor allows me to make consistently flakey and tasty […]
What to do when the morning has slipped away and guests are stopping by at any moment but whip up some muffins. Because nothing says welcome like the scent of fresh baked goods. Luckily I’m the kind of gal who keeps sun-dried tomatoes on hand- ‘just in case’
Ah, holiday leftovers. What to do with the turkey, the ham, the cranberries? The cranberries. The delicious tart and oh so good for you cranberries. Add butter and cream of course.
