instruction and inspiration for the home cook
Well, hello there, lovely blog readers. Sorry for my neglect of this space. My attention is spread relatively thin these days parenting teenagers, writing the cookbook, and being at my dog, Davy’s, beck and call 24/7. It’s a good thing he sleeps most of the day because when he’s awake, he’s quite the little tyrant.
Continue reading “Pumpkin Cheesecake”
Well, hello again. I hope you are having a lovely summer. My girls and I are making the most of the remaining days before they start their sophomore year of high school. The past month we enjoyed a weekend at the beach with good friends, a couple great concerts in town, fun in Sunriver with cousins, a big family reunion with lots more cousins, and a couple of lake days. We also very much enjoyed this Citrus Vanilla Pound Cake, and I’m excited to share the recipe with you.
Continue reading “Citrus Vanilla Pound Cake with Summer Berries”
It’s almost midnight here on this winter solstice night, but in the words of Robert Frost “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.” Okay, not really miles; I’m being dramatic. Just a couple quick paragraphs to introduce you to this recipe. I did make promises though, and if I don’t post it tonight, it’s not happening this very busy week before Christmas.
Continue reading “Coconut Macaroons Dipped in Dark Chocolate”
Has the thought of searching for that perfect gift sent you into denial that the Christmas holiday is fast approaching? My answer is yes. I just can’t get excited about the shopping this year. Let’s face it, nobody really needs anything I’m going to give them.
Continue reading “Sweet & Nutty Gift Ideas”
Jump to Banana Cream Pie Recipe
Once I started making chocolate cream pie, I got requests for banana cream pie from a couple of my five siblings. If I remember correctly, Michael and Suzanne were both big fans. I would make at least two chocolate and one banana to sit beside my mom’s pumpkin pies. I think she made three or four. It was a lot of pies, but with in-laws, nieces, and nephews, there were a lot of us. A few of us really liked to have it for breakfast the following day, and, of course, the rest was eaten with turkey dinner leftovers. We were never wasteful with the pies.
Continue reading “Banana Cream Pie”
If you need something to do with all those berries you buy at the farmer’s market this weekend, a simple but delicious berry crisp is always a good idea. I can’t think of any kind of berry this wouldn’t work with though I’m partial to blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and marionberries. As much as I love fresh strawberries, I don’t love them cooked, so I probably wouldn’t use them in a berry crisp, but that shouldn’t keep you from doing it if you like that sort of thing. You could even throw some cherries in there. The berry police won’t care.
Continue reading “Berry Crisp”
The use of mostly brown sugar and the addition of a little cornstarch produced soft, slightly chewy peanut butter cookies that lend themselves well to ice cream sandwiches (detailed in a separate post.) I would imagine they would also be lovely sandwiching a creamy frosting or rich ganache. The possibilities abound. Also, the few that were stolen by teenagers were immensely enjoyed on their own while I was preparing them for the ice cream sandwiches.
Continue reading “Peanut Butter Cookies”
If you are looking for a soft cookie with a deep chocolate flavor that won’t get lost in your ice cream sandwich, look no further than these cocoa sandwich cookies. Knowing how the freezing process can suppress flavors, I was deliberate in developing a cookie that would be up to the task. Therefore, I titled it a sandwich cookie because the bold flavor will do best with a filling, be it ice cream, frosting, or ganache.
Continue reading “Cocoa Sandwich Cookies”
One of the great things about being a mom is that your kids have friends, and then you get bonus kids in your life. If you’re really lucky, those kids have moms you like and you get your own amazing friends out of the deal. I’ve pretty much hit the jackpot in that area. Anyway, one of those bonus kids loves these snickerdoodles. My girls actually roll their eyes when I make them and say, “You’re just making them for Ava.” Yes, that’s true, I usually am. She is, however, not the original bonus kid I made them for. Years before Ella and Hailey were born (about seven and a half to be exact), my best friend’s son, Cooper, came along. He has called me Auntie since he could talk, and he loves snickerdoodles, so, naturally, I had to add them to my repertoire.
Continue reading “Snickerdoodles”
My oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe is a slightly tweaked version of the one provided on the Quaker Oats box. I add in a little more butter and vanilla, and I substitute coconut sugar for white sugar, so the cookies are not quite as sweet but have fantastic flavor and texture. They are more crisp than chewy in a really good way. It’s how I like them.
Continue reading “Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies”