Spring gatherings always necessitate a wow! dessert and the bigger the crowd, the more obvious it becomes that the perfect solution is cupcakes. Cupcakes are easy to make, can be decorated in a variety of ways (or not at all), and allow the eaters to remain mobile (and social). This...
From the edge of winter, my mind is already on the brink of spring (which officially kicks off in 16 days- not that I’m counting or anything) and all of its sunshine, happy flowers, and fabulous flavor trends. Top of my thoughts this week has been lavender and creating these...
One recent weekend Neil and I were invited to a small gathering where the theme of the night was soup. The basic idea being that the hostess makes two or three varieties of soup to choose from, someone brings bread, someone else brings handheld nibbles, and we eat, drink, and...
Never in my life, until just over a year ago, had I known so many people with food allergies. Now I have adopted an entire family full 🙂 (and I love them all) and have several friends with them as well. There are allergies to spices, some to raw fruits...
When I decided that I wanted to make a sinfully chocolate dessert for Christmas dinner with my siblings I went in search of recipes. There were brownies and cakes, truffles and pots de creme, bread puddings and pies to choose from, but none were quite right to finish off our...
In our family, one of the Christmas morning traditions has become this decadent shortbread which melts in your mouth. My sister came across the recipe a few years ago on Smitten, and we’ve been making them ever since.The cookie is wonderfully buttery, with a tiny bit of sweet, the lovely...
If you are anything like me then you can’t refuse the bounty of apples overflowing the farmers markets at this time of year. Or better yet, you’ve gone picking and have an abundance of beautiful fruits to use. There are Cortlands and Empires, Macouns and McIntosh, Red Delicious and Ginger...
The tart is somewhat of an archnemesis to me. It’s the dough, you see, it hates me. It has such simple ingredients: a little butter, a little sugar, some flour, salt, and egg- how could one screw this up, right? Well I could, and have, several times. This is where...
Rice pudding can be a great way to use up left-over rice (unless, of course, you’re me and typically cook your grains in a savory meat stock). It’s a little sweet and a lot creamy and, this version at least, full of a variety of textures. I particularly like to...
A while back I had tried out Heidi’s recipe for a healthier version of the standard peanut butter cookie and really enjoyed them. Then the other day I was working on new recipe development for a makeover of the Peanut Butter Blossom and couldn’t get the phrase “peanut-butter-jelly-time” out of...