Just Baking

Leave it to America to come up with the most random times to declare food-centric holidays, and then tell no one about it. A brief search of google revealed that we do indeed have numerous dates designated to specific edible items, be them baked goods, sweets, savory dishes, individual spices… You name it, I’ll […]

Let’s say you’re just starting out baking from scratch for the very first time. You need a tray of cupcakes to bring to work tomorrow and it’s 7 o’clock in the evening. You bought the ingredients and they’re all ready for you to use, you just need to take them out of the […]

Sometimes you just want something that isn’t chocolate. Yeah, I know what I just said. Sometimes you need an alternative to chocolate. Potlucks, parties, family reunions, church dinners, etc., it always seems that the majority, if not all, of the people bring some form of chocolate baked goods. The last time […]

When it comes to using chocolate with baking, there is a dizzying array of choices … unsweetened, bittersweet and even semisweet.  Then the forms … nibs, chips, blocks and more.  It’s enough to make anyone run from the kitchen, unless you have a good primer. The differences between the types of chocolate relate to […]

I was thinking today about what a great neighborhood we live in. Our block is filled with families young and old and our neighborhood is like one that I used to dream about living in. The kids all hang out together…riding bikes, playing games, playing catch. The parents all hang out together grilling hot dogs, […]

I apologize that I do not have any pictures of this, but this is an old standby that I typically like to make during the winter holiday season. I don’t know why I didn’t make it this past Christmas, but I am considering making this one for Easter.
What I love the most about this pie […]

Alrighty…I confess, though I’ve been really digging making whole grain bread from The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking, there is a fundamental problem. The bread that I’ve been making has been a bit more dense than what I really dig. This changed however when I found an inspired recipe for Whole […]

Just when I had tackled, no make that mastered, dairy-free cookies, a new dietary challenge was thrown into the mix - wheat-free.  Today, I made my first attempt at recreating my favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies sans wheat and milk of any kind.  Though I still consider the recipe a work in progress, the initial trial passed […]

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is the seed of a leafy vegetable of the Goosefoot species, which is also related to spinach and rhubarb. Like spinach the leaves can be eaten. However, the plant is raised for its seed.
Quinoa has been grown and harvested in the Andes Mountain region of South America for 6,000+ years. Prized by […]

I will admit… I like the convenience of a boxed cake mix. I am a very busy mom and sometimes Miss Crocker and I get busy in the kitchen together. On those crunched for time days, must have a dessert days, don’t want to use a million dishes days…Betty Crocker is just short of a […]