Just Baking

When I was little I didn’t like bananas.  The only logical way that I can explain this is that I mustn’t have been the brightest crayon in the box.  There’s no other reason not to like bananas, they even come with their own carrying case!  Maybe my tastebuds were late bloomers.  But eventually they came […]

I’ll admit it… I’ve been unmotivated to bake. There are several reasons, but the main reason has been this stinking heat!
We have relief in sight. The high on Sunday was almost 90 degrees, and it was humid. Same on Monday. But yesterday, that all changed, and today, on Wednesday, the high is… […]

There are some nights, after a long crazy day at work, that making a recipe from scratch just ain’t gonna happen.  But on those nights, when you’re still craving something sweet from the oven, there is a new alternative … straight from Ina Garten.  It wasn’t until the recent Food Show in New York that […]

Following the lead of the ginger-spiked chocolate chip cookie recipe I created for my birthday, I snuck some crystalized ginger into a Molasses Cookie recipe I was trialing out.  The recipe was amazingly vegan (dairy-free, egg-free) and oddly enough, didn’t call for any ginger.  Knowing how well ginger goes with molasses, I thought this would be the […]

I can’t remember why I bought the bag of apricots that has been languishing in my pantry cupboard. There were a lot of them at one point, but the stash had diminished greatly due to voracious snacking. I like dried apricots - they’re chewy, healthy and easy to bake with. I also found a lonely […]

Every once in awhile, we find ourselves surprised by food. It could be that you try something that you never thought you’d like … and actually find yourself liking it. It could be something that you grew up hating the taste of, you now love. Or it could be something simple that you don’t expect […]

If you think you can’t bake bread (which is probably a false notion, by the way), grissini are a sure-fire way to fast success.
These thin bread sticks could not be simpler to make. If you love playing with dough, you’ll get plenty of opportunity here. And who doesn’t love their eminently nosh-able crunch, not to […]

At the week-end I saw a recipe for mussels and chard gratin. So intrigued I was, that I decided to google it, and you know what happens next: one thing leads to another, before I knew it, I got lost in hyperspace. This is when it happens, I spotted the following words: scalloped potato gratin. Wow, […]

Focaccia is kind of like pizza’s puffier, less dressed cousin.  However, this is one of those rare occasions where nakedness conveys class instead of trash.  Instead of being slandered in the food tabloids for coming out of the oven wearing little more than some onions and herbs, focaccia is held in high esteem, like a […]

When I think about summer, I think about the beach, the long days spent at the beach with my parents and siblings and the painful sunburn on my shoulders and back. When I think about summer, I think about the naps we would take my mother and I in the living room because it was […]