Fortunately, my pantry is usually well-stocked with baking essentials. Growing up in a family in the restaurant and grocery business, I know the importance of having back-ups on basic ingredients. This month’s recipe was developed during the omicron surge, so my pantry has come to…
One of our favorite fall and winter fruit combinations is pears and cranberries. This cake speaks of the seasons and is welcomed on a dessert table for brunch, coffee or teatime, and dinner. I enjoy its simplicity but use your imagination on how to serve…
And by “anytime” I mean morning, noon or night. This cake is equally enjoyed as a breakfast sweet, mid-afternoon coffee or tea pick-me-up, or dinner’s dessert! Technically zucchini is a fruit since it grows from the flower of a plant and contains the seeds for…
Strawberry fields stretch seemingly forever along Monterey Bay, which means we have a plentiful supply of multiple varieties at our local farmer’s markets. In fact, the majority of strawberries finding their way to American tables come from our California Coastal fields. In the past I…
Many may not be familiar with kumquats, a petite jewel of the citrus family, where the entire fruit is consumed in one delicious bite of sweet and tart. About the size of a grape, the entire kumquat is eaten including the skin, which is actually…
I’ve been on a bit of a scone binge recently, ever since I made a batch of my cream scones with homemade lemon curd from my backyard harvest of three trees. Scones in winter are an easy, one-bowl creation with basic ingredients many of us…
2020’s Holiday Season will be different for most of us. Scaled back. Way back in our family. I usually bake in volumes (well more than usual volumes) whilst we enjoy gatherings and gifting with friends and family. Sometimes my holiday baking projects are fancy but…
It’s early September in Piedmont and it is rough going outside for myriad reasons. There’s the pandemic. Unhealthy air quality due to the wildfires. And an excessive heat wave with record-breaking temperatures. If there was ever a time when I had to rely upon preparing…
This is a bonafide pantry cake! It was created as “Plan B” to my original idea for this month’s blog since the main ingredient for “Plan A” was not available due to restricted shopping and limited options. It’s apropos to these days of sheltering-in-place with…
I flirt with the idea of a ketogenic diet. I appreciate the health benefits from eliminating sugar and refined grains, but still am not prepared to fully commit. This, after successfully dropping several L-Bs nearly ten years ago on a keto diet. Back then…