Category Archives: baking

I have mentioned before how much I love the Baking with Julia cookbook. It is very informative and nicely photographed, and it has inspired me to try baking all sorts of things that ordinarily would have scared me off (like … Continue reading →

Today I made the sugar cookies from the Cook’s Illustrated from November/December 2002. I’ve made them before, and they are quite delicious. I use turbinado sugar for rolling the dough. They lend a wonderful crunch and slightly nutty caramelly flavor. … Continue reading →

Inspired by Clotilde‘s amazing food blog, I decided to make Hot Cross Buns. They are basically cinnamon rolls without the cinnamon, don’t you think? Frivolous food purchase of the day: I know, completely gimmicky. A chocolate shaped like a Pringles … Continue reading →

I’ve been wondering why Barry Manilow’s “I Write the Songs” has been going through my head for the past week. I think it’s because I read on Chowhound that a particular dessert made Julia Child cry on her television program … Continue reading →

Is there anything more dependably tasty than chocolate chip cookies? I usually use a recipe I’ve had since 8th grade, but today I tried one sent by Loose Ends Knits Melissa, she of Cranberry Banana Bread fame. Yum.

Happy New Year everyone! What better way to greet the New Year than to acquire more luscious yarn? My “local” yarn store is a good 30 minutes away, but it’s worth the trek. I couldn’t resist these two: The one … Continue reading →

I put the new Kitchen Aid to the test yesterday. One of the main problems I encountered with my 4.5-quart Ultra Power model was its inability to knead dough efficiently. The flour would not only fly out and all over … Continue reading →

Santa brought a 6 quart Kitchen Aid mixer. It will complement my other Kitchen Aid mixer very well. The colors even match! And my baking was not a complete disaster. My family is luckily very forgiving. Here’s the Chocolate Roulade … Continue reading →

I did a lot of baking this evening for Christmas, and I was not particularly successful. It made me kind of cranky, but since I don’t want to be a complete crank on Christmas Eve, I thought I’d write a … Continue reading →

Today I baked Santa’s Surprise Cookies that I learned about at Anh-Minh’s site. If you like peanut butter and Snickers, you must try them. Essentially, they are peanut butter cookies with a Snickers Miniature* inside! The closeup is a bit … Continue reading →