I mentioned recently that I have been acquiring kitchen gadgets at an alarming rate and I wanted to share a story about one of them – my new tart pan. I’ve been making “tarts” for years, but really, they were just tart crusts in a pie pan. They tasted different than a plain ‘ol pie,
February 22, 2011
Short URLbaking, cooking, dessert, dinner, family, food, ingredients, recipes, seasonal, tartDessert, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Winter
Dear Martha Stewart Living People, Last week Madison (that’s my lovely niece) and I whipped up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and I decided to conduct a very un-scientific study in my own kitchen. Just before Christmas, I found a new and very peculiar paper product in the aisle at my local grocery store
January 25, 2011
Short URLbaking, cookies, cooking, family, foodIn the Kitchen, Tools
Yes, I know the holidays are over, but I received an email a few weeks ago from a friend who is always baking with her kids and posting the pictures on Facebook. (Love it!) Anyway, I asked her to send pictures and maybe a little story about her Christmas baking and guess what? She sent
January 5, 2011
Short URLbaking, butter, cookies, cooking, family, food, ingredients, recipes, seasonalDessert, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Recipes, Winter
Was it just me or were the holidays a little weird this year? I kept finding myself going through the motions of creating holiday cheer but not actually feeling it. So, for me, New Year’s arrived with a sigh of relief. This year, my dear friend Rob came for the weekend and my parents ended
January 4, 2011
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, beverages, christmas, dinner, family, food, success and disasterIn the Kitchen
Whenever I fantasize about becoming the next Top Chef, (“Heather has no classical training or real kitchen experience aside from four semesters in the university dining hall, but by watching a lifetime’s worth of cooking shows she’s managed to become one of the most foremost experts on cooking for her niece,) I’m grounded by the
December 20, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, christmas, cooking, dessert, food, ingredients, recipesDessert, Ingredients, Inspirations, Recipes, Winter
Every year since I was four the Christmas Elf has come to visit on December 1st, (well not every year – there was that 14-year stretch when there weren’t any kids around.) But for the past three Christmases, the Christmas Elf has come to visit on December 1st. During my childhood he would usually leave
December 16, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, christmas, cooking, dinner, family, food, frosting, recipes, seasonalDinner, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Lunch, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
I could never understand why my mom DREADED making sugar cookies. We were just decorating them, right? I never realized how long it took just to get the cookies to the table. And because my mom was a former cake decorator, we couldn’t just spread frosting on the cookies and call it good. Nooooo, we
December 15, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, butter, christmas, cookies, dessert, family, food, frostingDessert, In the Kitchen, Ingredients, Inspirations, Seasonality, Winter
I’m a sucker for a traditional English tea. Maybe it’s all of those classic novels I was forced, (yet now read by choice) to analyze in high school. Maybe it’s the fact that my mom – although born in California – exhibits oddly English behavior. (Although to be fair, she’s read the same novels I
December 14, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, christmas, cookies, family, food, inspiration, seasonal, teaIngredients, Inspirations, Seasonality
One of my favorite holiday activities is making cookies. Not just sugar cookies (which I’ll be devoting an entire post to later this week,) but cookies that evoke my favorite flavors of the season – citrus, berry and molasses. One of the earliest memories I have of being in the kitchen, (besides pouring a bowl
December 13, 2010
Short URL12 days of christmas, baking, butter, christmas, cookies, family, food, ingredients, inspiration, recipesDessert, In the Kitchen, Inspirations, Recipes, Seasonality, Winter
Alright, I know most of us have already moved on to Christmas shopping/decorating/light hanging, etc. And, I totally meant to post this on Friday, but I was still nursing a serious pie-hangover. But, I made the family wait to eat until each dish had been photographed and if I don’t use the pictures they will
November 29, 2010
Short URLbaking, cooking, dinner, family, food, roasting, seasonal, success and disaster, ThanksgivingIn the Kitchen, Ingredients, Seasonality
Cooking For Madison 