“There’s a lot going on in there,” said a neighbor looking at a huge chunk of cake on its way to his family for dessert. Indeed. The cake has sourdough starter in it for one thing, so there’s a flavor that only an experienced palate will detect as well as adding moisture and density. The … More Juliyya’s Cherry Chocolate Coconut Sourdough Cake, Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing
My daughter’s friend from London brought me a box of dark chocolate truffles made by one of Seattle’s chocolatiers, Seattle Chocolates. These shots are a thank you. I use temporarily vacant space to set up art displays for myself. Tonight, the dining room table served very well, so I’ve promoted it to a category. Table … More Table Art: Tonight as Gratitude
A special visitor from London was hungry for home-cooking and home atmosphere on a jam-packed business itinerary at our local, gigantic online retailer of everything imaginable to humans, animals and robots. It featured meetings including business breakfasts, networking lunches and evening dinners/drinks with more business people. I asked my daughter to find out what our … More Chipotle Beef Shepherd’s Pie with Sharp Cheddar Cheese Sauce
Yesterday when I offered cake to people who’d also never had custard cake*, one said that she used to love Boston Cream Pie. Me, too, both the original and some variations unBostonly. However, chocolate draws, so I made a small batch today of the same cake as yesterday with two exceptions: doubling the orange extract … More Orange Cream Custard Cake, Seattle, Not Boston, but with Chocolate
I like cake. I like custard. I like the Greek custard and filo pastry dessert flavored with a bit of lemon or orange extract, so it’s not surprising that a recipe for “Magic Custard Cake” on a Facebook promotion caught my eye this morning. A quick Google search turned up several recipes for a custard … More Orange Cream Custard Cake
It is indeed time for another birthday by proxy. Mark handed me a bag of organic dried cranberries during the Christmas baking blitz and this cookie was on the tentative menu. I ruled it out after looking at the number of tins full of cookies and candies on the makeshift tables in relation to the … More Birthday by Proxy: Molasses, Fruit & Nut Chews with Lime Cream Glaze
Sometimes we plan to make a certain dinner item, then make something else with the same ingredients. That’s the nature of cookery. Sometimes we don’t know exactly what we’re going to cook, but take steps to lead us in the direction we’ll ultimately take. Yesterday I’d intended to make a casserole of brown rice and … More Unexpected Casserole: Roasted Veggies, Rice, Cheese Sauce
I’m fond of mixing Mexican and Middle Eastern or Indian cuisines in the same meal, especially on a long-meal-Friday. * Tonight it was chicken breast marinated in dried cumin, coriander and red pepper flakes, fried a bit in the drippings left from roasting onions, red bell pepper and mushrooms, tossed with some fresh cilantro and … More Cilantro Chicken with Baba Khanooj: cross-cultural Long Meal Friday
My daughter’s favorite ice cream is rum raisin. I invented the cookie I call Rum Raisin Jones around those rum-drunk raisins, and I decided during the Christmas bake that I’d have a go at making rum raisin ice cream without an ice cream maker, using the same freezing process used for the summer fruit creams. … More Drunk Rum Raisin Ice Cream
I knew before the big Christmas bake that there would be another chocolate cake early in the new year as well as which cake it would be. Since I’m thinning the recipes in five, count ’em, five, recipe boxes, it includes recipes for various chocolate cakes. With leftover cream cheese and starlight mints from the bake, … More Birthday Cake by Proxy Tradition: Starlight Double Delight Cake
Ms Chef in Seattle 