One of my mahjongg ladies gave me a small pumpkin from her garden awhile back. I roasted, pureed and froze it to bake things like this: Pumpkin Spice Bread with Semisweet Chocolate Chips and Cinnamon Red Hots. As always with my fruit breads, I use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flours. It’s easy, no … More Pumpkin Spice Bread with Choc Chips, Cinnamon Red Hots w/My Recipe
Gifted with a small piece of ginger last week, having a recent purchase of crystalized ginger and an upcoming Mahjongg afternoon with my Chinese ladies, my mind went to a muffin that I had in mind for awhile. I planned to package them beautifully, add a sparkly purple Easter ribbon and a ginger chew. And … More Triple Ginger Muffins
A neighbor grew up with a version of this cinnamon and walnut bread with Red Hots, but a piece she gave me to taste was very dry and I decided to have a go using my own base recipe for quick breads. I added a whole 5.5 ounce package of Red Hots, which was too … More Two Cinnamon Walnut Breads: One with Red Hots, One Without
Each year I search “National Pie Day” and then calendar it because why not? Seeing it there yesterday, I had a think about what type of pie I might make today with ingredients on hand and decided on a quick breakfast quiche. If I might divert for a moment: when my daughter Maria was a … More Breakfast Egg Pie for National Pie Day
I was gifted with a can of pumpkin to make pumpkin bread. First I soaked raisins overnight in fresh orange juice to nicely plump them. Then I tried to grate crystalized ginger but it made a gooey mess and clump so let’s hear it for the French knife and chop, chop. The recipe is typical … More Pumpkin Crystalized Ginger & Orange Raisin Bread
I had a couple bananas which needed to be used, the usual choices didn’t appeal and I’d had a dream, one of those “I’m in a bakery in Parkland” dreams. There’s no such bakery but I’ve gone there in a dream many times, seen something and the next day I’d either written it down during … More New! Pineapple Upside-down Banana Cake
Having just returned from a wondrous and joy-filled 75th birthday trip to Salt Lake City sponsored by my daughter, life in Bitter Lake returns and so does Thursday afternoon Chinese mahjongg with my lady friends. While there will be a little birthday party next week for the “mother” of our local mahjongg, I decided for … More Cranberry-Strawberry Upside-Down Cake with My Recipe
When I was 11 years old, I won two blue ribbons at the State Fair in Puyallup, Washington, which I’d entered for 4-H projects. One blue ribbon was for perfect corn meal muffins and the other for an orange and coconut bread. Those two entries gave me the title of Prize-Winning Baker and today, after … More Orange and Toasted Coconut Bread
Last week on sale at a grocery store, I bought three one-pound bowls of fresh fruit, one of which was pineapple. I ate the melons from two bowls and decided to roast and caramelize the pineapple chunks, some of which were used in a Moroccan-spiced couscous, steamed broccoli, caramelized red bell, onion and pine nut … More New! Roasted Pineapple & Orange Bread with My Recipe & Idea for a Pretty Salad
Hah! Another post where the photos will tell most of the story. In the beginning, there was plain brown sugar and butter caramel beneath the simple Dutch Baby batter on a day when I didn’t have syrup and didn’t want lemon/powdered sugar or jam on top. Then I tried it with sliced pear and a … More Caramel and Fruit Upside-Down Dutch Baby Pancakes with Directions
Ms Chef in Seattle 