My mother gave me the 2007 Taste of Home Annual Recipes Book not long ago and I decided to give these a try. A layer of crushed Oreo cookies mixed with some butter, baked 10 minutes and cooled is topped with melted caramels and masses of pecans (which I roasted) and then a glossy fudge. They’re very … More Caramel Pecan Candy, a Star
We have these every year for Christmas and times when the extended families get together. Chopped dates, roasted walnuts, crushed graham crackers, marshmallows all held together with a can of sweetened condensed milk, then rolled in flaked coconut. They mellow for a few days. Then we’re off and away. I threw in some maraschino cherries … More Aunt Clara’s Date-Nut No Bakes, a Star
Christmas cookie platters on display in stores and on lovely tables all over the world include some variation of this classic cookie with a cake name. When I was growing up, we called them Russian Tea Cakes and they were made with chopped raw walnuts. They are also commonly called Snowballs and Mexican Wedding Cakes. … More Mini Tea Cakes, Star of the Day
It may be a good thing that today I sent a big handful of the wrapped Molasses Caramels to my mother and a few to my downstairs neighbors. Why? All the rest of the wrapped caramels are going to be unwrapped and repurposed. The caramels are indeed intensely flavored, which means that their appeal is … More Ginger Snicks with Molasses Caramel Filling, Star of The Day
Christmas goodie-making time began on Monday night with an untried recipe which was a result of looking at half a dozen recipes for molasses caramels, choosing the one which appealed most because it doesn’t have corn syrup and having a go, changing it a bit. My family loves molasses and also a dark caramel custard. … More Molasses Caramels, Star of the Day
There was Thanksgiving frost on the stairs and driveway this morning at 8:30. I’m thankful that the threatened snow earlier in the week stayed in the mountains where the snow bunnies and water table may benefit. The first scent of the day was, naturally, coffee, but I’ve just saluted the frost with the aroma of … More Thanksgiving, Great Yearly, Made Great Again
In the summer and autumn of 2014, while spending part of every week at my mother’s house and having an abundance of fresh fruits from the garden, trees and eastern Washington, I learned how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker or rock salt. It began with a recipe for rhubarb ice cream … More Raspberries and Cranberries, Already Great, Made Great Again
Last night, as dinner was on the stove and with an accompaniment in the oven, I mixed a batch of cookie dough for another experiment in fillings, in high hopes that the result would be the third offering of a peppermint-related cookie trio. There are already two unique and well-proven members of that trio, typically … More Peppermint Cream Snicks, Maybe
It’s the season for pumpkin, the savory and the sweet. We see pumpkins in big piles at the grocery stores and some of us start jonesing for a familiar taste. I hear about pumpkin this and pumpkin that, pumpkin spice in a latte, pumpkin soup, pumpkin couscous and my inner baker reminds me that it’s … More Pumpkin Spice Joneses, One Variation
I have a wonderful family living in the bottom half of this house-turned-duplex. I bake all their birthday cakes because I love them and I love to bake. The oldest child turned 14 this past summer and I made her the Dark Chocolate Caramel Cake in the first photo for her birthday. It was taller … More Making Chocolate Caramel Cake and Scrapbooks Great Again
Ms Chef in Seattle 