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
I was given a big handful of organic (i.e., grown in the family garden with no killer fertilizer) marionberries a few days ago while I was house and dogsitting. While I love the flavor of these berries, I do not love their big seeds so I saved them for a little baking project. Today I … More New! Seasonal Lemon & Marionberry Butter Cookies
Sometimes the title says a lot. Two girls were making different cookies at the same time with me via Skype, getting ready for camping take-alongs. The oldest made the chocolate no-bakes which require bringing ingredients to a boil and undivided attention and a bit of fatherly supervision at the critical time. The youngest made her … More In the virtual kitchen with juliyya: Blonde Brownies & No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Drops
Who doesn’t like apple wedges with peanut butter? This is a coffee cake version of that classic combo. Why? Mix-and-match is my middle name. There was leftover peanut butter frosting which I’d frozen a few days ago after making a batch of my Peanut Butter Wich* cookies for my mum’s birthday. Sunday cake. Formula 1 … More Leftover peanut butter frosting? Make Cinnamon Apple Coffee Cake
It’s March 14th, Pi Day. While I had it in mind to make a lemon meringue pie inspired by my friend Ina who made one for her birthday last week, I changed my mind and decided to make a tart instead. Some might call this Lemon Cranberry Bars, but I say it’s a pie. It … More Lemon Cranberry Tart for Pi Day
There’s a few new pistachio cookies coming down the pike starting with this one. Bormah is my favorite Lebanese and Syrian and Turkish dessert. It is whole, peeled and roasted pistachios rolled inside of a shredded wheat pastry soaked in a honey-like syrup flavored with orange and rosewater. I sometimes went to the Seattle Center … More New! Pistachio Mini Teacakes & Patties
Sylvia, the 90 year-old lady who kindly gives me a ride to the grocery store every week and who has a flower garden and cat both of which I very much admire, told me that she’s very fond of my coffee cakes, by which she means my coffee cakes, quick breads, muffins and hyped-up versions … More Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Mini Chocolate Chips, My Recipe
I’ve made two kinds of cookies for my mother and this year’s Mother’s Day, the first that she can hide in her room because it’s a crispy, buttery bit of goodness which stores a bit longer than the softer cookies. She’s been hiding sweets that she doesn’t want to share for as long as I … More Evie Vinson’s Ranch Cookies & Fennel Butter Cookies for Mother’s Day
Maybe I will. Maybe I won’t, but I am thinking about a spiced apple pie, the Dutch* kind. One of my neighbors has been frantically readying her art for sales (and hopefully some fun) at the Emerald City Comic Con which started today at the Convention Center in downtown Seattle. I think she and her … More National Pi Day. Maybe some pie.
Maybe 30 years ago I made a 3-tiered version of this cake for the 50th birthday of the wife of the lawyer for whom I worked in Santa Monica at the time, along with the rest of the meal I catered for 50 guests, precisely. It was then, like now, Camp Fire mint season and … More Chocolate Mint Cake, Deluxe Edition
Ms Chef in Seattle 