I’ve had a bee in my bonnet about making lavender caramels ever since my cousin sent me some Royal Velvet culinary lavender and I began making flavored sugars with it. Yesterday I sifted out the lavender buds from the caster sugar they’ve been infusing and turned the sugar into a heavy pan and spent a … More Royal Velvet Lavender Caramels
Leftovers and small bits of possibilities along with an occasion led to a cake I’ve not made in a few years. There was leftover fudge candy icing in fridge from the last cake. On Monday night, facing a lipid panel on Tuesday, I made a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal thinking “soluble fiber, anti-cholesterol.” After I’d … More Cocoa-Oatmeal-Apple-Pecan Cake
Coincidences between events and the freezer began last week when I found out that I’d missed the birthday of one of the master gardeners whom I admire. I knew that he is quite fond of my blackberry ice cream and that, between his pie crust and my filling and ice cream, he, his wife and … More Blackberry Pie & Blackberry Ice Cream for a belated birthday
There was much fun and mixing in my kitchen this week in preparation for the birthday party of a young girl who will be six. She wanted a snowman cake, the description of which changed several times over the course of several days and, indeed, right up to the last moment when she decided that … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Adorable Snowman Cake for a birthday
Earlier this summer while walking home from the Ballard Viking Days with some neighbors, I picked up a party cookbook at one of the pick-up/drop-off free book bins. There was a recipe for a chocolate party cake featuring three layers, lots of butter and chocolate, lots of work and plenty of time to get ingredients … More Chocolate Party Cake. No party.
A lovely neighbor gifted me with two bars of Seattle’s own Theo Chocolate, a pure and dark variety, which, in this house, means “Bake something with it.” Some people have suggested a deficit in the planned cookie menu for MsChef in Seattle upcoming shops, namely, a chocolate chip cookie. I’ve resisted because that cookie is … More Whoop-tee-doo Chocolate Shard Cookie, V.1, Seattle’s Theo Chocolate
There was a time when sunflower posters, prints and paintings, pillows and paraphernalia adorned my daughter’s room. It wasn’t recently, but a good amount of the wall art has survived mixed in with the rest of my collection. The time has come to clean the sunflower pieces, say thanks for the beauty you brought into … More Art in the kitchen: Angelic blonde with ginger tabby n sunflowers in vintage Burwood frame
There was maybe 3/4 cup of leftover chocolate fudge icing in the fridge and last night somebody gifted me with a bag of Washington’s own Bluebird Grain Farms organic whole grain hard white flour while we were discussing acquisition of some good quality chocolate for a cake recipe. So, with chocolate on my mind and … More j’s Hard Flour Brownies with Cocoa, Walnuts & Fudge Icing
Somewhere and sometime during a recipe search for something, there was a reference to using yogurt to boost the sour power of sourdough bread if one was in a rush. Some large commercial bakeries do it with added ingredients, so why not try it? I wanted fresh sourdough bread in a hurry, didn’t think about … More Sourdough Yogurt Bread, Garden Roses and Tiny Tomatoes on Deck
The question was asked. A neighbor with a fruit-bearing tree and fruit that could be wasted. What shall I make with the Italian plums so ripe that they’re no longer suitable for snacking? Plum ice cream? Plum crisp? Plum pie for Little Jack Horner even though it’s a bit early? Italian plum jam? Yes, but … More Italian Plum Jam
Ms Chef in Seattle 