To diffuse some leftover adrenaline from fighting off an attempt by someone with a knife to get in my door in the middle of the afternoon last Thursday, I did one of the things that I find comforting. Bake something. Get in the kitchen, measure things, put ingredients together in a certain manner, take care … More Baking Experiments as Therapy, Example 1: Chocolate Chip Bourbon Cookies
One of my favorite nephews has recently begun a new job in Hawaii and will be moving his family there from Washington in the next week. His favorite of the the Christmas goodies is the Chewy Chocolate Mint, so I made a batch of the drop version just for him on Thursday so they’d be … More Snicks with Kisses
My “Chews” are a blend of cookie and candy. Some people can’t tell the difference, especially with these. I make them in two forms: the quick, as above, in bar form. The version which takes a little more time is drop cookies. Both are frosted with the seasonal Hershey’s Mint Truffle Kisses. The bars, with … More Chocolate Mint Chews, another Star
In Santa Monica, not far from McCabe’s Guitar Shop where I was taking a class, there was a small chocolate shop with the best chocolate cookie that I’d ever had in my life. As a sincere believer that chocolate is a food group, I made sure to have them often enough to sustain life. The … More juliyya’s Chocolate Joneses, truly a Star
My daughter asks for these every year as a selection in the Christmas cookie mix. She used to make them, too, as her contribution to the holiday baking. I don’t prefer to put them in the gift boxes because they are big. It’s impossible to make them small or all you get is a few … More Haystacks. Someone thinks they’re a star
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
One of the purposes of this site is referential, so that my daughter will be able to refer to posts if she entertains the desire to recreate something seen and described here. She thinks that I should put recipes in with the photos and writeups because this is a food blog. Of course I will … More Recipes, Old and New, Maybe, Maybe Not
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
The pear and maple trees in the front yard are so pretty. Nevermind that the leaves have to be swept off the porch daily. I did that last night, yet this morning, this is what greeted me. What do the pretty leaves have to do with a cooking blog? Pumpkin, apple and sage? Nope. If … More Autumn Leaves, Caramel-filled Mexican Chocolate Snicks
Ms Chef in Seattle 