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
One of my Chinese lady friends from Sunday afternoon mahjongg offered up oranges last week as we were exchanging small food gifts per custom. I’d made a batch of my Definitely Lemon Gooey Chews* to share and announced that I’d make a gooey chew using oranges for our next afternoon. One lady asked if the … More New! Orange Cream Gooey Chews
Stressed out? Try a nice brisk walk in the morning light and then bake the rest of the day. I’m calling it early St. Patrick’s Day gift pack for Mother and a couple other cookie testers. I was already on an “orange kick” a couple days ago when the decision was made after a phone … More New! Orange Pistachio Butter Cookies! Orange Minis! Mint Candy Brownies!
There was leftover berry filling from the extravagant birthday cake* made a few days ago and I’m not one to waste leftover goodness. The question was how to use it and I’ve wrestled with ideas because I didn’t want to just make a repeater and I didn’t want it to sink if I put it … More Cranberry-Raspberry Coffee Cake with Orange-Raspberry Glaze
If you’ve made a German chocolate cake, then you know it takes 8 egg yolks and 4 egg whites with 4 egg whites left over, leaving a decision to be made for using the extra whites. I decided to substitute half of them for an egg in each of two batches of Super speedy baking … More Chemistry? Egg whites, canned milk, baking powder biscuits & Cranberry Lolly scones.
I’m sending my mother her favorite type of cookies, more specifically, cookies she can hide in tins in her bedroom and have whenever she wants one or two, along with a few of my Chocolate Joneses* and a chunk of Ginger-Date-Orange Coffee Cake with Orange Cream Glaze.** The “hiders” are one of her all-time favorites, … More Fennel Butter Cookies & Mother’s Day Treats
So many photos of baked items are shades and bumps of brown because … well, baking. Muffins are a good example. No matter what you put in them to give them flavor or texture, they come out of the oven brown on top, so I shoot fixings. Sure, the close-up isn’t exactly brown but I … More Ginger, Date & Clementine Muffins with Orange Glaze & Tulips
It’s no surprise that fresh cranberries are currently a bargain, so I went through three bags of them this morning, poured into a big bowl of cold water and pulled out one at a time to get approximately 1 1/2 cups of firm berries for a cake. It’s not an easy cake. It’s necessary to … More Friday Cake: Fresh Cranberry Orange
Today I made a special dinner for a lawyer friend of my daughter’s in exchange for some excellent legal advice. I’d asked what her culinary preference was since I’m familiar with several. She suggested Middle Eastern and mentioned having had Iranian cuisine frequently at home while growing up, perhaps a nanny, so I decided to … More Roundabout Middle Eastern Dinner
Ms Chef in Seattle 