Two brothers, one is 9, and the other, 12, have been visiting for a few days in the neighborhood. The 12 year-old likes to bake and, with his younger brother’s birthday upcoming, I thought it might be a good time to teach him how to make a cake that he will be able to bake … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Passing on a Favorite to a new generation of bakers: Crazy Cake
My mother’s birthday is tomorrow and my acknowledgment is always something that I make for her. I do the same thing for the other holidays. Some years I paint a card; she likes and saves them. Other years I bake a goodie of some sort. She’s very fond of crispy butter cookies and I had … More Lavender Butter Cookies
One of the neighbors missed out on the first of the summer fruit ice creams, so today I told him the next would be blackberry or Bing cherry (or Lambert) if I can find some good cherries. So far none have met my tests, i.e., not woody, not grainy, not mushy and plenty of flavor. … More Rainier Cherry Ice Cream, V.1, F1
Broccoli was well used tonight as the star of a souffle and in the old-fashioned pickle- marinated form along with yellow onion and baby grape tomatoes. There was leftover Chicken and Eggplant Khoresh* with Persian-Adwiya seasoned basmati rice from the freezer for the main course, and for dessert, a slice of a neighbor’s yummy Mexican … More Broccoli Souffle with Sharp Cheddar n Chipotle Sauce
One of my brothers served this mildly spiced, dense and delicious bread to guests for an occasional dessert at a hunting and sporting lodge he built and sold in northwestern Montana. Today I gathered up the season-ending stalks of rhubarb from three neighborhood gardens, chop chop, used white whole wheat and just-roasted pecans along with … More Rhubarb and Pecan Tea Bread
We all have foods that we associate with certain individuals. Sometimes the name of that person is part of the name of the item and widely known, but maybe the person with whom it was originally associated is unknown. Think: Reuben sandwich. I’ve named cookies after people. The cookies that I call Mini Teacakes have … More j’s Cookies n Cream: Carol’s Butter Cookies n Raspberry Ice Cream
Using ripe bananas in baked goods = nothing new, and in my family, the “normal” recipe for banana-nut bread does not include whole wheat flour. My late Aunt Dorothy made a version with whole wheat flour and I prefer it. I use white whole wheat plus unbleached wheat flour, replace castor sugar with brown sugar, … More Aunt Dorothy’s Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread
Friday night dinner was meant to be leanest ground beef with chili seasonings and black beans with accoutrements to make a taco-ish type of salad. I’d already popped the chipotle-cheese potatoes and red bells into the oven, caramelized the onions in the cast iron pan, browned and seasoned the meat when I discovered there were no … More Chili Garbanzo, Long Meal Friday
“Spice against what ails ya,” said Tony, a family friend who had a well-loved pizza parlor over on the Kitsap side of Puget Sound, as he put hot peppers all over his slice, folded it in half and ate it. Many times since then I’ve followed his advice for prevention, palliation and, some would say, … More Eggplant and Potato Korma
Mark brought me some crystalised, candied ginger pieces all ready to go into a cookie batter and some dried cranberries and suggested an oatmeal cookie would be nice, soon, sometime in the next two weeks. Oh, and some raisins, too, and walnuts. I told him that my oatmeal cookies do not have butter or shortening … More Oatmeal Chews with Candied Ginger, Raisins, Cranberries, Walnuts and Peonies
Ms Chef in Seattle 