My daughter’s friend from London brought me a box of dark chocolate truffles made by one of Seattle’s chocolatiers, Seattle Chocolates. These shots are a thank you. I use temporarily vacant space to set up art displays for myself. Tonight, the dining room table served very well, so I’ve promoted it to a category. Table … More Table Art: Tonight as Gratitude
Yesterday when I offered cake to people who’d also never had custard cake*, one said that she used to love Boston Cream Pie. Me, too, both the original and some variations unBostonly. However, chocolate draws, so I made a small batch today of the same cake as yesterday with two exceptions: doubling the orange extract … More Orange Cream Custard Cake, Seattle, Not Boston, but with Chocolate
Sometimes we plan to make a certain dinner item, then make something else with the same ingredients. That’s the nature of cookery. Sometimes we don’t know exactly what we’re going to cook, but take steps to lead us in the direction we’ll ultimately take. Yesterday I’d intended to make a casserole of brown rice and … More Unexpected Casserole: Roasted Veggies, Rice, Cheese Sauce
Christmas baking is well and truly underway in my kitchen. Yesterday I prepared peanut butter fudge and made three cookie doughs. One of the doughs was for this butter cookie with finely chopped coconut. It spent the night in the fridge and first thing this morning was sliced, decorated with blue and green sparkling sugar … More Coconut Butter Cookies
While there’s usually lots of snow in the two mountain ranges in Washington State, where, in my opinion, it belongs, we also get some snow here at Seattle sea level during the season. Some years there’s hardly more than an occasional dusting and, rarely, we have deep snow. It used to be said that … More Snow prep: 3-Bean Turkey Chipotle Chili, Christmas Cranes in Seattle
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
I spent some summers during university years as a live-in cook/keeper for a family with a “cabin” in a country club on Bainbridge Island where they spent that part of the year. As with any family, they had a rotating menu of favorites for which the recipes were available for whatever cook was in the … More Mrs. W’s Tamale Casserole. Now with Sriracha. Also leaves, a Seattle crane.
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
The first of two expected windstorms in the Pacific Northwest passed yesterday with leaves and branches and plenty of fresh air. The second, more powerful storm, is already hitting the coast and expected here in the Seattle area beginning in a couple hours. While it’s not necessary — at least locally — to fill the … More How to prepare for big storm: Bake! Loaded Frittata, Hard Flour Banana Nut Bread
What do you do with storebought purple plums and nectarines that are a bit too mushy for snacks? Stew them for breakfast? Make jam? Use them for baking? Since it’s a bit chillier in Seattle following our brief heat wave, I decided in favor of a hot oven and the aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg … More Plum, Nectarine and Walnut Crisp
Ms Chef in Seattle 