Category
swedish holiday fruit bread (fruktkaka)
The downside of shopping for your Christmas tree the day after a rare December rainstorm is that you’re bringing a soaking wet pine tree in to your home. As you set it up, it’s dripping down on your shoulders while you twist the screws on the stand in to place. You need a sheet underneath, [...]
sugar plums…. a christmas revelation
A few years ago, I had a bit of a revelation in the kitchen. I learned about Sugar Plums. Yes! THOSE Sugar Plums… as in ‘visions of sugar plums danced in their head’; the stuff of lore and childhood wonder on Christmas Eve, the giddy anticipation of morning and a stocking stuffed with toys. I [...]
white chocolate macadamia nut cookies
Thanksgiving is done, the month is nearly over and December looms on the horizon. Holiday plans are in full swing, decorations are coming out of storage and right on schedule, the air turned cold and brisk. There’s not much snow yet. Only enough to change the landscape from late Fall to Winter, but enough to [...]
simply sugar cookies
This is one of my ‘tried and true’ recipes; the one to turn to for comfort and understanding that you know will never let you down. Not that I can’t find a million cookie recipes at the touch of my fingers, for cookies that look amazingly thick, decadent, and pillowy, with that perfect blend of [...]
11th month, with Sweet Potato Biscuits
Magic October is gone, the artist’s palette splashed vibrant and rich, in every direction we looked. The season of brown replaced it, and the darkness falls predictably, knocking us backwards in to quieter evenings, thicker clothes, retrospection. Thanksgiving came as early this year as it possibly could; beginning on a mild note in the morning [...]
giving thanks for wild rice & amazing wine
I’ve not always been an ardent fan of wild rice. As a kid, I don’t recall eating it much, and then in my early 20′s, I had an extremely dangerous case of food poisoning that involved shrimp and wild rice and since then? Yeah, you can imagine the aversion I’ve held. And the aroma of this [...]
date and nut oat bars
I’m a total rebel. It’s November, and everywhere you look is pumpkin. In everything. Or butternut squash. In everything. There’s sweet potatoes lurking over there; an acorn squash holding an adorable filling, perfectly browned edge glinting just so. It’s the season for all things roots and orange. People are already gearing up for Thanksgiving, too. [...]
more muffins, please!
I adore muffins. But I should clarify something; I like real muffins, not cupcakes masquerading as muffins. While there are those in the camps of muffin lovers that think sweet muffins are perfect, I’m generally not one of them. I like a hearty muffin. Small in stature but huge in flavor. I like them to [...]
september, and broccoli salad
Well hi there! Did you notice, by chance, what occurred since the last time you came around? September. A turn of the calendar page, a brand new backpack and pencils for some and Fall has unofficially arrived. There’s no back to school for us this year, strange as it feels, but the timing of our [...]
inspiration for the bounty
In case you’ve been living underground, or in a state of firm denial, September begins on Saturday. And to that I say “WHAAAAAAT??” Summer just seems to whiz by us in a blur. There at the start it seems like it could be endless, days and days of nothing ahead of us and hours of [...]