To blog is to be hopeful—that words matter, that someone is reading, that small things make a difference. Kerry Clare, Pickle Me This For the longest time, when I heard the B words, “blog” “blogger” and “blogging,” I seethed defiantly. When I was writing and editing The Lunchbox Season and Summer of Funner, I never…
This is one of the jams I give as gifts throughout the year. You can use fresh or frozen blueberries, according to the season. And, the bourbon takes it to the next level! Without added pectin, the jam can be a bit looser than some traditional jams, but this all depends upon how long you…
More often than not, I’ll set aside pints of grape tomatoes in little brown bags and then open them up for salad, only to find they’re too wrinkly to serve without zhuzhing. Or, at least that’s my excuse to make this savoury small-batch grape tomato jam, which tastes excellent on a cracker with sharp cheese…
This is my recipe for a Chocolate Mint Bûche de Noël using Rheo Thompson hostess mints or Andes Mints. You can sub other mint chocolates to your liking. If you fear dealing with whipped egg whites, add a 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract to my basic Bûche de Noël jelly roll cake recipe and join up…
Homemade caramels make a fabulous holiday treat and an excellent gift at any time of the year! I’ve been using this Soft Salted Caramels recipe for years! Enjoy! Print Recipe Soft Salted Caramels Ingredients1 c heavy cream5 tbs unsalted butter cubed1.5 tsp fleur de sel, Maldon flake, or pink Himalayan salt 1.5 c white sugar.25…
Today is the first day of Advent…well, technically, Sunday is the first day of Advent, so let’s just call today ADVENT JUNIOR! As you can see from my Advent Calendar for 2018, it’s once again time to trim the tree. Time for yet another set of Favourite Photo Ornaments. What are these? They’re small prints of our…
BUCKLE UP! IT’S ADVENT 2018! I couldn’t let December roll by without posting my annual Advent Calendar for the family. Last year, I made the entire 2017 Advent Calendar available on December 1st. This year, I’ll be posting events on more of a day-to-day basis so that our Advent Calendar once again comes as a…
We’re closing in on the autumnal equinox, and plums are EVERYWHERE! All I can think about is Marian Burros’ famous New York Times Plum Torte. Except, in addition to lying low on social media in September, as is my wont, I usually cut out grains and sugar, too. [I thought I’d had a lifetime’s worth…
If anyone tells you can’t mess with perfection and expect perfection in return, bake them this cake! This Strawberry Rhubarb Snacking Cake recipe was born of necessity and a decades-long obsession with candied ginger. I came home from the Farmer’s Market, as I discovered, without enough rhubarb to make Deb Perlman’s Smitten Kitchen Rhubarb Snacking…
