The urge to make scones hit me in early January. I wanted a perfect-for-me scone: not greasy, not overly sweet, full of whole ingredients, and easy to pull together in the morning before breakfast. I made many batches of scones and finally came up with this recipe. Alas, Alex doesn’t think they are scones. He says they are more like muffins without the shape or biscuits without the fluff. Out the other side of his [...]

Earlier this week, we were slated to bring a soup to family dinner with Alex’s parents. I spied our last local pie pumpkin languishing on the counter and thought of squash soup. I typically make winter squash soup by oven roasting the squash, sautéing onions and garlic in oil, and then pureeing everything together. This time I was exhausted from another bout of sinus pain. I didn’t feel like dicing the onion and happened upon [...]

I don’t know what I was thinking when I signed on to the International Blogger Cookie Exchange 2011. My family eats sweets slowly; cookies, brownies and the like often become stale before we eat a whole batch. I am so grinch-like that I don’t even have a Christmas cookie tradition. But I did sign up and receive a recipe for pecan chocolate bar cookies from Diana of Cookerati. I made the cookies with a few [...]

The eleventh Charcutepalooza challenge is curing. Alex and I have cured and dried many meats including saucisson sec, fermented chorizo, and coppa. I asked my daughter Lillian to complete this challenge with me. She’s been around hanging meat for most of her life. Curing requires minimal skill and can be left for days at a time, perfect for the distractable mind of a six year old. Watch how Lil cures lardo: While the lardo cured [...]

I am fortunate to come from a family of home cooks. Women are not the only ones in the kitchen – my father, uncle, and grandfather don aprons and feed the family as well. This recipe is for my mother’s father’s grilled chicken. The marinade is nothing particularly special, but the method of re-basting it creates a succulent crispy glazed skin. In honor of Grandpa, I never change the spices. Without nostalgia holding you back, [...]

Apples are abundant in our house after our trip to Lawrence Orchards. When the oven was on for family dinner roasted potatoes last night, I couldn’t help but whip up an apple crisp. I use a simple crumble topping ratio that is adaptable to the ingredients I have on hand and needs of my guests. I can use white flour, white sugar and butter for a traditional crisp. More often I choose oats, whole wheat [...]

Last week I was looking for a first course for a corporate cooking class that was easy to prepare and certain to please. I decided to test making bacon wrapped dates. Am I ever glad I did. The bites are salty and crisp on the outside, soft and sweet in the middle and contain a dense, satisfying almond in the very center. They are best served very warm. These babies are so simple that I [...]