I love making scones. When you know that while working as a pastry chef I made scones by the gross on Sundays, and made as many as 150 dozen on Mothers’ Day, you might be surprised that I still love making them. But I do, because then I get to eat them. Here’s a good, [...]

Categories: baking, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, mother recipe, technique

Brioche–memories of Paris and fear of failure, well mixed. But no longer. I lucked into a copy of Ciril Hitz’s book Baking Artisan Pastries and Breads, watched the included DVD, and now I have no more fear of failure. With brioche, that is.

Categories: baking, bread, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, technique

Bread and Wine is a wonderful novel by Ignazio Silone, and sometimes I think it would make a good name for my blog. Or maybe it should be Bread and Soup and Wine because I consume a fair amount of each. Anyway, here’s another excellent bread from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day, ever so [...]

Categories: baking, bread
Tagged: baking, bread

Panettone is a well-known Christmas treat from Milan, although it is available and eaten year-round. The commercial panettone I’ve had comes in a large tin, and although tasty, is a bit dry. The homemade version from Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day is anything but dry, and very tasty indeed. It’s also a lot of [...]

Categories: baking, bread
Tagged: baking, bread

Bread, for me, truly is the staff of life. Meals feel incomplete without some sort of bread, and a good bread makes a complete meal by itself. I love baguettes and focacce, boules and rolls. All those are wonderful right up to the moment I crave a good PB&J, and that’s when I need sandwich [...]

Categories: baking, bread
Tagged: baking, bread

The holiday season is in full swing, there’s snow on the ground here in East Tennessee, the wind is howling like a banshee, and it’s below freezing. It must be time for cookies!

Categories: baking, cookie, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, cookie, mother recipe, technique

I wanted a nice Spring afternoon snack today, and when I spotted some lovely blueberries, I knew that a simple blueberry scone with lemon curd would go really well with a cup of coffee and a healthy dose of lazing about. Fortunately, I had lemon curd already made, so I could start on the lazing [...]

Categories: baking, dessert, eggs, mother recipe, preserving, vegetarian
Tagged: baking, dessert, eggs, fruit, mother recipe, preserving, technique, vegetarian

Over the past year I’ve seen a lot of posts about macarons filled with spectacular and stylish photographs and gushy praise for the cookies. I assumed that any cookie with stores dedicated to it and books written about it must be at least as special as the chocolate chip cookie, so I decided I, too, would take [...]

Categories: baking, dairy-free, dessert, gluten-free, rant, technique, vegetarian
Tagged: baking, cookies, dairy-free, dessert, gluten-free, mother recipe, rant, technique, vegetarian

Spanikopita, sometimes called spinach pie, is a classic, easy dish. It can be made with fresh spinach or frozen, with feta or your preferred cheese, with or without eggs, and with butter or olive oil. It can be served warm, cold, or room temperature. It’s not at all fussy to make, and lasts a week in the [...]

Categories: baking, entertaining, entrée, lunch, mother recipe, side dish, supper, vegetarian
Tagged: baking, entertaining, entrée, lunch, main course, mother recipe, side dish, supper, vegetarian

There’s a first time for everything, and this time was my first making focaccia. I’ve made various other breads, but never once had I made a flatbread of any sort. Somehow I’m not surprised that it’s easy. The process takes about 5½ hours, so have something else to do if you want to make this [...]

Categories: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique
Tagged: baking, bread, mother recipe, technique