After the Feast

Thanksgiving is over, and it was good. We started the morning with Pumpkin Scones, served with a little cinnamon butter on the side. These were tender and delicious, and I’ll make them again. (Note for next time: try freezing the unbaked wedges overnight, and adjust the baking time accordingly. Might hold their shape a little…

Salmon with Kale and Cabbage

I must have been sorting socks when the kale bandwagon rolled by. I missed the whole arc, from common vegetable to decorative winter landscape plant to foodstuff so pervasive that Time magazine suggests banning kale as a word in 2015. (Personally, I would have voted for the word, “So,” in its overuse as the intro…

Halloween 2014 Wrap-Up

Halloween is a Big Deal in my neighborhood. I bought 30 pounds of chocolate candy last week and prayed it would be enough for an expected 350-400 trick-or-treaters. And I prayed harder as temptation caused the chocoholics in my household (in other words, everybody) to dip into the supply again and again. Pretty soon, 27…

Magic Chocolate Frosting

It was a week of unintended consequences. I loaned my daughter my car, and her sweet cat peed and pooped in it. I made cookies jammed with expensive ingredients (gluten-free flour, dried cherries, chunks of good-quality bittersweet chocolate, large coconut flakes), but the pepitas also called for turned out to be tough and stale and…

Cheesecake with a walnut crust

August 20, 1964 – Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho Today is the 50th anniversary of my third birthday. Birthday cakes are the subject of intense consideration in my family, always homemade unless the cook has a doctor’s note, and always of a type and flavor chosen by the guest of honor. I wear two…

Overnight Steel-Cut Oatmeal

How do I love this recipe? Let me count the ways: 1. It’s delicious. 2. The oats serve as a lovely foil to the fresh fruit you toss on top. 3. Cooked this way, steel-cut oats have a mostly creamy texture with a little pleasant chew. I’ve tried steel-cut oats cooked according to directions on…