Nectarine Blueberry Cornmeal Shortcakes

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"Nectarine Blueberry Cornmeal Shortcakes Recipe"The pleasure others receive from my homemade desserts makes it all worthwhile.  I love making people happy through flour, sugar, butter and eggs.  Compliments do not inflate my ego, rather, they boost the level of joy I experience when baking for family and friends.  A special request is the most flattering of all compliments.  It says – I trust you to replicate a sweet memory or to satisfy a childhood craving.  Special requests often lead to recipes that become  favorites of my own.  Such is the case with two recipes from Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen cookbook.  Many years ago, my in-laws returned from a trip to Seattle with a gift for me.  How thoughtful of them, if not perhaps…well, let’s just say there may have been a slight ulterior motive behind this particular gift.   They presented me a copy of Douglas’ book amid elaborate descriptions of the “ most delicious coconut cream pie” they had eaten at Dahlia Lounge, one of his Seattle restaurants..  As I perused the pages of the lovely book they had gifted me, surprise – a bookmark led me directly to a recipe for Triple Coconut Cream Pie.  Hum, just a coincidence?  😉  I lovingly made the pie for them – and let me just say, all their raving was justified.   Continue reading →


Posted under Baking, Desserts
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Heirloom Tomato Pie

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"Heirloom Tomato Pie Recipe"

The August farmer’s markets are ripe with the most varied and flavorful tomatoes of the year.  I wait patiently all summer for the peak of the crop to hit the stands.  Never are they as tasty and full of flavor than during August and September.  I promised myself to buy up loads of them to use in all sorts of ways.  My grandmother’s chili sauce recipe has been at the top of my “to make” list for many a season.  I have always wanted the ability to reach into my pantry and pull from it my own canned tomatoes for whatever dish was on the day’s menu.  And with all the ways to put a tomato to good use, no one would argue that the most delicious way to enjoy one is directly from the vine, still warm from the day’s sun – maybe a light sprinkling of salt. Continue reading →


Posted under Baking, Pies, Savories
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Zucchini Bread Sandwich Cookies

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"Zucchini Bread Sandwich Cookies"

If patience is a virtue, my father was a very virtuous man.  Remembering back to my younger days, so many of my memories are of being at his elbow observing and absorbing all his knowledge on the subject of cooking and baking.  I’m not sure if he was consciously making sure I learned these skills, or if he just liked having company in the kitchen as he prepared our nightly dinners or baked a special occasion cake.  Either way, there must have been times when it would have been easier or faster to just do it himself.  I never remember him shooing me out of his way so as to get a meal on the table in a more timely manner.  Neither do I recollect a time when he corrected my amateur skills with an expectation that I should be more advanced than my young age would allow.  Was he cringing  as I overworked the frosting on a cake, or missed large sections of peel while preparing the potatoes for dinner?  Possibly.  If he did, he never let on.  I now realize that this is where my confidence in the kitchen first took root.  He allowed me to bloom in my own way, slowly and proudfully. Continue reading →


Posted under Baking, Cookies, Picnic
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Buttermilk Streusel Swirl Cupcakes With Brown Sugar Cinnamon Frosting

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"Buttermilk Streusel Swirl Cupcakes with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Frosting Recipe"

From the opening of New York’s first Magnolia Bakery in 1996, to the ever famous Sprinkle’s Beverly Hills hitting the scene in 2005, I think it is safe to say that as of 2012 cupcakes are no longer to be considered just a fad.  We all may have become immune to the novelty they once were but our love of them has not waned.  Quite often I’ve pondered what the fascination is with that little round piece of cake sitting below a rather out of proportion mound of frosting.  And right there, may be one of the answers.  Many cupcakes these days sport a nearly equal ratio of frosting to cake.  Maybe the appeal is in their individual portion size which eliminates the need for self-discipline on our parts.  Whatever the reason, I believe they are here to stay. Continue reading →


Posted under Baking, Breakfast, Cupcakes, Desserts
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Double Chocolate Scones with Cinnamon Butter

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"Double Chocolate Scones with Cinnamon Butter Recipe"

I have been traveling here and there – first a trip to the San Juan Islands, followed by a brief getaway to Santa Barbara.  Both were lovely, especially because it was the first time Howie and I have been away alone on a “real” vacation in a very long time.  The trip to the Islands was fun and relaxing with a bit of adventure thrown in for good measure.  I went zip lining for the first time.  I am not exactly what you would refer to as a thrill seeker.  Not by a long shot.  And although zip lining on San Juan Island pales in comparison to the adrenaline pumping versions, say, in these videos, nevertheless – I did it!  And for that, I was very proud of myself.  We also went on an intoxicatingly beautiful sunset whale watching expedition.  To my delight, we saw whales galore – plus bald eagles, deer, and other wildlife that inhabit the many islands throughout Puget Sound.  Crashing through the deep blue waters of the Sound, the boat’s mist moistening my face, the sun setting in the distance, I felt humbled as a human in that serene and peaceful place, where I was a visitor and the fishes and birds were at home. Continue reading →


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