I thought I'd make brownies for Dave, but it meant getting a little creative. I couldn't find unsweetened baking cocoa at Edeka, but I knew that with a little finagling, I could reduce the butter and substitute for unsweetened baking chocolate. But I really had no way of knowing which--if any--of the bars of chocolate I found in the baking aisle were unsweetened. So I bought the darkest looking one ... the one with a word that looked suspiciously like "bitter." But when I walked home (through an ... continue reading...
Search Results for: cake
Kalua Pork
I've been trying like crazy to think of a way to complicate this recipe for you, just so I feel like I've legitimately offered you a "recipe." Somehow, giving you a list of just three ingredients -- four, if you count the rice -- doesn't seem to qualify. But I can't do it. Adding even one thing would mess this up beyond repair. If you really want to make it harder on yourself, though, you could always run out back, dig a giant hole, build a fire in it, wrap a full pig in banana leaves (a great ... continue reading...
Rainy Day
It shouldn't be raining today. It just shouldn't. a) it's Dave's 50th birthday, and b) we have a double-header softball game in two hours. But I'm not really that surprised, since I just heard that this is the 5th wettest May on record in the Pacific Northwest. Since it IS raining, I thought I'd pull out some of our favorites and have a repeat day. Here's what we're having: Cabbage Patch Soup, which is what everyone should eat when it's chilly out. According to me. Cheesy Bread, which my ... continue reading...
Wedding Bells
I'm off to a wedding today. More to the point, I'm off to help shoot a wedding today. A very last minute, very unexpected opportunity came my way when my friend, Bobby Griffin, (who is the real photographer of this shindig) called last night and asked if I'd fill in for his second photographer. He said my day of assisting/apprenticing would involve crawling on the floor and climbing chairs, and trips to a local park and an underpass for some outdoor shots after the ceremony. Should be lots of ... continue reading...
Restaurant Review: Gayle’s Bakery & Rosticceria ~ Capitola, CA
I'm home from my second trip to California this month -- this time to Oakland/Capitola. I love traveling, but I really miss my kitchen when I'm away. Usually by about Day 2 of my trip, I've already got a good list going of all the things I want to make when I get home. My list today includes Chicken Diavolo and Polenta Casserole (both of which I had -- and then had again -- at Gayle's Bakery in Capitola with my friend, Sherri Youngward. In fact, I'm pretty sure we set a record for most trips to ... continue reading...
Snickerdoodle Meets Bundt
Anyone in the mood for a nice, warm snail dumpling? No? Me neither. But if you call it a snickerdoodle, I might change my mind. According to Wikipedia (and you KNOW it's true if an anonymous person took the time to post it there, right?), here's the back story to the delectable snickerdoodle: "The Joy of Cooking claims that snickerdoodles are probably German in origin, and that the name is a corruption of the German word for "snail dumpling" (Schneckennudeln, or cinnamon-dusted sweet rolls). ... continue reading...