An Apolgy To All (Including Myself)

I seem to have lost a lot of momentum here. It's kind of odd because I've done so much baking over the last few months. It's almost as if I'm baking faster than I can photograph and write about it. I need to refocus on what I'm doing, what my goals are, and how I can best convey my progress to any and all who read this. Also? I really need to dump blogger for Word Press – and that will be a project in and of itself. (Actually, I think that last...

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2015 Into 2016 – The Answer To The Questions (Part The Third)

Let's see. Where was I? Right. Appetizers! I made appetizers for a post-Christmas dinner with friends. Years ago, I first baked up some "Russian Pastries" for a Ukrainian violinist who swore they tasted just like what her grandmother used to make for her. (Thank you, Good Housekeeping Cookbook!) I love them but they're kind of a pain in the neck to make. Small rounds of dough, stuffed with a ground beef/egg/dill/relish filling, folded and crimped...

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2015 Into 2016 – The Answer To The Questions (Part The Second)

The Next Question: Are you going to play catch up with what you baked last December(ish?) The Next Answer: Uh...yes(ish)? Tarts! I really wanted to make a decent pear tart, so I grabbed a bunch of Boscs from the farmers market and gave it a go. Let's try these. Hmmmm.... Partial success on this one. The oven was misbehaving – again – and I got some curdle in the custard. It tasted great, though! I'll have to make another attempt soon....

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2015 Into 2016 – The Answer To The Questions (Part The First)

Question the first: Why haven't I posted since last year? Answer the first: For the last two-and-a-half months we've been in the process of moving. From the latter part of December until just last week, we've been busy with finding a the right new place, finding the right moving company, packing up all the stuff (and we've got a lot of stuff), filling the new place up with boxes, cleaning out the old place (and carrying over more boxes), making...

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Season's The Reason for Spices and Seasonings (And Lots Of Cake)

On the last day of the year 2015, I'm trying to play catch up with the baking I've done since my last post. This will be kind of a no-frills update, so bear with me. I baked quite a lot this holiday season. Not that this is any different from the last few holiday seasons; I just like being able to say it because it's something that brings me a lot of joy. Most of my baking was, as per usual (which makes me exceedingly happy) for my family. I shipped...

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Seckel Selections (Or: It's All Gone Pear-Shaped)

A few months ago, I found, at the farmers market, a variety of pears I'd never seen before: New to me. Seckel pears. They were so cute that I had to get bunch even though I had no idea what I was going to do with them. When I told Michele about them, she said she used to get them all the time as a kid. Pretty much everyone I spoke to about them that day made similar comments. "I see them all the time!" "My family has them every season." "I grew...

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Pie-saster 2015

So, this happened on the evening of December 4: Whoops! It was supposed to be an apple pie for my Birthday Tea guests on Saturday. I'm not sure how it happened. There was some molten filling spitting, skin burning, pie plate sliding, don't grab the four-hundred-degree ceramic thingy action. Why the pie plate didn't shatter is beyond my capacity to explain.  Then following morning (my actual birthday), I screwed up the mint chocolate...

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