Facebook Inspired FaceTime Face-Off Bake-Off

Or: I Must Be Out Of My Yeast-Addled Mind! Sometime last year I posted a few of my challah attempts on my Facebook page. I've yet to make what I consider a good enough loaf (still working on getting the braiding right), but I'm not half-bad when it comes to presentation and taste (according to Michele). An old friend, Hannah, whom I haven't seen in thirty-four years (although we've pinged each other from time to time on Facebook over the last couple...

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How I Spent My European Vacation (Or: Walk It Off!) Part 2 - Lisbon

Photos by Michele der Beker (She To Whom I Am Married) The first pastry I had in Lisbon was horrendous. In fact, the several "traditional" pastries I tried were not very good. Partly I blame the hotel (and the on-line suggestions) for pointing us at a couple of "the oldest" pastry shops in the city. Just because they're the oldest, doesn't mean they're the best. So, the first meal we had in Lisbon, after we'd taken the night train from Madrid...

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Just A Pie Before I Sleep

I had some pie dough in the refrigerator, left over from the weekend. I made a batch, and by batch I mean, enough dough for a double-crust pie or two single-crust pies, because we were having friends over, not once, but twice in one day and I thought I'd have time to make two pies. Wrong! As it was, I finished one pie, sweet potato, mere moments before the first round of guests arrived. Fortunately for me, the second round was a little smaller than...

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How I Spent My European Vacation (Or: Walk It Off!) Part 1 - Madrid

Photos by Michele der Beker (She To Whom I Am Married) I am married to an amazing vacation planner. This is a good thing because I pretty much rot it. Design a seven course dinner? No problem! Manage a guest list? Sure thing! This and more I can do. If it revolves around the kitchen, I'm in my element. Getting us from here to there and back, with research on the "there" part, I have to bow to my genius wife because she's the best! So it was with...

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