These pictures are lascivious. I know. How could I photograph these irresistible sweet and floral lavender scones with the blue Pacific peeking from behind and not invite you to stay? It seems rather rude to taunt you like this, but I was never in the running for the Ms. Manners’ title anyway so I am not terribly concerned.
When I am asked if I can bring a dish to a party, I am usually the first to jump up and down with joy and shout out sweet ideas. Does this party need cupcakes…a refined little pastry perhaps or a big, honkin’, decadent cake?
Well, my niece, Emme, was having a cupcake themed birthday party and the party goers were going to be making the cupcakes from start to finish at the party. Extra desserts were definitely not needed so instead I opted for a fruit skewer platter. Continue reading
You are kindly asked to step away from this post if you are not a PBnJ sandwich fan. Please. Because if you aren’t this cake seriously is NOT for you. But if you ARE, or at least someone at your house is, well then you are in for quite a treat because this Peanut Butter and Jelly snack cake is the epitome of the perfect PBnJ sandwich IF it were baked to warm and tender goodness and elevated to cakedom.
I am trying to think of a way to get you to imagine what my house smelled like when this was baking. Close your eyes for a minute and picture your typical PBnJ sitting right in front of you. Now toss it into a hot oven and inhale the warm and salty, peanut-y aroma as the peanut butter oozes and melts out the sides, and the sweet tanginess of the raspberry jam as it sizzles a bit as it touches the pan and creates a carmelized jam essence. It smelled like peanut butter and jelly heaven. Continue reading
The battle is over. I am victorious in the pie category of life. There’s a pie category, right? I’ve really been rallying for one because I’m in for the whole hog, the entire kit and kaboodle and everything but the kitchen sink. I used to be a pie loser…really. My crusts were tough and chewy, my meringues flopped, my gelled pies de-gelled or ran willy nilly all over my plate and such. I honestly think years went by, and I really never attained a decent apple or lemon meringue pie. How sad, considering these seem to be the pocket aces of any red blooded American’s baking hand. Continue reading
Banana, Macadamia Nut and Coconut Pancakes
Once you are back from a vacation, it’s hard to get adjusted to the real world. A world that does not wait for you and does not allow you to sit idly by an ocean while you sip a Mai Tai and read your favorite book. Now that is was the life. The quietness of Kauai still waves silently in my ear. The loudest noise was a more than occasional rooster singing his “cock-a-doodle-doo”. Continue reading
“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” I accidentally rudely said aloud as the lady in front of me, an obvious tourist (not unlike myself) and nOOb to the Village Bake Shop in Hanalei, was squandering her chance at tasting greatness when she began to order the Apple Crumb bar. She turned around and gave me the “I’m smarter than you look”, arms folded and told me, “The Blue Book says that this place has the best Apple Crumb bar.”
Hi All— For those of you who have been loyal followers since last July, you are aware of a few re-posts. I have been away basking in the Kauai sunshine, rain and ocean air with my family. Of course, eating was a huge part of my vacation, and I will be featuring some crazy amazing Island foods (Haupia Pie! —Coconut pudding, chocolate pudding and whipped cream on a Macadamia shortbread crust) that I have eaten over the last week and am determined to replicate so stay tuned…new posts are coming soon.
Sometimes, I wake up in the morning with a clear thought of what I am in the mood to make (and eat). For example, one Sunday I woke up and thought, “I MUST make doughnuts.” And if you are going to bother with the the huge vat of oil, wait for the dough to rise and eat a ginormous amount of calories, then you may as well jump in with both feet and make Maple Glazed Doughnuts topped with Applewood Smoked Bacon crumbles. Don’t you agree?
Life has its share of epic fails, and so does my kitchen unfortunately. Cakes can just flat out refuse to come out of their pans, omelets will stage a sit-in and end up as scrambled cheesy eggs, and sometimes, Grasshopper Pies turn into parfaits.
Black and White cookies are the perfect finale to any deli experience. If done right, they are soft and tender, rich and smooth. They are the soul mate to an icy, cold glass of milk. This particular recipe from the All-American Cookie Book is that kind of nostalgic deli-style black and white.
Sweet And Crumby 