It’s October and that means its now socially acceptable to bake pumpkin things without getting an eye-roll from pumpkin haters. I had an extra day off earlier this week so I decided to see if the baking bug was still within my soul. (Hint: it was.) What did I bake? None other than Ina Garten’s Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Mascarpone Filling.
Continue reading “Pumpkin Roll for an October Afternoon – Barefoot Contessa 62”
Fall has officially arrived! Pumpkin spice, large crisp apples, cooler days and nights, and soon the leaves will change colors. Fair season is in full swing in New England with the Big E now in its final week. Sadly, I won’t be able to make it this year due to my new work schedule and lack of time off. But there’s always next year!
Continue reading “My Top 5 Fall Bakes”
Last week, I told you all that I misjudged the Bake From Scratch cookbooks. The one I originally reviewed didn’t have much appeal to me. However, I will now admit that I was wrong. Baking a recipe out of the fifth volume proves it!
Continue reading “A Potential Game-Changer in the Cooke World!”
A few months ago, I wrote a blog post where I reviewed the second volume of the Bake From Scratch cookbooks. I was able to get this one from my local library and figured it would be best to “try before I buy.” You can read the full review here, but in a nutshell, I wasn’t too impressed with many of the recipes in the book. I did find the book to be well-made and the quality of the food photography is some of the best I’ve seen. However, at that time, I decided against buying that book or any of the Bake From Scratch cookbooks.
Continue reading “I Was Wrong About Bake From Scratch!”
Welcome to Baking Shoulder Season!
“What is that?”, you may ask. It’s the term I coined this weekend when trying to find a recipe. It’s when it’s too late in the summer to get enough flavor from the stone fruit and berries, so you don’t really want to use them in your baking. But it’s still too early for all the “fall bakes:” things like pumpkin, apple, cinnamon, and ginger. These things are inching their way towards the spotlight, but not quite yet. Plus I can’t bring myself to bake something pumpkin-related until at least after Labor Day.
What is one to do during this time?
Continue reading “Ina Garten’s Blueberry Crumb Cake”
Every now and then, I take a break from baking.
This can be for a number of reasons. Sometimes it’s because my “baking bug” has gone away, and I have trouble finding it. Other times, I feel like baking, but I just have nothing to bake. Sometimes I just don’t feel like baking, or wish to spend my time another way. It is a lot of dishes, usually. And I hate doing dishes. Other times, I’m just too busy.
Continue reading “New Crochet Start”
After taking several weeks off from the Magnolia Bakery Handbook, I decided that I was in the mood to make a cake. Frankly, I used the need to do a practice run with a new recipe before making a cake for an engagement party later in June. But, if you’ve been reading this blog for long enough, you’ll know that I never need an excuse for cake!
Continue reading “An Easy Way to Turn Any Cake Into a Celebration Cake – MB Recipe 41”
While many of you come here for the recipe reviews and occasional anecdotes about other aspects of my life, sometimes I like to switch things up. One of the things I’ve only touched upon slightly is my affinity for the printed word. I’m lucky enough to work in a local public library where I get to be surrounded by books, this is especially true since I work in the cataloging department. It’s my job to get the books ready for the shelf and the public. So you may be confused by the title of this post. “If he works in a library, why does he want his own library of cookbook?” Well, honestly there are a few reasons. But the main one is simple: I enjoy having them.
Continue reading “Why I Love Collecting Cookbooks”
If you’re a baker and also a reader (like me!) then you may have come across a magazine at Barnes & Noble or your local Walmart called Bake From Scratch. The colorful, bright, and salivating-inducing photography on the covers of the magazines would pique the interest of everyone, not just bakers. After a solid year of trying not to purchase a copy of the magazine, I finally told myself that the time had come.
Continue reading “Cookbook Review: Bake From Scratch”
Every once in a while, things don’t work out the way you planned. Instead of getting to your friend’s party on time, you hit unexpected traffic and arrive too late to be even “fashionably late.” When it comes to baking or cooking, sometimes a well intended idea just doesn’t get off the ground. Or, in my case, bake up the way you thought it would.
Continue reading “Reminding Myself, “It’s Just Cake!””
