Most visitors to Vacationland busy themselves with swimming or hiking or sailing. And me? Well, truth be told: as much as I subscribe to the virtues of physical fitness, my favorite summer pastime remains on the extreme energy-conserving end of
To the uninitiated, pickles can be off-putting. Any food that vies for blue ribbons at the state fair automatically implies a certain level of complexity. Couple this award-winning potential with the lore of champions relinquishing titles over softness, cloudiness, or
By the mid-1920s, Russian prima ballerina Anna Pavlova had become such a superstar that one ardent chef-admirer created the world’s most airy dessert and named it after her. (Some say the chef was inspired by the dancer’s fluffy tutu worn
Pretty soon basil will be flooding farmers’ markets, overstuffing fridges . . . and launching most home cooks into pesto overdrive. Sure, you can freeze the zesty green stuff, but why not turn the herb into a dish that’s really
Normally I’m not one to relish the unexpected house guest, but when summer descended on my little island home-away-from-home of Stonington, Maine fully three weeks ahead of schedule, I embraced the convergence of seasons with a giant bear hug –
A handful of ingredients. Check! A minimum of kneading. Check! Plus, a pretty pinwheel pattern on top. Check! Yes, indeed, these one-bowl biscuits meet every prerequisite for fun, no-fuss picnic food! At my recent Memorial Day celebration, I dunked them
Though granita, sorbet’s icier cousin, is most often consumed mid-meal as a palate cleanser, its lightness (no fat!) makes it an ideal summertime dessert. Here, I’ve eased up on the zero-fat restriction with a study in crunchy-creamy contrasts: a tart
(from Cookie Swap) Moms, this tasty sandwich is as close to the perfect Mother’s Day cookie as you’ll find. Whether a gift from your kids to you (start dropping the hints now) or something you make together as a family
My Mom is a fanatic for all things fresh, so I guess it should come as no surprise that I spent a ton of time with her in the kitchen as I was growing up. While other moms were happy
I’ve got vintage postcards for every major holiday. Often, I just tuck them into tabletop vignettes to help convey the seasonal party theme. But some cards are so gorgeous, they deserve a more prominent place atop a special place card
I’ve just begun to play with dough-wrapping to create cool 3-D cookie effects – and I love it! But what the heck is dough-wrapping, you might ask?! Good question! It’s basically the art of creating contoured cookie pieces by baking
Wafer-papering is relatively new to cookie decorating and involves nothing more than a simple cut-and-paste technique. For the uninitiated, wafer papers are thin, translucent sheets of dehydrated potato starch, water, and vegetable oil, which come both plain and pre-printed with
In dreaming up desserts for my recent St. Patty’s Day KMOV TV appearance, I devised this to-die-for Guinness stout-laced cake. Though beer in a cake may sound more than a little odd at first take, mull over malted milk balls for
Around about mid-March last year, I caught a serious case of spring fever. No surprise really, considering the season’s painfully long St. Louis winter. Plus, there was only so much swaddling in sweaters, socks, and blankets that I could take.
A sexy hard-boiled egg? Well, that’s how my good friend described this springtime amuse bouche when I planted it atop his dinner plate last weekend. Come to think of it, there is something pretty alluring about peeling back these eggs’
Now here’s something to stout (oops, shout) about – and just in time for St. Patty’s Day! This recipe harks from my James Beard-nominated column in Sauce magazine, from the article where I put two culinary giants – food scientist
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