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The Clara Project: potato chip cookies.
I know, right? Potato chip cookies. This recipe (see more about my exploration of vintage recipes via The Clara Project) is handwritten in blue ball-point pen on a lined 3-by-5 card. It came from...
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The Clara Project: simple old-fashioned sugar cookies.
I love classic sugar cookies, and I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to try. For this week’s Halloween neighborhood street party, I wanted to bake a batch of pretty fall leaf cutout cookies....
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You can do it: Easy homemade bread.
For all the current interest in old-fashioned, do-it-yourself-like-your-grandmother-did-it kinds of food projects (like canning, preserving, pickling), there’s surprisingly little interest in making...
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The Clara Project: Old-fashioned applesauce cake.
On a crisp fall day, here’s what you want: Something warm and comforting, fragrant with apples and spices. Hot spiced cider, perhaps. Or, maybe … cake. This old-fashioned applesauce cake recipe was a...
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Classic chocolate eclairs.
In every family, there are stories that would make us all rich if we had a dime for every time they’re told. In my family, one of those tales involves my Grandmother Ruth’s famous chocolate eclairs. As...
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In praise of: the cookie press.
For many years as I was growing up, the Saturday after Thanksgiving was devoted to baking cookies: my mother, grandmother and I would convene in Mom’s kitchen to make several kinds of holiday treats....
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Christmas cookie primer: recipes and tips.
Come December, I find myself baking ridiculous quantities of cookies. I’m not sure why; there are just two of us here at home, and I don’t usually go to cookie-swap parties [unless anyone wants to plan...
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The Clara Project: pecan pie bar cookies.
As I’ve been perusing Clara’s recipe collection (learn more about The Clara Project and the vintage recipes that inspired it) this month in search of holiday-worthy cookies, I’ve found a number of...
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Make-ahead appetizers for Christmas Day.
I’m excited to be hosting a small (really small: 3 people and a dog) family gathering for Christmas. And I’m already planning a whole raft of appetizers to keep us going between our late-morning...
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Scandinavian almond bar cookies.
Holiday cookie-baking has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember, and I have a notebook of old recipes that I return to year after year. Recently as I was thumbing through this...
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Cheddar-chive scones.
Much as I love sweet, raisin-studded or jam-filled scones for breakfast, sometimes I’m in the mood for something savory. And I’m a sucker for cheddar scones. My love for these flavorful, cheese-studded...
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Boozy Italian cherry chocolate cake.
I almost didn’t post this recipe for Italian cherry-chocolate cake, for two reasons: One, it uses a somewhat obscure ingredient. Two, it isn’t beautiful. But then I did decide to share this dessert...
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Love-ly chocolate cake recipes for Valentine’s Day.
I don’t know about you, but I’m planning to spend Valentine’s Day with my beloved (of 25 years, ifyoucanbelieveit) right here at home, glass of California bubbly in hand. We enjoy cooking so much—and...
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Buttery Special K cookies.
When Rob and I ventured to San Francisco and Sonoma County on our honeymoon more than two decades ago [I was a child bride], we stayed at a sweet little bed-and-breakfast in Pacific Grove, CA, called...
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Sea salt chocolate chip cookies.
Do we really need another chocolate chip cookie recipe? Really? Um, yeah. We need this one. Sure, you could sprinkle salt on your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. But there’s something about the...
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Really good Irish soda bread.
‘Tis the season for all things Irish, and I always get a jones going for Irish soda bread come mid-March. I don’t know what I love most about it: It’s super easy to make, it has a great sweet/savory...
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The best types of salt for cooking.
It’s an essential ingredient in food, salt. Most often, we notice it when it’s overused or missing: Dishes taste too salty, or too bland. Home cooks tend to skimp on salt; commercial food processors...
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Wonderful spring recipes.
So, here we are: The first day of spring. According to the calendar, anyway; the weather here in the Midwest is anything BUT springlike. Nonetheless, I’m feeling a gradual shift toward a lighter way of...
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Best chocolate chip bar cookies: a cure for the winter blahs.
I’m grouchy. There: I said it. Grouchy McGroucherson. Seriously, can we be done with winter now? Can we stop with the friggin’ snow? Please? See? Grouchy. You too? You know what makes me not grouchy?...
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Simple orange olive oil cake.
This simple cake recipe pretty much has everything going for it: It’s easy (one bowl, one pan). It’s incredibly versatile. It’s not too sweet. It can be made ahead (and it freezes well). Most of all:...
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