You all know by now that I love muffins, but I bet you didn’t know how much I love Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  My sister is in town visiting and we were talking last night about what I should make this morning.  I was wavering between Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Zucchini Muffins.  She and I both love Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, but for some reason I was stuck on the idea of muffins for breakfast.  At some point she said I should just make Oatmeal Raisin Muffins and once the idea was planted in my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about how to make a muffin that tasted like my favorite cookie. Continue reading →

By mid-week I had managed to eat all of the beautiful heirloom tomatoes and sweet nectarines I bought at the farmer’s market on Saturday, but I found myself left with a pint of flavorful but not-as-sweet-as-I-would-have-liked blackberries.  I didn’t want them to go to waste, but I didn’t really want to eat them.  I finally decided that all they really needed was a sweet, buttery, crumbly topping.

Wouldn’t it be great if all problems could be solved with sweet, buttery crumbs? Continue reading →

Happy Food Blog Friday!  This is my absolute favorite zucchini bread recipe and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you today.  Heidi from 101 Cookbooks calls this her Special Zucchini Bread and with extras like lemon zest and poppy seeds, it truly is special.  Continue reading →

Fresh tart cherries are a lot harder to find on the west coast than in some other parts of the country.  We have tons of sweet cherries available, and while I love sweet cherries, I’m always on the lookout for the tarts.  Also known as sour or pie cherries, these beautiful bright red gems are mainly used for cooking and baking.  When mixed with a bit of sugar, they have an extraordinary flavor that outshines all the sweet cherries I’ve encountered. Continue reading →

Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending The Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee, a great event celebrating 60 varieties of peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and pluots from about a dozen local certified organic farms.

After enjoying some music and eating delicious pulled-pork sandwiches topped with grilled peaches, we wandered from table to table chatting with farmers and sampling more varieties of stone fruits than I ever knew existed! Continue reading →

With this bread complete, I’ve officially passed the halfway mark in The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge.  I’ve now baked the first 22 of the 43 breads in the book and I’m fairly confident that I will make it through the second half by the end of this year.  I really can’t believe it’s been over a year since we first started the challenge. It’s taken me longer than I had anticipated, but even if I haven’t always been able to keep up, it’s been very rewarding to see all my new baking friends plow their way through the book.  Several people have already completed the challenge, and there are new people starting from the beginning all the time.  Congratulations to Oggi for being the first person to complete all 43 breads!  You can read her last post and see her top 10 favorite breads at I Can Do That. Continue reading →

When my friend Ruby called me the other day and told me her mom’s apricot tree was overflowing and that we each had a bag of fresh-picked fruit waiting for us, my first thought was apricot cobbler.  But then I remembered the tart pan I purchased last year that still hadn’t been used and decided an apricot tart was in order.

At first I was planning on making this simple apricot tart at Orangette.  I’m sure I’ll still make that one someday, but my original plan changed after a friend on Facebook shared a link to Tartelette’s Apricot Almond Tart. Not only was the tart beautiful, it was a perfect excuse to bake with some of the local honey I had just picked up at The Vineyard Farmer’s Market. Plus, I knew the almond cream filling would be perfect with the tart-sweet apricots. Continue reading →

It’s taking longer than I anticipated, but I’m still plugging away at The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge and enjoying every minute of it.  With the completion of this gorgeous Marbled Rye, I’ve mixed, kneaded, shaped, photographed, tasted, and shared the first 19 breads in the book.

Each successful loaf feels like a huge accomplishment, but this one in particular was special to me because it was the first time that I’ve attempted baking rye bread.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, because before this I had never even tasted marbled rye, but I was blown away by this bread.  The flavor and texture were wonderful and I fell in love with the striking appearance of the loaves. Continue reading →