This is an older post but it reminds me of my mom so I decided to re-post it for Mother’s Day. We lost my mom in 1998 but I think of her every day, especially when I’m in the kitchen!

I’ve been baking bread since I was small. My mom baked bread a lot when we were kids and my sister and I used to have fun helping (dressed in our matching chef’s hats and aprons, of course). Continue reading →

How it is that I’ve gone this long without tasting any of Nando’s Peri-Peri sauces, I will never know. But now that this wrong has been righted, I’m definitely a Nando’s convert. I like spicy foods and I like hot sauces but I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur. I always have a supply of a couple different Tabasco sauces on hand (I’ve also tried Texas Pete’s and Louisiana brands but I’ve always been a Tabasco girl), but my pantry hot sauce collection doesn’t usually get much bigger than that other than maybe some Cholula and a mild tomatillo-based green sauce. And of course, there’s the occasional Asian chili paste and I am now always fully stocked with Italian chili paste (crema di peperoncino). But really, considering the variety of hot sauces available in this world, my tiny collection doesn’t even scratch the surface. Continue reading →

While staying with my aunt and uncle, I made several batches of scones in a quest to create a new recipe. The first batch were wonderful and buttery, but almost more like shortbread than a scone. They quickly disappeared along with the homemade meyer lemon curd. Among others I tried were lemon buttermilk, lemon currant, and Apricot Cream. Although none of them were bad, these apricot cream scones were by far my favorite! Continue reading →

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Sorry about the lack of recipes lately but I’m still in the states enjoying time with my family. I’ll be back in my own kitchen by the beginning of December so keep checking back!

If you still have a can of pumpkin left in your pantry, try making this yummy Pumpkin Roll! It’s basically a pumpkin sponge cake rolled up with sweetened cream cheese. The one in the photo was made by my friend Ruby and has some chopped pecans mixed in with the filling, which is an optional but recommended addition! There are tons of pumpkin roll recipes out there but Ruby recommends the basic Libby’s Pumpkin Roll recipe.

Libby’s Pumpkin Roll

1/4 C. powdered sugar
3/4 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
3 eggs
1 C. sugar
2/3 C. canned pumpkin

filling:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 C. powdered sugar, sifted
6 T. butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 15×10 jelly roll pan (also known as half sheet pan); line with parchment or waxed paper. Grease and flour paper; set aside. Spread out a clean, thin dish towel on the counter (make sure the towel is larger than your jelly roll pan); sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar (this can be done using a mesh strainer).

2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves.

3. In a large bowl combine eggs and sugar; beat until thickened. Add pumpkin; beat until well mixed.

4. Stir in flour mixture into egg mixture. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, easing it carefully to the corners with a spatula.

5. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 13 to 15 minutes or until center springs back when lightly touched.

6. Immediately loosen cake from edges of pan; invert cake onto the prepared towel. Remove pan; carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake in towel while hot, starting with 10-inch side. Cool completely on wire rack (will take at least an hour).

7. When cake is almost completely cooled, make the filling: beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth.

8. When cake has cooled completely, unroll, spread with the cream cheese filling then re-roll cake. Wrap rolled cake in plastic wrap then refrigerate at least one hour (overnight is best).

9. When ready to serve, unwrap cake and place on a platter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired (sift the sugar through a small mesh strainer for a nice presentation). Cut into slices.

source: Back of the Box Recipes

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Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins. Yes, you read that right. Beet. Sound good? Probably not. But you can’t say they don’t look good! And so far, nobody has been disappointed with the taste either. What prompted me to create such a bizarre flavor combination in this muffin? Well it’s kind of a long story…

To tell you the truth, I’ve never liked beets. I was forced to eat them as a kid, I thought they tasted like dirt, end of story. Fast forward 25 years and I decided it was time to give the strange-looking red root another chance. My aunt and uncle recently took me to the local farmer’s market and one of the many things we bought were beets.

My aunt boiled the beets, cut them in chunks, doused them with a healthy amount of vinegar, salt, and pepper and one of my least favorite vegetables was transformed into my favorite new Continue reading →

It seems like I’ve been doing more baking than cooking lately so rather than post a recipe this time, I’d like to show off one of my latest baking successes.

I purchased a sourdough starter from King Arthur Flour quite a while ago and I’ve been maintaining it despite the fact that I took quite a long a break from baking with it. Sourdough is finicky sometimes (especially when you’re new to baking with it) and I became a little disheartened after my last attempt. Everything had been going well and I had turned out quite a few great loaves of sourdough so it was frustrating when I saw two days of work collapse into an unmanageable pile of goo after I accidentally let it proof too long after shaping. That was actually my second sourdough disaster. So, I decided I needed a little break from it. Fortunately, the break didn’t last too long because I started craving the stuff!

I brought my little sourdough starter crock out from the fridge, fed it a few times over the course of a couple days to make sure it was nice and happy, then made my dough. Usually I start by making a sponge, which increases the flavor of the bread and makes it “extra-sour” the way I like it. But this time, I followed a new recipe that uses twice as much starter and no sponge. I thought I’d try it and see how I liked a lighter-tasting bread. Continue reading →

[digg=http://www.digg.com/health/Baking_with_Whole_Grains_Best_Banana_Muffins]If you are new to baking and cooking with whole grains, I think one of the best places to start is with quick breads and muffins. I have already posted a recipe for whole-wheat banana bread and well, I guess I’m not very creative because here I go again with another whole-wheat banana recipe!

I have been working this last week on creating a muffin recipe that tastes great but has fewer calories and more fiber than the muffins I’ve made in the past. Since I love banana bread and I always have some extra-ripe bananas stored in the freezer, I have mostly been working on a banana muffin recipe.

My first couple of attempts were banana-coconut muffins. I was frustrated because I was having problems creating a recipe I liked and then I realized that the reason I wasn’t happy with them had nothing to do with the recipe. I simply didn’t like the texture of coconut in the muffin. I also kept trying to add cinnamon or nutmeg and was disappointed with the flavor. Then I remembered that I prefer my banana bread without any extra spices. So finally, I went back to basics and came up with a banana muffin that tastes like bananas. Continue reading →