It’s not the best sourdough I’ve ever made. I didn’t worry about having an open crumb or a perfect crust. I just wanted some good bread. I wanted to know for certain that my well-traveled sourdough starter was indeed in good health. No, it may not be the best sourdough I’ve made and these photos may not be the best I’ve taken. But this bread, this blog post, and these photos will always have a special place in my heart. Continue reading →

I’ve been maintaining this sourdough starter at my house in Sicily for the last year and a half. I really didn’t want to throw it down the drain when we had to move but I was a little leery of packing it in my luggage and taking it on the plane. I don’t think I would have been allowed to carry it on board with me and I was worried about it being discovered in my checked luggage during a random search or at customs. Although it’s pretty much just flour and water, I was sure it would somehow cause a problem! Continue reading →

I really had no intention of writing about muffins today. But thanks to jet lag I was awake at 2:30 a.m. again and by 6:00 I was fully caffeinated with lots of new recipes brewing in my head. It was nice and cool and foggy this morning, perfect weather for a warm and spicy batch of muffins. Continue reading →

I’m asking you! Tell me what meals you make that just aren’t complete without some cornbread on the side.

This morning my sister informed me that she has a huge box of cornbread mix (probably from Costco) that has been sitting in the cupboard for a while. She requested I make some meals over the next few weeks that go well with cornbread so that we can use it up. I immediately thought about black-eyed peas because that’s one thing that I can’t imagine eating without cornbread. But of course, I like cornbread with all kinds of different bean recipes! And lots of soups, too. Continue reading →

Will you be having house guests during the holidays? These pumpkin scones are the perfect thing to whip up for guests. They come together quickly, bake in only 15 minutes, and will turn your house into an instant bed and breakfast. Give them a try! Continue reading →

Canned biscuits caused our ruination!

That was the subject of an e-mail I received after my last biscuit post. Who knew biscuits could stir such passion! Apparently, when canned biscuits made their debut, many women quit making them from scratch, even in the southern states.

Even in Tennessee where I’m from, when canned biscuits came out, women quit making homemade ones except for my grandmother who is 90 years old and still going strong. We live in Texas now and it amazes me how many people have never had a great homemade biscuit.

Carmen, the reader who sent the e-mail, went on to explain to me some of the real secrets of making great homemade biscuits and I am now forever in her debt! Continue reading →

I think so.

It was my first night back in my own kitchen but thanks to jet lag, I was far from ready to put a lot of effort into dinner. I put my husband in charge of grilling some meat and I managed to make a decent-tasting side dish out of some canned beans, frozen vegetables and rice.

But what I really wanted was something warm from the oven, dripping with butter.

I started flipping through my latest cookbook, a gift my cousin brought me from a recent trip to Wisconsin, called Best of the Best from Wisconsin. I would have been satisfied with any of the quick muffins or corn bread recipes I found but I realized we had no eggs. Then I found a variety of quick and easy beer bread recipes that sounded good, but we had no beer.

That’s when I saw it: a recipe for Cheese Drop Biscuits. Quick. Easy. Cheesy. It was exactly what I needed and I had all five ingredients on hand! Continue reading →

When I arrived here in California, my Nana and Grandpa were up at the family cabin in the Sierra Nevadas. When they came back a few days later, Nana had a present for me. She had found an old baking book tucked away in the kitchen and thought I might enjoy looking through it. Continue reading →