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 →

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 →

There are so many yummy pumpkin bread recipes and photos floating around right now that I couldn’t help buying some canned pumpkin at the store yesterday. I had been planning on trying out one of the recipes I’ve seen lately but instead I decided to experiment. The recipe I came up with is similar to the other whole grain muffin recipes on this site with the exception that I used maple syrup to replace some of the sugar this time. The maple and pumpkin flavors are great together and these muffins are really nice and moist.

I ate one (ok, maybe two) of these with cream cheese this morning while they were still warm and I highly suggest trying them that way! Continue reading →

I wrote about blueberry pancakes a while back but didn’t post my recipe because I thought it needed a little work. Well this morning I felt like working on it (actually, I felt like eating blueberry pancakes), so I now have a delicious whole grain sour cream blueberry pancake recipe for you, complete with nutrition info! I really think these are the best whole grain pancakes I’ve ever eaten!

These pancakes are good for you in the sense that they offer a good amount of fiber and protein compared to a traditional pancake. But like many of my recipes they are not low in fat. Perhaps you noticed the word “sour cream” in the recipe title? I used full fat sour cream because that’s what I like. But feel free to experiment with lowfat sour cream if you prefer. Just please don’t use any of those strange fat free concoctions that they try to pass off as sour cream…they scare me Continue reading →

In my attempt to speed up the approach of fall, I baked some Applesauce Spice Muffins today. To me, nothing ushers in feelings of fall like the smell of nutmeg and cinnamon in the kitchen. October is when I normally break out the spice-scented candles and potpourri but I couldn’t resist spicing up the house a little early this year. I am just REALLY ready for this summer to be over!

I am continuing my quest to create healthy but tasty muffin recipes and I think this one is another winner. These whole grain muffins are substantial and filling, perfect for a quick breakfast on the run. The addition of oat bran and wheat germ adds not only complexity in flavor and texture but boosts the protein and fiber content. A bit of ground flaxseed contributes healthy Omega 3 fatty acids. But most importantly, these taste really good! 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 →