Welcome back to Doughvember! This week, Linda and I are giving away sourdough-related prizes, so keep reading if you’re interested in today’s giveaway.  Have you had any sourdough adventures yet this month?  I’m saving my bread baking for the second half of the month, but this week I decided to experiment with using sourdough starter to replace part of the flour and water in a simple pumpkin cake. Continue reading →

Today my guest post on Maple Butternut Pudding is being featured at Eating Rules as part of the October Unprocessed Challenge.  I revamped one of my favorite Fall desserts, Butternut Squash Pudding, to make it suitable for the challenge.  Head over to Eating Rules to see how it turned out.

Do you like to play around in the kitchen?  Have you ever created a recipe so good it should have won a prize?  Well I’ve got a contest for you.  A handful of food blogger friends and I have teamed up with Pacific Natural Foods to be judges in the Everyday Chef Challenge – a fun and friendly recipe competition that any of you can enter.  There are some fantastic prizes up for grabs, including an 11-piece Le Creuset Cookware Set valued at $1000! Continue reading →

I’m joining in on Summer Fest again this year, but I can hardly believe it’s summer.  In some ways, it seems like I just moved back to Fresno, but as the temperatures recently started up into the hundreds, I had flashbacks to last year and realized that this is my second summer here.  I’ve been back here, in the place where I grew up, for more than a year.  Well, it’s definitely starting to feel like home again and I’m happy to be here. Continue reading →

I’ve always been known for my mini cheesecakes, but it’s been a while since I’ve created a new flavor.  I’ve been staying away from sweets for a few months now and when I do start adding the occasional dessert back into my life, I plan on avoiding refined sugars as much as possible.  With these cheesecakes, I tried using less-processed, more natural sweeteners like honey and sucanat.  I honestly wasn’t sure how they would turn out. Continue reading →

It’s Spring Fling time again and this week we’re talking about rhubarb.  You may remember that I came to know rhubarb for the first time only a couple of years ago, but it’s been a love affair ever since.  I love its tart, astringent nature and while most people won’t eat it until it’s been cooked and sweetened, I love to pop a few pieces in my mouth while chopping it up for compote, or pie, or delicious Rhubarb Blueberry Turnovers.

To celebrate rhubarb this week, I decided to combine it with some of our extra-sweet local strawberries and a bit of local honey to make a compote.  I then layered the delicious compote with extra sliced berries and lightly sweetened whipped cream to make a wonderful new-to-me dessert called a fool.  I don’t know why it’s called a fool (although I’m sure Wikipedia does), but move over Strawberry Shortcake, this Strawberry Rhubarb Fool is now my favorite spring dessert! Continue reading →

I’ve never been a huge fan of crumb-topped coffee cakes.  I’ve had so many that were dry and boring that I decided early on that I’m just not really into coffee cake.  But my mom used to make one called a Sour Cream Pound Cake and I loved it.  Continue reading →

Pretty, aren’t they?  These delicate, crisp, lightly sweetened Scandinavian Rosettes are as delicious as they are beautiful.  The “cookies” are made from a thin, crepe-like batter that is quickly deep fried on specially shaped irons.  Rosettes are traditionally made during Christmas time and are a delight to make, share, and eat. Continue reading →