I’m thrilled to return to Food Blog Friday this week with these amazing Coconut Cupcakes from Simply Recipes. When I needed to make coconut cupcakes for a friend’s bridal shower, I knew exactly which recipe to use.  I’ve made these a few times before, and they’ve always turned out perfect – this time was no exception. 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 →

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 →

Since I’m still seeing tons of nice strawberries around, I decided to pull my favorite strawberry shortcake recipe up out of the archives.  This was originally posted back in May of 2007 when I was still living in Sicily.

The strawberry shortcake I grew up eating was always assembled using those little yellow sponge cake cups that can be found right next to the strawberries in almost any grocery store in the country.  As a child, I thought those little prepackaged treats were wonderful topped with strawberries and freshly whipped cream. But after tasting homemade strawberry shortcake for the first time several years ago, I walked away from those little yellow cakes and never looked back. Continue reading →

This was a simple but lovely treat on an extremely hot summer afternoon.  I had been snacking away on my first figs of the season when I remembered the bag of frozen bananas in the freezer.  Combined with whole milk, fresh figs, and a touch of local honey, I had a feeling that one of those bananas would turn into a unique and delicious shake.  I was right. Continue reading →

I love buttermilk.  I love lemons.  I love really tart, creamy, sweet things.  I also recently received this popsicle maker in the mail and had been trying to decide what to freeze first.  So when I ran across a recipe for these Easy, Creamy, Lemon Dream Popsicles at Whipped, I knew they would be the first ice pops to come out of my freezer.

Whipped is a food blog written by Caroline in Chicago and I’ve been a fan for a few years now.  She has lots of great recipes featuring buttermilk and even created a page listing them all. That’s my kind of food blog.  You might also want to check out her Greek Favorites page – lots of temptation there!

But let me tell you more about these popsicles.  They are a cinch to make and super delicious!  You should probably be a fan of lemon if you are going to make these because they pack some serious lemon punch.  The recipe includes lemon juice and lots of lemon zest so a microplane grater will come in handy. Continue reading →

Spring is turning into summer, temperatures are soaring, and the time for strawberry ice cream is now.  I’ve been buying beautiful, sweet, local berries at the Farmer’s Market for weeks now and this week is no exception.  Last week I ate the strawberries fresh as a snack, as dessert, in salad, and even blended a few into a salad dressing.  But this week, with 100 degree heat quickly approaching, I needed something frozen.

This ice cream might seem a bit extravagant with the heavy cream, egg yolks, and vanilla bean, but homemade ice cream is meant to be a treat and I like it rich.  Perhaps next week I’ll give you a more figure-friendly sorbet recipe, but there’s nothing wrong with splurging on real ice cream from time to time.  Enjoy! 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 →