“What IS that – thing – sitting on the cooling rack?”

“Man, that is UGGGGGGG-ly!”

“Is it edible?”

I tell you, I got a ration of… teasing from my King Arthur Flour bake-mates last week, when I made this – “thing.” (more…)

OK, class, today we’re going to make cinnamon monkey bread.

Never baked with yeast before?

Read on…

(more…)

Every month  the web team gets together to plan out our emails and blogs. A few months back, we were planning for July. “What should we feature on July 21?” asked Tracy, the magician behind the scenes who makes many things miraculously happen on our Web site.

“That’s my birthday, I’ll have the day off,” chimes in PJ.  (Yes, here at KAF, we get the day off on our birthday – one of everyone’s favorite company benefits.)

There’s a long silence… we all know what this means.  Who is going to bake the birthday cake?  Among the thousands of other things she does here – baking, blogging, copy writing – PJ always makes the birthday cake… (more…)

Do you find it hard to resist fast food?

When you drive by Mickey D’s, do you feel a sudden craving for french fries? Does the King sing you a siren song of Whoppers?

Are you finding it hard to resist sampling KFC’s new come-on, Kentucky Grilled?

My answers to the above are yes, yes, yes, and absolutely.

I confess – I’m a closet fast-food craver. (more…)

A few minutes ago, while filling in the “bake vs. buy” information for this post, I discovered that eggplant caponata, purchased online, will cost you a cool $10.50 for a 19-ounce jar.

That’s just about $71/gallon.

WHOA. And you thought gas at the pump was expensive! (more…)

Tomato envy.

It’s everywhere.

From Norwich, Vermont, to Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, to Ashland, Oregon, the annual Tomato Competition is in full swing.

“How big are your tomatoes?”

“Oh, well, they’re coming along pretty good. How big are your tomatoes?” (more…)

“Waddaya mean, ‘quinoa, sorghum, millet, amaranth, and… bread?’ You don’t think those grains make good bread?”

Well (she says sheepishly), millet is that yellow birdseed my parakeet used to scatter around the cage, and quinoa has some weird soapy stuff you have to wash off, and amaranth is supposed to have protein but no flavor, and sorghum — heck, isn’t that a weed?

OK, all of you “unusual grain” apprecianados; I give up. And give in. And I give a round of applause to our new Ancient Grains Blend, a mixture of the aforementioned “beyond the pale” grains.

They make bread that’s pretty good. I’m a dyed-in-the-wool white bread fan, so I can’t say this whole-grainy bread is my exact cup of tea. But for those of you who go the back-to-the-earth, whole-grain route, this recipe is a keeper. (more…)

Is there anything quite so lovely as the blush of a summer peach?

A perfectly ripe peach, juicy, full of flavor, the essence of peachiness?

Does such a creature exist anymore?

If so — tell me where! (more…)

Oh, the joys of fresh blueberries!

Available in a backyard near you, but sometimes just not soon enough! (more…)

Was it Howard Johnson restuarants, with their “28 flavors,” that started our demand for ice cream in all its wildest incarnations?

Ice cream used to be simple. Chocolate. Vanilla. Strawberry. Neapolitan….. woooooo, edgy!

Back in 1925, Howard Johnson — yes, he was a real person — tweaked his mother’s ice cream recipe and noticed sales at his drugstore soda fountain soaring.

In fact, Howard’s ice cream became so successful that he opened a chain of summer ice cream stands along the Massachusetts coast. Eventually, he expanded his offerings to 28 flavors. At which point he’s said to have noted, “I thought I had every flavor in the world.” (more…)