Pink. Pink. PINK! Pink ribbons. Pink jewelry. Pink pens and T-shirts and bath sponges. A pink KitchenAid mixer; pink M&Ms. Pink ribbon-shaped bagels at Panera. Pink Ribbon Barbie! Heck, even Everlast has joined the party with pink boxing gloves (I’m SO there…) (more…)

Boy, these cookies sure look like biscotti, don’t they? And they’re baked just like biscotti. And they taste… just like biscotti.

Fooled you! They’re mandelbrot.

A cookie by any other name would taste as sweet? (more…)

Challah? Me, a nice Irish-Catholic girl from Boston—what do I know about challah?

It was Halley again. “Let’s put up some recipes for the Jewish high holidays. We need a new section on the recipe site. What should we put in there?

“Cheesecake,” said Susan. “And honey cake. And I have this wicked good potato crust pie…” (more…)

It’s the ne plus ultra of artisan bread.

The gold medalist (whoops, make that King Arthurist) of chewy loaves.

The Holey Grail. (more…)

How do you like THEM apples?

That’s what I said to myself as I finished scattering toasted walnuts atop this cake, one that can only be described as GORGEOUS—wouldn’t you agree? (more…)

Why are waffles on the very outside edge of the breakfast landscape?

I mean, even on the weekend, pancakes are about as fancy as you get, right? Or maybe an omelet. Or a coffeecake. All good choices, for sure. But I’ll bet waffles seldom (if ever) enter your mind. (more…)

Chocolate cake made with sourdough starter? You have GOT to be kidding.

No, ’tis true. Sourdough chocolate cake is a richly flavored, craggy textured, deep-dark chocolate cake, one you enjoy without ever suspecting its origin in a bubbling pot of sourdough starter. (more…)

“PJ, you have to do a sourdough blog.”

Halley, our Web projects manager, was cracking the whip on me. That’s what project managers do; it’s their job.

“Awwww, do I have to? I hate sourdough. It’s so…. fussy,” I said, trying to weasel out of it. “I don’t even like sourdough bread. C’mon, you don’t really want a sourdough blog, do you?”

But Halley was a rock. “Sourdough is, like, our most searched-on term. You WILL do a sourdough blog.”

“Oh, WHATEVER.” Grumble grumble grumble… (more…)

Did you know that Elvis’ favorite cake, one he enjoyed on his birthday AND at Christmas every year, was vanilla pound cake?

I grew up loving chocolate cake. Still do. But over the years I’ve also developed a great appreciation for vanilla cake, the dessert equivalent of your little black dress: simple, classic, goes with everything. And my very favorite vanilla cake is super-dense, golden pound cake. (more…)

OK, I know I teased you by mentioning zucchini in a post last week. But then I took off in another direction, extolling the virtues of fresh tomatoes and cukes, mint and onions and peppers. And poor old zucchini, the orphan of the garden, got left in the dust. (Or mud, if you’ve had the kind of summer we’ve had up here in Vermont.)

But in truth, zucchini is a happy-go-lucky vegetable: you’re happy when you find a recipe that features zucchini, and lucky when it actually works. For example, zucchini takes well to grilling (splash with soy sauce for flavor); and it’s a nice (though potentially mushy) stand-in for eggplant in cannelloni or Parmigiana. And if you’re looking to round out a stir-fry, zucchini’s bulk and mild flavor are just the ticket. (more…)