I’ve done my time running the show behind the swinging doors of high-end restaurants, where there’s something I call the “first dish” phenomenon. They’re the menu items that sell themselves once they go out on the floor: the sight and smell of the first plate creates an “I’ll have what they’re having” cascade. You know from experience that once the first order leaves the kitchen, there will be a dozen more tickets for the same item coming within the next 15 minutes. Picture the perfect head of warm roasted garlic, scented with lemon and rosemary, with crusty bread to smear it on, the right soft sheep’s milk cheese to put on top, and fresh, lightly cured and slightly sweet green olives to go with. (more…)

We can see the finish line for the snow in my neighborhood, and the first fresh hints of green are peeking out on the hillsides. If you’re lucky and from New England, you can travel south to remind yourself that warmer temperatures are not too far away. I was lucky enough to spend 3 days in New Orleans last week, and lo and behold, I seem to have brought the weather back with me. I also do a lot of my traveling to summer climes by researching recipes for the Summer issue of The Baking Sheet. (more…)

The same conditions that create the horrific road conditions that mark mud season in Vermont have a positive side: sugaring.

The 2008 syrup crop in the Sands’ kitchen.

When the nights are below freezing and the strengthening sun combines with above-freezing temperatures, during the day, the maples begin to thaw and the sap to starts to run. (more…)

Vermont has a reputation as a quirky little state, and not without reason. Many of our daily concerns make no sense whatsoever to the country at large. There’s choosing your date for the annual ice-out contest on Brookfield Pond. Making sure your application is in on time for the moose-hunting license lottery. Deciding how soon you can safely swap out your snow tires for the summer set. And not least of all, how bad will this year’s mud season be? The road you see here is just the beginning of what mud season looks like near my house. (more…)

Who knew there was such a crying need for this? I just got this email: “I’m writing to ask if you know of any recipes for Amaretto cake or Harvey Wallbanger Cake that don’t require a cake mix. I’m a from-scratch baker and I’m looking desperately for one! If you can help, that’d be great!! Thanks, Chavi Samet, Israel. So I promptly googled Harvey Wallbanger scratch cake and found no less then ten plaintive cries for a real, honest-to-Pete cake recipe that didn’t start with a box mix. (more…)

What do a spoonula, a large plastic bag, a spray bottle of water and parchment paper have in common? They’re all part of the arsenal when I start to make pie crust. Of course, there’s a rolling pin and pastry cutter involved, too. This messy business is one of the key steps to good pie crust. Really.

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On a recent trip to New York City, I had a conversation with Regina Ragone, the Food Director of Family Circle Magazine. She said she’d had a note from a reader whose child had an egg allergy. The reader’s question was, “what can you do to make eggless French Toast?”. I got that glazed look I often do when I’m thinking about a new food invention, (more…)

From Penny Raynor: “I’ve been a member of the Baking Circle for a L O N G time but I find this blog to be especially fun. I think you should include a demonstration of the shaping of the Kaiser Rolls that you put in the Baking Sheet in the Spring 2006 issue. It’s one of my favorite “tricks” and I always use it for my (or Moomie’s) burger buns.”

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Ever have one of those conversations when someone absolutely puts their finger on the pulse of a universal experience? Phil Jones did that for me in his email last week: “When using cinnamon, e.g., for French Toast, how do you get it to blend in nicely, instead of floating on top of the mixture, and/or making an unmixed coating on the bowl at the edge of the liquid?”

My reaction was visceral: “He is SO right!” Is there anything more annoying?

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Anatomy of a test run, chapter 1.

People contact us all the time looking for long-lost recipes. Not long ago we fielded an email from a customer who was looking to re-create a collection of family recipes. They’d found sources for everything on their list but a recipe called Tweedies, and wanted to know if we could help. (more…)