It’s February: Do you know where the kids are?

It’s time to get them into the kitchen for Bake for Family Fun Month!

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What do Genghis Khan and Gandhi have in common? How about Danny Devito and Pablo Picasso?

Oooh, ooh, what about me, and the Marquis de Sade? I bet you are just dying to know, right? Well…

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It was easy to divi up the Christmas cookies in my family when I was younger. My brother gorged himself on the chocolate chip, while my dad snuck the snickerdoodles and butter cookies (the ones my mom would curse as she struggled to get the dough out of the press in anything more comprehensible than a blob) to his room.

I was a little less impulsive than dad, but would still anxiously await the day when mom would make her ginger molasses cookies- a recipe from an old bed and breakfast they had stumbled upon on one year while in Maine. They were bendy-chewy and stuck to your teeth just right.

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Scientists tell us that scent is our strongest sense for evoking memories. That’s why smelling wet wood smoke reminds me of melting my rubber boots by the fire and lily of the valley will always remind me of my mother’s Muguet du Bois perfume.  As we change seasons we change scents as well, opening a whole world of memories.

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When I was young, I distinctly remember hiding out for nearly a whole day in a Jeep in my mother’s friend’s garage.

I remember hearing them calling for me, and me refusing to answer because I was so very, very upset with all of them.

What happened to make me act out like this?

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If you haven’t had the chance to sink your teeth into a soft, chewy Almond Cloud cookie yet, then we’re about to give you two more ethereal gluten-free incentives to get you on the bandwagon.

Our fans, gluten free or not, have held this cookie in high regards and rarely are there any left in our bakery case at the end of the day.

I wanted to make a simple substitution of the various nut pastes we sell to create other versions of the Almond Cloud, but I should have known better. Nothing is ever THAT simple. read the rest of this entry »

Nothing beats the simple pleasure of a soft, nicely spicy molasses cookie with a glass of cold milk.

Or a cup of hot coffee.

Or a tall, icy pitcher of fresh-made lemonade.

Lemonade? Get outta town!

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In the past, if I were to choose to make a batch of cookies, any flavor I wanted, I must confess Snickerdoodles would not have been at the top of the list. I mean, they’re fine, OK, pretty good.

And then PJ created her Superdoodles. I started to love Snickerdoodles more and more. But could I make them into a cookie I craved?

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From the National Confectioners’ Association Web site: “A recent survey revealed that 52% of U.S. adults said they like chocolate best. The second favorite flavor was a tie (at 12% each) between berry flavors and vanilla.”

Meanwhile, the International Ice Cream Association (Washington, D.C.) says America’s favorite ice cream flavor is vanilla (29%), with chocolate a distant second (8.9%).

So, my fellow Americans, which is it – chocolate, or vanilla? read the rest of this entry »

Chocolate curls, chocolate swirls, cherries bright, sugar so white…

For me, one of the greatest joys I know is creating pretty baked goods. Sure, I like to make bread and pizza and biscuits just fine; but to make a tray of cupcakes or cookies that is truly beautiful brings the biggest smile to my face.

Of course, when I bring the goodies to share and have to tell my friends “sorry…

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