I’m attracted to recipes for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes it’s a certain ingredient that I’ve been itching to use. Sometimes it’s a slew of ingredients (a.k.a. whatever foods in my refrigerator need to be eaten ASAP) that convinces me to try something new. And sometimes it’s a new method of preparation that lures…
Project NYT: Jordan Marsh’s Blueberry muffins
A few weekends ago, Jared and I went to my grandparents’ house for the evening. After dinner, my grandma, mom and aunt started talking about how my grandma prepared the delicious meal: how she roasted the vegetables, how she cooked the corned beef (it was a St. Patrick’s Day meal after all) and how she…
Project NYT: Peanut butter cupcakes
True confession: I am not a cake person. Or an icing person. In fact, for most of my life, pretty much any cake + icing combo won an automatic spot on my eat-it-just-to-be-polite list. I’ve never been one for typical birthday cakes either (neither is my sister, so two out of four sibling birthdays regularly…
Zucchini, meet Bread
Have you ever had one those grocery store moments when you veer away from the trusty list and end up buying something just because it looks great and you’re sure you’ll discover the perfect use for it? Although I tend to be a strict list adherer, my rebellious shopping instinct often kicks in around the…
What’s up, doc? Whole-wheat carrot cake muffins
In the world of diet books and health talk, muffins tend to get a pretty bad rap. We hear lots about their high sugar content, their enriched flour and their deliciously butter-filled insides. And then there are the stats that say that eating one large muffin for breakfast is akin to putting away a mega-sized…
Project NYT: Purple plum torte
What a good girl am I. Yes, that is a plum pun. Plum funny, isn’t it? I’ve been itching to make this plum torte from the Essential New York Times Cookbook since last October, when I saw Amanda Hesser whip it up in no time flat on the Today Show. Actually, it was that recipe…
Pumpkin muffin experiment
Despite my self-assuredness (and great relief) that I’d never again have need to enter a science class upon graduation from college, I’ve found myself in quite the experimental mood lately. A few weeks ago, my friend April suggested here on the blog that I try adding some brown sugar loveliness to my pumpkin cake recipe,…
Delicious distractions
Wednesday afternoon was a first for me. As I sat at my desk and typed away on work-related odds and ends, I clicked on my Twitter feed just as @food52 tweeted about this week’s wildcard winner on their site. Normally I don’t have any trouble clicking back and forth between Twitter updates and the task…
Feeling cold, tasting spring: Lemon olive oil cake
Yesterday felt like the coldest day of the year. I think the high hovered somewhere near 16, and the wind chill prompted atypical alerts about dangerously cold winds and frostbite possibilities on my trusty Weather Channel app. Normally, this sort of bone-chilling weather would lead me toward the soup section of a cookbook, or at…
Project NYT: Molasses cupcakes with lemon icing
Like most people, I definitely have my favorite flavors. Cinnamon, vanilla, anything citrusy: I always tend to gravitate toward recipes that incorporate the tastes that I love. More often than not, those recipes call for expected combinations: cinnamon with nutmeg and vanilla, lemon with fresh berries, rolled oats with brown sugar. They’re classic combos because…