I’m slowly but surely gearing myself up for a little recipe invention of my own, but until I find the nerve, I’ve been doing a bit of recipe tweaking to get myself in the experimental spirit. Everyone in my family was such a fan of Jordan Marsh’s blueberry muffins that I made a few weeks…
Project NYT: Old South Buttermilk Biscuits
I don’t know exactly why, but I’m continually amazed when something that I cook or bake turns out to resemble a prepackaged grocery store product that I used to eat or buy. I realize that one of the best things about going the homemade route in the kitchen is that you’re avoiding all the prepackaged…
Project NYT: Lemon cake
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…
Project NYT: Chocolate quakes
This morning, I awoke to a rather timely tweet from @Real_Simple. “Today’s thought: ‘There is nothing better than a friend, unless it is a friend with chocolate.’ — Charles Dickens.” Well, Mr. Dickens, today I come bearing chocolate. Today, I am a friend to all. There’s nothing better than a looker of a cookie, and…
Project NYT: Mark Bittman’s Real Ranch Dressing
Five or so years ago, I was having a conversation with my brother about salad dressing nationality when I made the observation that our U.S.A.-made salads were in need of a little patriotism. Italy, France and Russia all have dressings bearing their names. “What about America?” I wondered out loud. “Why isn’t there an American…
Project NYT: Maida Heatter’s preheated-oven popovers
Popovers are another one of those mystic foods that seems impossibly tricky until you give them a go for yourself. I tried out this recipe a few afternoons ago; I had a bit of time on my hands and was looking for something to bake with my less-than-impressive grocery supply (a trip to the store…
Project NYT: Flat-and-chewy chocolate chip cookies
For most of my life, I’ve defined cookie perfection based on a few standard characteristics: taste (that’s a given), texture (which depends on the cookie kind) and overall fluffiness (fluffy = good; fluffier = better). Although I dabble in a lot of cookie making, I always come back to these traits as signatures of success,…
Project NYT: Brown sugar shortbread
I am a major coffee fan, but there are some foods that demand a right cup of tea rather than my usual cup of Joe. Shortbread is definitely one of those foods. It’s such a slightly sweet, slightly crisp, delicate as all get-out kind of cookie, it just seems wrong to overshadow its subtle flavor…