Simple Food. Good Ideas. Great Fun.
Buttermilk Cut Out Cookies are my favorite kind of cut out cookies not only because they hold shapes well, but for their flavor as well. Iced buttermilk cookies can be found in most bakeries in Amish Country Ohio. While they are great for Christmas baking, they are a great year-round cookie as well. Although they […]
Many of the older cookbooks that I have read, from the 1800s, do not have a “cookie” section. However, they do have a “small cakes” section. It turns out that these recipes are for what I call cookies. Inspired by this discovery, I decided to adapt an oatmeal cookie recipe to reflect the flavors of […]
My mom loved peanut brittle. While she really liked eating it, she seemed to get more joy from making it. She seemed to find delight every time the hot mixture would foam after baking soda was added. She also found satisfaction in breaking up the hardened slab into gifting or bite-size pieces. I still find […]
Cherry divinity fudge is indeed an old-fashioned, heavenly candy. While plain divinity is excellent, the addition of candied cherries (or other candied fruit) makes my favorite kind of divinity. I need to clarify that I do not think that divinity is fudge. My mom and grandmother would refer to some divinity as divinity fudge. I […]
A classic, easy dessert that reminds me of lunch at my elementary school. I guess that is probably the first place I ever ate apple crisp. As I was not a fan of pie crusts, apple crisp was my ideal apple dessert. My sister is the person in my family known for making apple crisp. […]
Strawberry Pretzel Salad is a classic, nostalgic dish that can make any meal into a special occasion. It is a dish that can lighten your mood after just one bite. It is also a dish that is much better than the sum of its parts. There is a definite synergy when you take otherwise lackluster […]
I purchased three pounds of almond flour with the intention of trying my hand at making macarons, but I found myself staring at the unopened bag that reached its “best by” date the day before. I knew that almond paste could last a long time in the refrigerator and was made with blanched and ground […]
My dad loved Bear Claw pastries. He bought them whenever he could. I even witnessed him choose a Bear Claw over chocolate, which he could eat by the pound. However, I vividly remember my dad’s shock when he learned he learned that Bear Claw pastries were filled with an almond paste mixture. Although it was […]
These Lightly Lemon Cheese Bars are the very tasty result of a cookbook mistake. A collection of recipes had what I think was suppose to be a traditional bar recipe using a crumbly cake on the bottom, a smooth soft-baked mixture in the middle, and another layer of the cake mixture crumbled on top. I […]
This lemon pudding recipe is based upon one for banana pudding. Unlike my other recipe, this one does not require any cooking, making it a great dessert to make on a very hot summer day. I use an instant pudding that I buy at a bulk food store, but I assume that the boxed, brand […]
