A buckle, you say. Or maybe it was the whiskey part that caught your eye. Either way, I’m with you. While in Napa Valley this summer, I picked up a berry-themed cookbook from a used bookstore that was filled with traditional rustic desserts: slumps, crisps, grunts, cobblers, and buckles. All meant to be simple, comforting, and full of seasonal fruit….
Pumpkin Spice Pavlova
I have to be honest. Before this summer, I had never heard of a pavlova before. Then I saw them popping up on the interwebs loaded with beautiful summer berries, and I had to inspect further. Named after Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, a traditional pavlova is a meringue dessert that is crisp on the outside and light and soft on the inside. Topped with whipped cream and fruit, it is transformed into a perfectly imperfect beauty….
Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake for a Birthday
Yesterday was Heath’s birthday. We celebrated with his favorites: mac and cheese, watching the KC Royals win game 3 of the ALCS, and most importantly, chocolate cake.
When we were first dating and living in NYC, Heath would come from Brooklyn and meet me on the Upper East Side at a coffee shop near my apartment. I would study and he would write. Well, that was always the plan anyways.
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Lemon Tartlets With Thyme Crust
We’ve been having beautiful, just-the-right-kind-of-warm sunny days and chilly autumn nights here in the Midwest. An Indian summer of sorts. Maybe not in the truest sense of the definition, but if I can describe what we’re having as some type of summer, then I’ll go with it. Did anyone ever see that Big Chill-esque early 90’s movie, Indian Summer? Don’t. Or do. Ok, it’s one of those strange guilty pleasure movies of mine….
Whole Grain Sorghum Pecan Granola
The arrival of fall this week has had me daydreaming of NYC. In grad school, I would walk during the autumn months from my tiny studio on the Upper East Side of Manhattan across Central Park, to the Upper West Side for class. I was finding my way in the city at that time, and this ritual let me soak in my new surroundings. The park and its changing colors provided calm from the constant hustle and bustle. This was fall….
Blackberry Buckwheat Cream Scones
Scones. To me they scream, “Come on, sit down, take a break, have some tea.” My school year schedule is back to full warp speed. Coaching, work, orchestra rehearsals, swim meets. These days my favorite ritual to decompress is finding new podcasts and listening while baking. Hearing stories about what makes people tick; their passions, their struggles, their loves, and everything in between, is grounding and inspirational. Human beings are pretty incredible, aren’t they?
I’ve had scones on the brain lately. …
