Okay, let us first address the elephant in the room. No hummingbirds were harmed in the making of this cake.
The kitchen gods were devastatingly disappointed.
The hummingbird cake made its debut in a 1978 edition of Southern Living magazine.  According to my research, the recipe was submitted by a Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, N.C.  And though delightfully named, she did not give an explanation for the cake’s title.  As these things go, much speculation has followed.  Was the three-layer cake …

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I may just be the harbinger of doom when it comes to flora.  Houseplants see me coming and shrivel up on there own to save themselves the agony of a slow death at my hands.  So egregious are my crimes against plant life that I’m surprised I’m not on some sort of nursery no-fly list.
Really, it’s not my fault.  I blame my parents.  As the child of two avid gardeners, I can’t think of a single time during my misspent …

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All professional photo credits (and it’s obvious which are professional): Betwixt Studio.
Four years ago today at about five in the afternoon, TD and I finally made honest people out of one-another.  That’s right, we gathered about a hundred of our favorite people together and got hitched, institutionalized, joined together as one, holy matrimonied, entered into a civil union.  It was a  good day.
The best.
We laughed, we cried, I wore fabulous shoes,  we ate hot fudge brownie sundaes.  It could not …

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So, I’d like to tell you about a book I just finished.  It really was delicious.  And brave.  And funny.  And often, painful. It was real.
I’m talking about Amy Finley’s How to Eat a Small Country.
In the spirit of full disclosure, you should probably know that I know Amy.  During college we worked together for a couple of summers at UCLA’s alumni resort, Bruin Woods.  When you spend two summers up in the mountains with 49 other college students and …

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Who is Mary See?  Funny you should ask.
It seems like most families have their own sort of internal economy complete with a currency and policies toward compensation, incentive and, of course, debt.  In my own family, the economy is ruled by the all mighty See.  Well, See’s Candy.  This “old fashioned” West-coast purveyor of confections plays a role in many of my childhood memories.  The grandchildren at my maternal grandmother’s Thanksgiving table were always exceptionally well-behaved in hopes of earning …

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Yes, I know it isn’ Thursday.  But guess what?  I happen to have little Tuesday posts planned for the next month or so. So there!
Today’s post is just a picture that I think aptly captures what it is like to cook in my little kitchen.  As someone once exclaimed, “you bake all that stuff here?”  Yes, yes I do.
Let me set the scene for you.  It’s about noon on a Saturday and I’ve got several projects going.  There are cupcakes …

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It has occurred to me recently that an inherent craving for the byzantine helps  fuel my love of baking and cooking.  Generally the more difficult a recipe, the more piqued my curiosity.  I also happen to feel this way about book and television show plots.  Yes, I cried like a baby when Lost ended last spring.
But.
There is certain elegance in simplicity and restraint.  Think of the black Louboutin pump.  A Rothco painting.  A tulip.  Or, in this post, a sable …

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