I procured this recipe from David Lebovitz who borrowed it from  from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking. Sadly, I can claim no stake its bizarre and wonderful  brilliance.  I will say that based on the rather odd surprise guest ingredient in this recipe and, well, the name of the book itself, I’ve surmised that its authors just might have been in an altered state of mind when they developed it.  Perhaps caused by another type of brownie or edible substance?
The …

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Name an ice cream flavor after him and suddenly, he’s every where once again.
I would be remiss if I did take this opportunity to remind you that I too, have Schweddy balls. And so can you!

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I’ve spent a lot of time with French macarons (though not nearly enough).  And, no doubt, masochist that I am, I will spend more time with this little merengued demon.  But not today.  Today we are going to hang-out with the French macaron’s  more easy going cousin, the almond macaroon.
If the French macaron is the Jordan Catalano of cookies, then the almond macaroon is Phil Dunphy.  Easy-going and approachable if not just a little bit simple.
A couple of people have …

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After spending a week in Montana, TD and I needed some time to recover.  So, we headed over to Vancouver for another week.
Vancouver is one of those  great cosmopolitan cities that doesn’t seem to know it’s  cool.  Or, maybe it knows it’s cool but is so cool it doesn’t need to have an attitude like New York, San Fransisco or Los Angeles.
We spent a very relaxing week taking in the sights, walking through every inch of Stanley Park and kayaking …

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We wait and wait and wait.  First comes the false fruit—attractive but mealy and dry.  Then the imports arrive: beautiful and delicious but prohibitively expensive.  Finally—just as students are relishing the last golden moments of summer break, we get stone fruit.  I know that Roald Dahl is English but I can’t help but think he must have been in California in early September when inspiration for James and the Giant Peach hit.  Peaches, nectarines and their varietals are everywhere it …

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While visiting my parents in Montana, I made a startling discovery.  Well, now, that’s not really true.  Maybe confirming is a better adjective than startling.  In my mom’s sitting room she has the following picture of me.  I’m guessing I was…two?

Other than demonstrating that I have never been able to pull-off bangs, take a look at my feet.  Why yes, those are black peau de soie pumps I am rocking.  And yes, I probably knew that they were peau de …

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Oh, the start of a new school year.  The smell of freshly sharpened pencils and PeeChee folders. New classes.  New teachers.  New friends. And most importantly (at least for me), new school clothes.
And then there is school lunch.  If I’d planned a little better, I could have and should have put together some research and thoughtful commentary on the subject.  As a former K-14 consultant, I’ve seen a lot of bad and ugly when it comes to school cafeterias and …

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