Vanilla, Mocha, Walnuts: Memories of Bundt Cake
on Nov 13, 2009Some of my earliest memories of baking at home involved my mom, a box of cake mix, and a bundt pan. Now, to be completely fair to my mom and cake mixes, she came over to America at the age...

A Clafouti For Chilly Days: Apples, Cranberries, and Vanilla Bean
on Nov 6, 2009 in In the Pâtisserie Pastry A dear friend of mine just returned from Africa and brought me a wonderful gift: a literal bag of whole vanilla beans! Apparently vanilla beans are much less expensive in Africa (no doubt due to the vanilla bean powerhouse Madagascar)...

A Little Candy Corn for Your Halloween Bowl
on Oct 30, 2009 in Field Guide to Candy Hi all! In honor of Halloween, I thought I'd share this candy corn recipe from my cookbook. I also got to speak with the Saucy Sisters from Nashville about this Halloween staple; here's the podcast if you want to take...

Pomegranates, Fall, and Cookbooks
on Oct 26, 2009 in Books Thanks to all of you who made it out to my book party last weekend! We had a brisk fall afternoon, a lovely crowd, and chocolates for all! I was flattered that so many guests commented on the Vanilla Bean...

Of Chocolate and Tempering
on Oct 13, 2009Wow! First, thank you all for the wonderful well wishes and support to my last post! It is still a bit unreal to me that I now have two books to my name, and all of your encouragement is *very*...

Field Guide to Candy is Out! Win a Copy of Your Own!
on Oct 6, 2009Two years ago, one of my long-cherished goals suddenly blossomed into reality: I was offered the chance to write a cookbook. A great deal of testing, retesting, writing, and rewriting later Field Guide to Cookies emerged. One year ago, just...

Goodbye Summer, Hello Fall: Peach Brown Sugar Ice Cream with Hazelnut Sugar Cookies
on Oct 1, 2009 in Cookies Ice Cream In the Pâtisserie I am so glad that I was able to make it to BlogHer Food! The prospect of meeting friends I'd made through the food blogosphere, virtually in my backyard, was too compelling to ignore. Combine that with some extraordinarily educational...

Return from Hong Kong: Family, Food, and a Really Good Tart
on Sep 22, 2009 in Fruit In the Pâtisserie Sweet Spots Tarts Travel Hello dear readers, I'm back from Hong Kong! I apologize that this won't be as comprehensive a travelogue as some of my other reports: a host of family obligations kept me from playing tourist as much as I wanted to....

Apple, Pecan, and Cinnamon Crumble Bars
on Sep 2, 2009 in Cookies Fruit In the Pâtisserie Thanks to all my readers for your well-wishes - it's been a hectic, topsy-turvy couple of weeks but we are starting to get settled into our new home and we love it! It's no surprise, is it, that the first...

Roasted Pluot Phyllo Tarts and a Farewell to My Kitchen
on Aug 19, 2009 in Fruit In the Pâtisserie Tarts Want to know what the highlight of my last week was? Here's a clue: Yes, that's me standing next to my brand-new stove in my brand-new place. Excuse the ridiculous glare from the flash of the little handheld camera we...