Creamy Peach Tart

I’m looking forward to August and when the heavenly local peaches magically appear by the bushel in roadside stands. I can taste and smell them if I close my eyes. Until then, I will settle for the early peaches that are available now. There’s always been something enigmatic about peaches. When I was a little girl, I remember peaches fresh from the tree in my grandparents’ back yard. We’d take great care to look for […]

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Food Storage: Our Meal Ideas (So Far)

Like I said, Liesa’s book is inspired. She got me to realize that I can mesh what we actually eat with food storage. I just need to keep up the work and planning I’ve been doing to adapt recipes, etc. Some meals will come completely from food storage, others will have fresh ingredients in addition to food storage. I’ve had a bit of a hard time because we don’t typically eat a lot of prepackaged […]

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Mini Chicken B’Steeyas

I made these today for cooking club tonight. They are super yummy and surprisingly easy to make. The bonus is that you can make them ahead and freeze them for later–which I am going to do because I think I might need one or two of these every day as a little snack. I’ll let you know tomorrow if my friends liked them, too. For the recipe, click here. (image from marthastewart.com) p.s. I’ll be […]

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TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart and Tiramisu Cake

I adore lemon desserts. This tart uses whole lemons (sans seeds) for the filling. We loved the slight bitterness from the pith. It had a tangy, yet sweet lemon marmalade flavor.  The full recipe can be found here. I didn’t do an nut crust like the recipe states. I had some of Dorie’s Sweet Tart Dough in my freezer from a few weeks ago, so I used that instead. It’s hard to tell from the […]

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Food Storage Blogs and Resources

Over the past few months I’ve been seeking out blogs and websites focused on food storage. I’ve found them to be so helpful as I’ve been making my food storage plans and philosophy. (More on this next week.) Here’s a list of great sites I’ve come across. If you have a site you love leave the address in the comments and I’ll be sure to check it out. EDIT: I forgot to add one of […]

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Dinner Tonight: Balti Butter Chicken, et al

(image via Penzey’s Spices*) When I was in high school, I had a friend whose mom made the best curry EVER. Sometimes if I was lucky, she’d bring me some. My family didn’t eat curry. They claim to not like it. So. Back in 2001 when I moved to NY, the family I worked for as a nanny ate a lot of curry. The mom made her own curry out of toasted spices–just like my […]

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Blackberry Tartlets with Elderflower Ice Cream

There was a recipe back in a 2001 issue of Martha Stewart Living that paired elderflower ice cream with blackberry tartlets. I stole the idea and made it my own way. I can’t even find the link to the original recipe or the issue it was in. So you’ll have to take my word for it. :) The original tartlets had a filling that was more like a blackberry fool (berries+sugar+whipped cream). That seemed a […]

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TWD: Four Star Chocolate Bread Pudding

{Lauren of Upper East Side Chronicle chose the recipe for this week. Please visit her blog for the recipe.} Bread pudding is such an adult dessert. I never appreciated it until I was a grown up. In fact, the first time I enjoyed it was at my wedding dinner at my favorite (and now closed) restaurant in Sturbridge, MA. It was sooo good. I’ve never been able to duplicate it. You should be seeing pictures […]

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Cake Slice Bakers: Chai Cake with Honey-Ginger Cream

There are practically no words to describe how good this cake is. It’s that good. This cake…oh, this cake. When we voted on which cake to make for April, I was so happy my fellow bakers chose this one. I hurried and made it as soon as I could. I used Twinings and there were plenty of tea bags left to make another cake (which I did) and even another (which I will). If I […]

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TWD: 15 Minute Magic-Chocolate Amaretti Torte

If Holly had not chosen the recipe for the Fifteen Minute Magic: Amaretti Torte…well, I would have overlooked it. And then passed by it again and again as I flipped through Baking. Want to know something else? I don’t think I’ve ever bought amaretti cookies before. (I’m sorry to say it–I have a thing against Italian cookies since living in NY. Ask me and I’ll tell you about it.) This torte is divine. D.I.V.I.N.E. The […]

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