January 12th, 2011 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Snow day! There's something about snow that makes me want to bake. I think it's the way the snow drifts in the wind like sifted flour and clumps up along walkways like dough. I have a feeling I'm not alone in this association. Snickerdoodles are a classic cookie from New England and we New Englanders are no strangers to snow.
Snickerdoodles are normally made with just granulated s...
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September 28th, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | 2 Comments »
It's always upsetting when fresh produce begins to go. We bought some lovely nectarines at last week's farmer's market and sadly, due to a week of entertaining and a subsequent plethora leftovers, the nectarines sat, virtually ignored for much of the week until at one point my husband resigned them to the refrigerator. They're not bad, just a little tired. They n...
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August 24th, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | 2 Comments »
I live in a coastal community, which is peaceful and serene 9 months out of the year. During the 3 months of summer, however, our fair community is inundated with tourists. Absolutely lovely individuals, but this mass onslaught of summer folk increases our community's p...
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July 29th, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
It's berry season. My grandmother was famous for making a bang-up Strawberry Shortcake. In fact, she would make it every year for my mother's birthday, until the year my mother finally requested a "real" birthday cake. Grandma felt that my mother is fortunate to have her birthday fall during berry season. That and it meant she got out of having to frost a cake. Wise lady, my grandma.
In any case, she made her Str...
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July 15th, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
I somehow ended up with two quarts of goat milk this week. Funny how these things happen. While goat milk is great to drink on its own - the initial taste is similar to cow's milk, with the tart finish of chèvre - it occurred to me that its salty-sweet, piquant flavor might work nicely mixed into a dark chocolate pudding.
A good amount of dark chocolate (85% cocoa) and a go...
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April 16th, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | 1 Comment »
It's good to have a chocolate recipe on hand for emergencies and rainy days. The past few days have been awfully rainy and cold here on the coast of New England, and these fit the bill nicely. Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - it's nice to have a rich dessert-type sn...
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February 13th, 2010 | Desserts, Vegetarian, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Teacakes. Is it not the most adorable word? It conjures images of flowery tablecloths, delicate china and smiling aunties.
Tarragon is a social chameleon. The Gatsby of herbs. It gets along just as well in sweet dishes as it does with its more common savory partners. This recipe demonstrates the former. Lemony, sweet and dense, Lemon Tarragon Teacake is the perfect showca...
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January 2nd, 2010 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | 3 Comments »
These are somewhat lower in fat (sour cream replaces some of the butter), higher in protein (walnuts) and higher in fiber (raisins) than your average chocolate chip cookie.
The recipe also calls for slightly less sugar than most, but the addition of raisins makes up for the sweetness. Corn syrup and sour cream lend a delicate fluff to the texture whic...
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November 16th, 2009 | Desserts, Yankee Cook Recipes | 8 Comments »
This idea came to mind the other day when I was trying to think of what to do with some leftover Thai curry paste. We'd had our fill of savory-spicy applications, so I thought using it in something sweet might be interesting. Chocolate takes on spice very well and coconut goes nicely with curry and chocolate, so I dec...
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November 9th, 2009 | Desserts, Regional Cuisine, Yankee Cook Recipes | No Comments »
Who doesn't love apple pie? Especially this time of year when the apples are fresh and sweet. I got the apples for this pie at a local orchard. Normally I like to use McIntosh apples for pie, but I heard recently that Northern Spies are good for pie because they keep their shape well. This turned out to be true - the slices even stood up to a good toss with the other filling ingredients without breaking.
Another i...
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October 28th, 2009 | Desserts, Vegetarian, Yankee Cook Recipes | 6 Comments »
Shortbread is a minimalist. Containing only three ingredients: butter, flour and sugar, simple is what shortbread is all about. In fact, Simple
would be Shortbread's middle name, if it wasn't mononymous already. That's how minimalist shortbread is.
I made these the other day for a friend who avoids butter. Instead, I used Earth Balance, and they came out great. The final product had a nice buttery flavor and a rich texture.
Dairy-Free Sho...
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Snow day! There's something about snow that makes me want to bake. I think it's the way the snow drifts in the wind like sifted flour and clumps up along walkways like dough. I have a feeling I'm not alone in this association. Snickerdoodles are a classic cookie from New England and we New Englanders are no strangers to snow.
Snickerdoodles are normally made with just granulated s...
It's always upsetting when fresh produce begins to go. We bought some lovely nectarines at last week's farmer's market and sadly, due to a week of entertaining and a subsequent plethora leftovers, the nectarines sat, virtually ignored for much of the week until at one point my husband resigned them to the refrigerator. They're not bad, just a little tired. They n...
I live in a coastal community, which is peaceful and serene 9 months out of the year. During the 3 months of summer, however, our fair community is inundated with tourists. Absolutely lovely individuals, but this mass onslaught of summer folk increases our community's p...
It's berry season. My grandmother was famous for making a bang-up Strawberry Shortcake. In fact, she would make it every year for my mother's birthday, until the year my mother finally requested a "real" birthday cake. Grandma felt that my mother is fortunate to have her birthday fall during berry season. That and it meant she got out of having to frost a cake. Wise lady, my grandma.
In any case, she made her Str...
I somehow ended up with two quarts of goat milk this week. Funny how these things happen. While goat milk is great to drink on its own - the initial taste is similar to cow's milk, with the tart finish of chèvre - it occurred to me that its salty-sweet, piquant flavor might work nicely mixed into a dark chocolate pudding.
A good amount of dark chocolate (85% cocoa) and a go...
It's good to have a chocolate recipe on hand for emergencies and rainy days. The past few days have been awfully rainy and cold here on the coast of New England, and these fit the bill nicely. Sometimes - not often, but sometimes - it's nice to have a rich dessert-type sn...
Teacakes. Is it not the most adorable word? It conjures images of flowery tablecloths, delicate china and smiling aunties.
Tarragon is a social chameleon. The Gatsby of herbs. It gets along just as well in sweet dishes as it does with its more common savory partners. This recipe demonstrates the former. Lemony, sweet and dense, Lemon Tarragon Teacake is the perfect showca...
These are somewhat lower in fat (sour cream replaces some of the butter), higher in protein (walnuts) and higher in fiber (raisins) than your average chocolate chip cookie.
The recipe also calls for slightly less sugar than most, but the addition of raisins makes up for the sweetness. Corn syrup and sour cream lend a delicate fluff to the texture whic...