Kitchen Note: Holiday Shopping. Flourless Chocolate Cake.
December 1 and the madness has begun. Well, we knew that, didn’t we? That the madness was well underway? (Technically, December 2 now.) The questions is this: what with Brexit and the looming inauguration of persons no better equipped to be president than the IK is to perform neurosurgery (there’s a…
Mini Brownies
Granted, “Mini Brownies” lacks the alliterative ring of “brownie bites,” a name already popularly in use. Other names were batted around only to be shot down by the IK’s other half: no to Brownie Buttons. No to Brownie Bits. By the time “Wee Brownies” rolled around, visions of miniature Stonehenges…
Hazelnut Cakes
I write the day after the first 2016 Presidential Debate. And I am at a loss. Once upon a time, in the dark mists of the 1970’s, the Republican Party was sane. You could hold friendly discussions with its members. These discussions could even cover politics. Ideological disagreements did not…
Dim Sum. Hazelnuts. Cooking ahead.
You’re wondering about the featured image, right? Last Sunday, some friends invited us out for dim sum in San Francisco. We took Bay Area Rapid Transit to the Montgomery Station, then hopped the 38 Geary MUNI, riding all the way across town to Ton Kiang Dim Sum, which is on…
Cheesecake with fresh cherries
Before going any further, this is Nigel Slater’s cheesecake. I tell you this because should you visit Mr. Slater’s website, as I often do, you might encounter this alarming sentence: “Litigators tenaciously protect Nigel Slater’s rights.” Believe me, I have no intention of violating Nigel Slater’s rights, or anyone else’s, for that…
Lemon Cake With Crackly Lemon Sugar Topping
The great thing about this cake are all things you don’t need to make it: fancy equipment, fancy ingredients, baking ability. All that, plus it’s delicious and keeps really well, provided you don’t wolf it down in one sitting. This recipe comes courtesy of Diana Henry’s Plenty, written in 2010, well…
Lemony Lemon Cookies
Yesterday John and I passed the morning in the doctor’s office. We’re a couple who really knows how to have a good time. The doctor’s waiting room, a windowless, dour space, was decorated for Valentine’s Day with sparkly paper hearts, wine gift bags (in a doctor’s office?), and tinselly garlands. Face…
Nutella Sandwich Cookies
So Christmas is next Thursday and I am so late to the “Food Blogger-Must-Have-Holiday-Cookie-Recipe Party.” What can I tell you? Yeah, I’m late. But I bring Nutella.
Chocolate Marzipan Ice Cream
The idea for Chocolate Marzipan Ice Cream arose after I’d bought the marzipan for almond cake. In truth, I’d also bought a package of that chocolate-coated marzipan that appears in specialty shops at holiday time. Once home, I wondered what to do with it. Do people just eat it out of…
Almond Cake
The holidays are undeniably hurtling toward us. Lest I sound a complete grouch, it is not the holidays themselves I loathe. What infuriates is the pressure to attain impossible heights of domestic perfection, courtesy of catalogs, magazines, and blogs. All push perfect parties, exquisite gifts, and a flawless home….