I have beaten eggs to stiff peaks two days in a row now. I feel like a pro. I made ladyfingers yesterday, which require beating egg whites to stiff peaks. I did this at 7am. I needed to leave them out in the air to get stale, and I spent most of the day hoping … Continue reading Tiramisù
I was restless and excited yesterday in anticipation of the coming storm. We had hot cocoa in the pantry and firewood in the hamper, and I wanted to lean fully into cozy. I wanted to bake, and I wanted to bake bread. Specifically, I wanted to bake oat bread. My first appliance as a grown-up … Continue reading Back to bread
It’s Christmas Eve morning. Brahms plays quietly on the record player, our cat Tubbles rubs her face on my pen, smudging my words, and coffee steams on the end table next to me. The sky is blueing after the black of night. My husband is in the kitchen making dough for a braided cranberry walnut … Continue reading Let the baking begin
My husband lowered a glass bowl from the top of the refrigerator, peeled back an edge of plastic wrap, and peered in. “Does this look dried out to you?” he asked. I looked into the bowl he held in the palm of his hand and saw a tan spongy mass. A dry crust was forming … Continue reading Feeding the beast
I grew up in my Southern home on pound cake, cheesecake, layer cakes with frosting, chocolate chip cookies and two kinds of pie: pecan and key lime. We didn’t do fruit pie in our house.* But when I met my husband, and more specifically, ate my first holiday meal with his mom, dad, sister, and … Continue reading No shame in pie
Our seven year old daughter gave me a gift this Christmas that continues to impress me, not because of the gift itself, but because of her reason for giving it. I am a baker. I have loved to bake since I first stood on a wooden gray stool next to my mom and felt chocolate … Continue reading Learning to let go in the kitchen
Butterfly Mind 