Pumpkin Scones

The scones come out of oven, I immediately try one, burn my mouth slightly and wonder if they’re not sweet enough. But after I let my mouth recover and the scones cool a little more, I realize that these not being so sweet ain’t a bad thing. I reminded myself that these are pumpkin scones, [...]

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Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies

Recognize that placemat and napkin? Yes, this photo and the roasted tomato soup were taken on the same day — I admit! And here’s another secret: there’s nothing in that mug! It’s all for photography’s sake. Now that you have the inside info, here’s the open-secret: you can never have too many chocolate chip cookie [...]

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Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

A one-bowl cupcake recipe that delivers on the promise of being very chocolatey and really good. James called them “a sugar seizure,” but I think it’s because the frosting had one-cup-too-much of sugar (the recipe below reflects the change). I made these for Halloween hence the green frosting in the background. I also attempted [...]

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Apple Spice Bars

We’ve moved on from our apple hiatus and came back swingin’! These apple spice bars have a super moist inside and a delightful crunchy topping — probably helped by the generous addition of a cinnamon sugar topping. Note this: even after 40 minutes of cooking, they may taste a little undercooked but I’ve decided that [...]

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Apple Cranberry Crisp

I told you I’d have lots of apple recipes for you, and here’s one more! It may look like a funny mass of oats and apples, but it’s actually a heap of pure autumn goodness with a kick of cranberry tartness. We’re a bit appled-out here at the Kotecki Kompound (i.e. our one bedroom apartment), [...]

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Apple Upside Down Cake

Behold! One of many apple-related recipes coming your way. It’s fall which means it’s apple baking season. Apples are available all year round, but fall baking with apples just seems so right. I’m here to tell the tale of my first attempt at an upside down cake. The story is short and simple: it’s so [...]

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Rugelach

Cooking is a surprisingly great distraction when you’re fasting. I don’t usually fast, trust me, but on Yom Kippur (Sept. 27-28, ‘09) it’s part of the holiday. When I need to taste something, I just ask James to be my taster for more salt or pepper or any other ingredient.
Even though I’m standing over [...]

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Caramel Apple Pear Cobbler

Ignore the semi-burnt pecans and let me tell you about this cobbler. It has an oatmeal cookie-slash-muffin-hybrid cobbler topping, amazing homemade caramel and just delicious apple and pears. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and maybe some tea and you’ve got yourself one of the best fall desserts. Or, you could bring this to a [...]

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