Rugelach

I always thought rugelach was reserved for deli’s and bakeries. It seemed like a complicated cookie that I’d rather have someone else make than try to do it myself. But this year I was invited to a cookie swap party and as I wondered which recipe I was going to bake, Deb Perleman from Smitten…

Banana Cream Pie

My dad loved banana cream pie. He loved Capital Creations Pizza. So, today, to celebrate what would have been his 59th birthday, we ordered pizza and I made this pie. I miss him every day. Happy Birthday, Dad. Ingredients Source: Baking Illustrated 1/2 cup plus 2 T. sugar 1/4 cup corn starch 1/8 tsp. salt…

Baking Fail: Passover Pecan Bars

For all the wonderful, well lit food photos and glowing reviews of recipes you see on this blog, and other blogs you’ve bookmarked, there are hundreds and thousands of cooking and baking fails. I’m here to share my story.   I was on a Passover baking kick. I made Mandarin Orange Kugel for the Seder….

Cranberry Pie

Looking for a last minute holiday dessert? Look no further. This cranberry pie is like a cross between those seemingly healthy fruit oat bars (unless you consider copious amounts of butter and sugar healthy!) and pie. A densely packed, nutty, buttery crumble sits on top of a not-too-tart cranberry filling that is just delicious. Serve…

Hot Chocolate Pudding

I got this recipe from David Lebovitz who got this recipe from a cookbook called Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts. That book does not lie. This hot chocolate pudding was A.) Easy and B.) Delicious. The best part was drizzling it with caramel sauce, hazelnuts and a scoop of ice cream. I don’t know what I…

Tiramisu

Stop the presses. This is one of the best desserts I’ve ever made. I know I lavish praise (I’m biased, what can I say) in this space on the food I make, but this dessert was above and beyond. (Maybe this will teach me a lesson of how to be more discerning in reviews of…

Raw Cookie Dough Bites

When I first offered James a bite of these awesome/addicting cookie dough bites, he looked at me skeptically, took a bite, and then said no thanks. Once I told him they were in fact “raw” cookie dough bites and had no raw egg (ironically), but only ground up nuts, oats, honey and chocolate chips, he…

Strawberry Pie

Strawberry season is still upon us and I’ve heard many folks thinking out loud about what to do with all their strawberries! How many more jars of strawberry jam can their pantry hold? As a awesome* fantastic alternative, make this pie because, A.) you’ll use three pounds of strawberries, B.) it won’t take up much room because…