Pushing on a Rope
baking
Tastes of the Season
The great Vanech Christmas Cookie Bake-off concluded last weekend with 10 varieties baked and ready. I’ve written before about how Catherine’s tree nut and egg allergies changed the face of this annual family tradition. Lots of the old standbys — Black Walnut Crescents, Queenies, Sandies — are now just for reading. I often think, in … Continue reading
Sweets from the Sweet
I returned home from teaching Jazzercise last night to the most delicious aroma — Catherine decided to unwind after a long day of chasing 4-year-olds in the heat by baking some cookies. She’d tweaked an egg-free sugar cookie recipe she found online (sorry, she’s not sure where she found it, and since she handwrote it, … Continue reading
Recipes for failure
I was “Chopped” in my own kitchen today. Back-to-back baking disasters unlike I’ve had in a long, long time. Usually, I can whip up sweets in my sleep. Not today. Everything I touched was far less than palate-pleasing. Of course I was rushing, multitasking, racing to get back to that (I only wish it was) … Continue reading
Seasons eatings from my kitchen to yours
The Great Cookie Bakeoff began today. I managed to get four batches baked. As I wrote last year, the cookies are tightly tied to the season for me. It just isn’t Christmas without them, so even though I’m feeling more than a little behind the holiday eight ball this year, there will be cookies — … Continue reading
C is for cookie. It’s good enough for me.
Catherine and I put the new oven through its paces today and the result is a house that smells like heaven. With the church youth group potluck tomorrow, we offered to bring two batches of cookies and that meant hitting the kitchen. We never buy bakery treats because Catherine is allergic to nuts and must … Continue reading
It takes a lot of dough to say ‘I Love You’
The great Christmas Cookie Bakeoff got underway Sunday. Though a mere shadow of its former self, it’s a massive undertaking — my holiday gift to family and friends, a little something sweet with which to end the year. The cookies are a gift passed down from my mother and grandmother, who together baked thousands of … Continue reading
Pushing on a Rope 