As soon as I learned about the Pie Party for July 5th, 2011, I counted myself in and started trying to narrow down my pie-options. The more options I have, the faster I melt into indecision and confoundedness, so I limited myself to summertime essentials which around here runs to blueberries, blackberries, and peaches. Not that we don't absolutely ...
Baking
Creole Bread Pudding with Bourbon Sauce
When you say "Comfort Food!" I say: Bread Pudding. Make mine New Orleans-style, because the Big Easy is the home of this simple Creole Bread Pudding recipe. How about we let the good times roll, right into your kitchen? Bread Pudding = Simple, Smart, Satisfying, and Sweet Bread pudding is a home-cooking classic, beloved across the USA and ...
Pumpkin Pie Minis with Brown Sugar Whipped Cream
My Thanksgiving prep plan includes pumpkin pie minis and here's why. They are easy-as-pie to make, cute and inviting, easy to serve, and full of deliciously seasonal pumpkin spice! I wrote this post for #HalloweenTreatsWeek, but it's on-time for the entire holiday season! I received samples from some of the sponsoring companies, but as ...
Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Pumpkin Frosting and Spooky Sprinkles #HalloweenTreatsWeek
Halloween calls for treats and goodies, so here's a double-delight from me in cupcake form: My pumpkin spice cupcakes, topped with creamy pumpkin frosting and a confetti of varying spooky-season sprinkles! These are fun to eat, fun to make, and fun to share! This is my second post for #HalloweenTreatsWeek! I received samples from some of the ...
Peach and Nectarine Torte #SummerDessertWeek
One layer, one pan, one simple batter-mixing session, and you're ready to share a marvelously elegant and simply delicious Peach and Nectarine Torte. Peaches and nectarines, butter and brown sugar, plain or glazed: it's a keeper you'll love and make again. This post and recipe were created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of ...
Blackberry Roly Poly for #summerdessertweek
Sweet, ripe, and juicy blackberries say Summertime, and this old-time favorite recipe shows them off beautifully. Blackberry Roly Poly is fun to say, fun to make, and fun to share at any summertime celebration! This post and recipe were created for #SummerDessertWeek! I was sent samples by some of the sponsor companies but as always opinions are ...
Coconut Custard Pie
Coconut custard pie brings old-time baking pleasure home and makes a simple, delicious dessert for friends and family, for guests, or for taking along to a potluck, a party, or an event at work or school. Easy-to-find ingredients, simple methods, everyday equipment: It's a fine everyday homemade treat. Start with a single round of pastry ...
Pumpkin Poke Cake with Whipped Cream, Pecans, and Caramel Sauce
Wintertime is baking season and this easy Pumpkin Caramel Poke Cake combines a luscious caramel, pillowy whipped cream, and crunchy pecans with a simple pumpkin sheet cake. Simple to make and a breeze to take along to potlucks or delight guests at home. I love the rich, sunny color of pumpkin, and keep canned pumpkin puree in my pantry all ...
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan-Gingersnap Crust
If you're looking for a fabulous, can-do, beautiful and luscious holiday dessert, Pumpkin Cheesecake is the answer. This recipe makes the best one I've ever had, right down to its Gingersnap-Pecan Crust! Sweet and yet tangy, simple and yet complex, familiar and yet endlessly variable, cheesecake is a glorious dessert which is easy for cooks to ...
Fresh Plum Sonker with Vanilla Milk Dip
I love home baking and traditional recipes with a story to tell. This week I got to share one in a big, wonderful way, cooking up a fresh plum sonker on the Hallmark Channel in the bright, sunny Home & Family kitchen. A sonker is a North Carolina regional dessert treasure, a great big, juicy, pastry-lined version of cobbler, with a lovely ...
Red Curry Corn Cakes
These corny-curry little flatbreads fall between a Thai corn fritter and a Southern American skillet corn cake. They have both wheat flour and cornmeal to anchor them, and a blast of heat from Thai curry paste. We love them with soup and salad, curries, and as a little snack to hold us while dinner comes together. Use green or yellow curry ...
Pumpkin-Ginger Muffins
For busy morning breakfasts on the go, after-school snacks, and easy goodies to share with co-workers, neighbors, and people doing good things in the world, nothing beats a home-baked batch of muffins. My friend Jill O'Connor writes cookbooks, recipes, and free-lance food stories, and her baking superpower is genius-status in creating recipes for ...
Easy Persimmon Cookies
What's orange, delicious, and available in the produce section from fall to winter? Persimmons! They look like very firm, plump tomatoes, but taste like a peach-pumpkin combo you will love. My easy persimmon cookies give you another reason to enjoy these produce stars! Persimmons Make Wonderful Cookies! I didn't grow up with persimmon ...
Fruit-Filled Quick Bread with Frozen Peaches
With the flame-colored trees taking their final bows and bare branches filling the skyline, peaches might be the last thing on your mind. They came to mind for me this weekend, as I looked into my jam-packed over-full freezer in search of space for holiday-season ingredients and creations. Not an inch of space to spare. And taking up half the ...
Pumpkin Muffins from Old Salem
It's been baking weather lately, which means cool enough to love the side-benefit of a heated-up oven as I bustle around in the kitchen, and wintry enough that I crave warm-from-the-oven treats even more than usual. Muffins and quick breads are among my earliest kitchen projects, and the fact that they are simple and straightforward means that I ...
Nancie’s Favorite Fourth of July Cake
Need an easy-to-make, easy-to-take cake for Fourth of July celebrations? Here's just what you need! My Red, White, and Blueberry 4th of July Cake, baked in a square cake pan, covered with vanilla frosting and decked out in the Red, White, and Blue! Fun, easy, and so delicious --- Ready, Set, BAKE! This Red White and Blueberry 4th of July Cake ...
On Being Distracted by Banana Bread in the ‘Midst of Late Summer’s Fruitful Abundance
I should be telling you about how to make the most of late summer's plums, peaches, nectarines, and blueberries. I ought be telling you about the marvelous, small, dark green watermelon WITH seeds: SEEDS!!!! which I snagged at the farmers' market last Saturday, and which we are munching on right now. That will come, but for today, the truth is that ...
Doughnut Bread Pudding? Yes, please…
This is delicious and you can make it at home. I came across the recipe on Leite's Culinaria, which is a food-and-cooking destination which I recommend to you with enthusiasm and pleasure. There you'll find excellent writing, superb and varied recipes, gorgeous photographs, opinions, ideas, and all-around food fun. My friend Jess Thomson has ...
Nancie’s Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake
Nancie's Shenandoah Valley Blueberry Cake Enjoy this simple, delicious cake for breakfast, a tea party, or a midnight snack. If you can’t pick your own blueberries in the Shenandoah Valley, don’t worry. The cake comes out just fine using fresh blueberries from wherever you are, or even frozen berries from the grocery store. This recipe comes from ...