Food, Photography and Bon Mots
Ellen was one of my students at Los Alamitos High School. We reconnected a few years ago through our mutual love of bread baking. Now I am her student. Ellen operates a You Tube channel, Bread Machine and Baking Videos With Ellen Hoffman. Her specialty…
Brown butter is having a moment. That is certainly true in my kitchen. I’m enjoying the nutty flavor of the stuff in all sorts of ways. I recently posted a Brown Butter Cookie recipe on Blue Cayenne. The cookie soars with brown butter deliciousness. You’ll…
Scones! The biscuit-like quick breads originated in Scotland in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, they were a fixture on the English afternoon tea table. More recently, they were popularized by Queen Elizabeth II who reportedly adored them topped with bespoke strawberry jam from…
Oh glorious banana bread! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I’ve certainly baked my share of banana breads over the years and I’ve posted several very good recipes here on Blue Cayenne. Just type “banana bread” into the search box on…
What ever happened to those wonderful Swedish smorgasbord restaurants? They were having a moment when I was a younger cook. I remember the beautiful buffets of delicious delicacies. I still crave the savory breads. So it was with great anticipation and a good bit of…
What in the heck is a Mamushka? Depends upon whom you believe. At its most basic, Mamushka is an archaic Russian term of endearment for “Mother.” Culturally, Urban Dictionary says it is a literary reference to a bit made famous in The Addams Family movie…
Raisin Bread, you ask? Who invented Raisin Bread? Lest we look too deeply, the answer would seem to be Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau’s biographer, Walter Harding, credited him with the recipe, after all. But…alas… Harding later retracted that colorful claim when he learned that the…
“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight.” —M.F.K. Fisher There are some pretty special moments in one’s food life. A bowl of hot soup on a freezing winter’s…
Flaky. Buttery. Soft. Trust me on this one. You need these rolls. This recipe is adapted from the cookbook Dessert Person. The book is available from your local bookstore or from Amazon.
OK. OK. It’s another damn Banana Bread recipe. In my defense, this is a Banana Bread recipe with a new twist: tahini. No. Really. Tahini? In Banana Bread? Wow! Who’d a thunk it? Tahini is a paste made from toasted ground hulled sesame seeds. You’ve…
