Food, Photography and Bon Mots
You’ll want to treat yourself to this one! It’s decadently delicious. While applesauce cake has been around in America since colonial times, it became especially popular during WWI. In fact, it was considered downright patriotic to eat applesauce cake during the war. By foregoing the…
OK. It’s no polar vortex, but it is cold, dark and rainy here in SoCal—window-rattling thunder, too. My nerves are noticeably jangled. Sweet Juliet, with plaintive break-your-heart “Mom: Make it stop” eyes, is hiding among the folds of her favorite blanket. No question. We’re quite…
How do you define elegance? Audrey Hepburn? That exquisite little black dress at Nordstrom’s? Dinner at The French Laundry? Camilla Parker Bowles? (OK. Just kidding about that last one.) It may be time to revisit your definition and add this delightful cookie to…
I made biscuits the other day. It sounded like a good idea but I ended up hating them. B-o-r-i-n-g. Even a generous pat of Kerrygold butter couldn’t bring them to life. OK. I’ll admit that it may have been me. I am in my…
Make a resolution to eat more cookies in 2019. These Swedish Shortbread Cookies would be a good place to start. They are crazy delicious. They are beautiful. They are easy to bake. And…they passed a stringent taste test by my friends (and cookie aficionados) Carole…
These sweet little cakes are perfect. They are single-portion size. They pair beautifully with homemade vanilla ice cream (See ice cream recipe here.) They are beautiful. And then, there is the combination of quality chocolate (Barry Callebaut chocolate) and ripe bananas–a sure-fire winner on…
Santa’s in the house (or, at least, in the neighborhood). It’s time to get your gingerbread on. This recipe is a riff on traditional gingerbread. It has generous dollops of fresh cranberry sauce stirred through the batter. What you get is a taste of traditional…
It’s Blue Cayenne’s Birthday! This improbable journey started on a blustery October day three years ago. I desperately wanted to be a better writer, a better cook, and a better photographer, but I needed a nudge–a structured project to bring all those elements together…
Salted Chocolate Chip Tahini Cookies. I repeat. Salted. Chocolate Chip. Tahini. Cookies. These are stunningly good. Tahini, for those unfamiliar with the ingredient, is a paste made of ground sesame seeds. It is similar to peanut butter. It has been around for thousands…
Raise your hands if you are fans of lemon curd in all its piquant wonderfulness. Good. I thought so. Read on. This delicious lemon-almond butter cake is a crumbly cake made with regular flour, almond flour and a generous amount of home-made lemon curd.…
