Food, Photography and Bon Mots
Did you know that if all the strawberries produced in California in one year were laid berry to berry, they would go around the world 15 times? I didn’t think so. Did you know that ninety-four percent of households in the United States consume…
Do the words five ingredients and gourmet dessert go together? Throw in the word fast and you have this gorgeous strawberry tart. Your guests will rave (in a good way). You may be unfamiliar with mascarpone cheese, the main ingredient in this tart. Mascarpone is a mild-flavored…
Joseph Campbell famously wrote: “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.” Good advice but not always easy to do. The bliss I’ve been following at the moment happens to be a cake, and it is a wonderful cake…
Sad. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). That kind of sad. That’s what I think has been causing my sense of self worth to crater for the last week. Those menacing dark clouds and torrential rains may have nourished my garden, but they sure tipped my mood…
I have a parrot, actually an umbrella cockatoo, named Moti. Moti is twenty-seven years old and quite the diva, especially about her food. In Moti’s world there is no sunshine if she doesn’t find a half a banana in her food dish each morning. Moti…
During the Middle Ages, rich European ladies slipped their favorite knights a bit of gingerbread before an important tournament. Sweet, aromatic, crumbly, swoon-worthy gingerbread. How utterly romantic is that!? If you need proof, the painting below portrays a lady and her knight. Theirs was…
Uh-oh! I’m in a dangerous place. I’m binge cooking cookies. Fortunately, I have neighbors who are willing to humor me and take some of my cookie glut off my hands. I recently posted a chocolate cookie recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s new book, Dorie’s Cookies. Now…
I’m having a bit of a pity party about being alone on New Year’s Eve, so I decided to cook today. Several days ago I discovered this Martha Rose Shulman recipe on the New York Times site. One of my indulgences in life is…
Me, too. These cookies, called World Peace Cookies, are from renown baker Dorie Greenspan’s bestselling new cookbook, Dorie’s Cookies. (Buy the book for someone you love. It is a wonderful cookbook with inspired recipes for both sweet and savory cookies.) In the introduction to Greenspan’s…
Damn! It is almost November and Blue Cayenne almost missed celebrating October as National Caramel Month. What was I thinking? The only excuse I can think of is that I’ve been in a sugar-induced stupor for the last couple of weeks. With Halloween…
