-
Chocolate Eclair Dessert
Some foods can bring to mind a moment or a memory with the very first bite. My mother had such a recipe. It was a chocolate eclair dessert, and it seemed to me that it was really only ever made for special occasions – mostly holiday potlucks or family picnics. (Ok – I may have asked for it for my birthday instead of cake.) It was rare to see it during the winter, come to think of it. If she got a wild hair, we might come home to find it in the fridge – a visit home would become a special occasion – but that was more the exception than the…
-
Oatmeal Carmelitas!
Some time back in the ’90s, I was the only female on an otherwise all-male trade execution desk for a major brokerage firm. I liked to bake but didn’t have roommates for a time, and I sure didn’t need to eat all that sugary goodness on my own, so I routinely brought my bounty into work to share. Basically, I was the desk mom. One day my boss, who was divorced, was bemoaning how much he missed a dessert his ex-wife would make. He would do ANYTHING to get another helping of this wonderful dessert. He said he would buy me cookbooks if I would only make this dessert. I’m slightly…
-
Some Kind Of Cake
There is something about being holed up inside the house, fingers curled around a hot cup of tea for both heat and caffeine, a worn afghan wound around your legs, while the wind blows wildly outside, slipping through unseen gaps in the windows as snowflakes swirl in hazy late afternoon light . There is something about being all cozy and warm…that made me crave cake. (This is me, not getting skinny.) I wasn’t sure what I wanted, other than something I could dig into while it was warm from the oven. I think what I had in my head was an old memory of a cake, perhaps made by my…
- Uncategorized
Inspiration comes from somewhere…but…
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that Pea can be…fastidious. Tidy? OCD. Organized. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise if I tell you she wears days-of-the-week underpants. In the proper order. Without missing any days. She finally outgrew her last set, so we broke out a new set (put aside for when she needed them) last week. This set, from Gymboree, was themed “sweet treats”. So. Last night, while in the bath, Pea casually mentioned “Mama, I really like those pants. The ones with the strawberries? I bet they would be really yummy like that, with chocolate on them.” (the…
-
What To Do On A Rainy Summer Day, or, “Sugar Anyone?”
This morning, as it rained buckets, I wasn’t much in the mood to leave the house, so I baked a batch of chocolate cupcakes. When they had cooled, I set out frosting and pretty much every sprinkle, jimmie and Smartie I had in the house, and told the kids to have at it. I knew those paper liners that go between the foil cupcake liners could be used for something: I filled them with sprinkles and such that came in a bottle with no shaker lid!! I suppose I should have supervised a tad bit more closely, as they went a bit overboard, but they sure are pretty!!! I think…
