Stir – A Review

Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor is the 1st book I was accepted to review for NetGalley.com and I couldn’t think of a better book to start with. Stir will be released on June 23rd, 2015. So what’s this book about anyway? A Synopsis – At 28, Jessica…

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#NaBloPoMo – Recipe Changes

When I first started cooking and baking food, I had to have a recipe. It’s the main reason I’ve always been better at baking than traditional cooking. My sister has always been good at “a pinch of this, and a dash of that,” but it took me a long time to get comfortable with that…

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Things I Learned from Alton Brown

I love making food, especially this time of year.  It’s a time when vacation gives me the opportunity to spend as much of the day as I want in the kitchen, and no one complains that I want to use real butter, lard, and 11 pound bars of eating chocolate in my recipes. As you…

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Cinnamon Cookies

These cookies were originally titled “Cinnamon Cardinal Cookies” in the December 2008 Betty Crocker Christmas Cookies publication.  I’ve retitled it here, because these cookies look cute decorated as more than just cardinals. Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1…

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Country Wining and Dining

This week, I’m taking a look at Chapter 6 of Farm Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of Country Life.  Chapter 6 is all about Country Wining and Dining.  Needless to say, I was super excited about this chapter because I love to cook myself (as long as I don’t have to clean up afterwards). …

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French Nougat

Just the other day, I told you about my totally awesome thrift find, of a candymaking book.  As I mentioned in that post I was really excited to try the recipe for French Nougat.  I actually learned a few interesting things while preparing to make this recipe. You can spell syrup with an “i” -> sirup (It’s…

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Thrift Find!

I love stopping by the local thrift stores, antique malls, and flea markets.  I really enjoy the prospect of going into a place and finding that one thing (or 12) that I didn’t know I needed.  Yesterday, I stopped by the “Vendor’s Village.”  It’s in the old 3D, on West Broadway in Princeton, and advertises…

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Squash Pie

I finally got around to making a pie out of my canned squash.  It turned out pretty well, tho.  There are a couple things I would have changed.  I would have made two standard sized pies instead of a single deep-dish pie, because I basically overfilled it and had trouble with over-browning the crust to…

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Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

I’m still working on cookies for Matt’s open house on Wednesday.  Hopefully this is the last batch I will need to make.  The recipe said it made 11 dozen, of course, I got less.  I ended up with a total of 6 and a half dozen cookies.  Exactly half.  I even used a scoop. Ingredients…

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