The holiday season had me crunched for time this year.  I wanted to give some sort of food gifts to my family, but cookies weren’t an option because my sister Courtney does a gorgeous job with cookies each year, and I still haven’t been able to master fudge.  There wasn’t enough time to bake bread, […]

New England food comes in many forms, and  Brooke Dojny has included them all in the newly revised edition of  “New England Home Cooking.”  The book is a true pleasure to peruse - not just for its wealth of over 350 recipes, but the back story and detail given to each dish.  I am always interested in the story behind […]

Kate and Wills handcut Royal Wedding card from Etsy seller Storeyshop The Royal Wedding is fast approaching, and I have accepted that I am physically and logistically unable to prepare for it the way I want to…meaning I won’t be able to make all of the tasty British treats the event deserves. Not wanting to leave […]

Some of my favorite parts of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books are her descriptions of the foods she and her family ate…how it was hunted, grown, harvested, stored, prepared, cooked, shared, and eaten. From Laura I learned about pancake men, corn dodgers with molasses, and how to make homemade butter.  I learned that peppermint stick […]

I initially thought today’s post wouldn’t be much of a “vintage tradition in today’s kitchen”, but I have since realized I wasn’t thinking back far enough. I got the recipe for these Apple-Cinnamon Oat Squares from the Jan/Feb Whole Foods “Whole Deal” flier, and I knew I would like these based purely on the ingredients list.  They are wholesome […]

Last weekend Kayte introduced me to the German Baked Pancake.  More like an enormous popover than a pancake, the entire thing is baked in an oven-proof skillet and served in wedges.  I don’t know how I managed to live nearly thirty years without knowing about this dish.  Shameful!

John and I traveled separately to Brooklyn last weekend so I could get there early to spend some QT Lady Time with Kayte and Melissa.  After I met up with Kayte on Saturday afternoon, we made the most of the winter sunshine by getting brunch and visiting some of Park Slope’s numerous little shops.  Brunch was at the French bistro […]

Sometimes we would have oatmeal for supper when I was little.  My mom would make a pot of it on the stove, and then set out molasses, maple syrup, raisins, and brown sugar.  We had fun building our own bowls…like an ice cream bar.  Until this winter I hadn’t had homemade oatmeal in roughly 20 […]

Vintage Christmas figurines from thetoadhouse on Etsy. Another Christmas has come and gone.  Well…just about.  I still haven’t exchanged gifts with my family, but we’ll get to that eventually.  I spent Christmas Eve with John’s family in Plymouth, where his aunt and uncle hosted their annual cozy gathering, this year with the addition of a Yankee Swap.  In related news…I am […]

I grew up with two kinds of coffee cake…the homemade tube-pan version my mom made and the Drake’s packaged version my grandparents always had in the cabinet, alongside the Devil Dogs and Swiss Cake Rolls. My mom’s version, sweet and crunchy with nuts, memorably served as my birthday cake one year when I had a […]