Latest Posts

Butter Mints

It took me a while to get the size of the mints just right. Smaller is better. Late last week, Tera, a reader, send me an email asking me to test out a butter mint recipe. “I made this four times and could not get it to work,” she wrote. “Since it was published in […]

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Lightened Up — and Delicious — Egg Salad

I love egg salad but I never make it because A) I always think hard boiling eggs is a pain in the ass (even though it really isn’t) and B) I’m kind of staying away from copious amounts of mayonnaise these days. But the fridge was stocked with 10 hard boiled Easter eggs and, since […]

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Winter Redux

Our Backyard: April 16, 2007 And Shane wonders why I want to retire in a tropical clime.

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Vegetable-and-Cheese Strata

This is very tasty and simple to make, especially because all the prep work is done ahead of time. Don’t worry if it looks as if there’s very little egg compared to the veggies, cheese and bread: it all bakes up nicely. One note: I substituted a few shallots for the onions in the recipe […]

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Keeping Chocolate, Chocolate

“What?! They might reclassify chocolate?” As a large — and timid — chocolate bunny stares at me from its bed of Easter grass, waiting for the moment in which I bite its little ears off, I’m thinking about a proposal put forth to the FDA. That chocolate bunny — tall, dark, and handsome; sweet, smooth, […]

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Baked French Toast with Praline Topping

Trust me: it looks and tastes much better in person. Yesterday was a lot of fun, but I’m exhausted today! Lots of laughing, lots of playing Wii Sports (I have tennis shoulder this morning), and lots and lots eating food. Ham, turkey, strata, french toast, Irish soda bread, fresh berries, cookies, Easter eggs, cheesecake and […]

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Have a happy one!

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Cookie Decorating Tips from Rachel

I’ve been having a nice email conversation with Rachel, a reader, and after I mentioned I was baking some cookies for Easter, she was kind enough to send me a slew of cookie decorating ideas & tips. They’re great; take a look! Idea #1: Leave the dough on the counter for 5 or ten minutes […]

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Sugar Cookies & Royal Icing

I made these for Kian, who doesn’t like chocolate cookies (or chocolate at all, for that matter). He likes these very much, and they’re popular with Sadie and Shane too. (As for me, I’ll stick with the chocolate ones.) Instead of flavoring these with vanilla or lemon (mmm, lemon) I added a teaspoon of almond […]

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Chocolate Cookie Cut Outs & Royal Icing

Click here for cookie decorating ideas & tips. Two Easters ago, Shane, Kian, Sadie & I converged on my parents’ apartment in NYC. They threw a brunch and all of us, plus my Aunt Linda, Uncle Matt, cousins Chris and Matt, and Catherine, Matt’s wife, joined us. Catherine — charming, adorable, gorgeous Catherine — brought […]

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