Been a busy couple of times for cooking; last weekend was all about making apricot jam, while this weekend was making strawberry jam and plank-cooking some rainbow trout.


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Yes, another geeky bit of fun, this time for Halloween. Recipe is from Alton Brown of "Good Eats." You'll notice some are not quite the *correct* color, but I need more practice having equal amounts of the different colored paste. They taste much better than the store-bought ones I've had (though maybe that's because I accidentally used double the ( Read more... )

They baked up nicely and it smells absolutely wonderful in the house. Pity my folks aren't home and there's no one around to share these with. Maybe I'll drop off some with my neighbor. Seems a shame not to enjoy these fresh out of the oven.


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Haven't done this recipe in maybe a couple years now, but had a hankering for cinnamon rolls so I dusted off this Cook's Country recipe. It was an excuse to test out a fresh batch of yeast I bought, which did swimmingly today. Got a very good rise with the dough ( Read more... )

Graham crackers from scratch. The recipe looked easy enough, using a mixture of all-purpose and whole wheat flours. Technically, a graham cracker must be made using graham flour, but it tastes close and that's good enough for me. Besides, I rather doubt commercially available graham crackers are all that fastidious about using graham flour instead ( Read more... )

Dungeness Crabcakes, recipe adapted from "America's Test Kitchen."


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Got back yesterday from LeakyCon 2013 in Portland, OR, where I finally had the chance to meet the lovely willow_wand and also Mayra (I can't seem to find your LJ). It's always wonderful to be surrounded by so many fellow HP geeks. I could feel my innate shyness getting worse at moments, though ( Read more... )

My favorite apricot variety, the Blenheim, is starting its short season. They're at their best when left to ripen on the tree, with a beautiful flavor and aroma. Unfortunately, it doesn't ship well so you have to live near where they're grown. Lucky for me, the local fruit stand stocks this each year and I make sure to keep an eye out for it. They' ( Read more... )

A visiting Aussie friend brought some food from Down Under as a treat. I've had TimTams before, both original and double filled, but not even seen these. One is dark chocolate and the other is honeycomb. That last item appears a relative to the cheese crackers most of that grew up in the US will recognize, except instead of cheese or peanut butter ( Read more... )