A Woman Sconed

Waiting out a summer pudding

By rahoward, on August 8th, 2020

Summer pudding has long been on my “to-make” list. A well-known dessert among the British, I don’t know that too many are aware of it here, although it has been featured on cooking shows and in magazines. I’ve seen just enough about this simple, but unique dessert that I knew I wanted to . . . → Read More: Waiting out a summer pudding

Scone of the Month: Toasting coconut, raspberries, white chocolate

By rahoward, on July 19th, 2020

Three tastes had been on my mind when I made scones in July — coconut, raspberries and white chocolate. These had, in fact, been on my radar since wintertime, when contemplating scone flavors. This trio of tart berry, soft sweet chocolate and nutty shreds of coconut seemed idyllic together in a scone.

Cookie of the Month: Shooting for the stars

By rahoward, on July 1st, 2020

The Fourth of July has always had even my reclusive nature upended, getting into the spirit of potlucks and family or community gatherings. For the last several years, I’ve trotted out some dessert recipes with Independence Day flair and ventured out of my house for a neighborhood potluck, resplendently held in the beautiful . . . → Read More: Cookie of the Month: Shooting for the stars

Scone of the Month: Topping blueberries with streusel

By rahoward, on June 28th, 2020

Give me coffeecake — or anything streusel — if I’m given a choice of cakes. Granted, I don’t usually make coffeecake as my birthday cake (it’s not “festive” enough), but if there was only one cake I could have, that would be it.

Buttery vanilla cake, laced with layers of cinnamon-y filling . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Topping blueberries with streusel

Cookie of the Month: Calming up shortbread

By rahoward, on June 13th, 2020

Shortbread is pretty much my favorite cookie. Just a few ingredients (usually a basic blend of butter, sugar flour and salt), it’s easy to make and despite its simplicity, rewards with rich flavor and isn’t too terribly sweet. It’s virtually fail-proof, too. I’d say over-baking is the biggest risk to good shortbread, which . . . → Read More: Cookie of the Month: Calming up shortbread

Scone of the Month: Dreaming of (straw)berries and cream

By rahoward, on May 24th, 2020

Sometimes I make scones for special occasions. Sometimes the scones — and their accompaniments — are special occasions. The month of May, as well as a good dose of “Downton Abbey,” had kept teatime heavily on my mind and on my radar, although I’m never very far from scones and related recipes.

Sometimes . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Dreaming of (straw)berries and cream

Riffing on a mother’s love for rhubarb

By rahoward, on May 9th, 2020

Of all the things my mother loved, high on her list was (of all things!) rhubarb. She grew the stuff herself ( of course), and the huge plants seemed to inhabit a planetary space of their own in the garden. The long pinkish-red stalks, the dark-green, flouncing elephant ear-sized leaves, seemed to . . . → Read More: Riffing on a mother’s love for rhubarb

Cookie of the Month: Dusting up celebratory tradition

By rahoward, on May 4th, 2020

I never needed a wedding (or any special occasion) to enjoy a Mexican wedding cookie. Just eating one of these buttery little orbs, its crumbly texture dusted with the cooling sweetness of confectioner’s sugar, was cause alone for celebration.

Long a fan of this cookie, a tradition in Mexico (and other places) at . . . → Read More: Cookie of the Month: Dusting up celebratory tradition

Cookie of the Month: ‘Testing’ chocolate chip recipes

By rahoward, on April 28th, 2020

I’m pretty sure my baking life began with chocolate chip cookies. They (and their M&M variation) are the first I remember my mom making, my sister and I lying on the kitchen linoleum to take in that distinctive warm, vanilla-toffee aroma as my mother fanned the giant cookie sheet back and forth to . . . → Read More: Cookie of the Month: ‘Testing’ chocolate chip recipes

Scone of the Month: Sensing the way with lemons, thyme

By rahoward, on April 22nd, 2020

I wrote recently of an inspiring book documenting a year in an Irish garden. Between it, the current stay-at-home orders and my own spring fever, I’ve been spending more time out back, with my trees and plants, in a bleary-eyed, sun-induced kind of green-fogged nature dream. In my meditative times amid my plants . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Sensing the way with lemons, thyme

“People ask me: "Why do you write about food, and eating, and drinking? Why don't you write about the struggle for power and security, and about love, the way the others do?" . . . The easiest answer is to say that, like most other humans, I am hungry.”
--M.F.K. Fisher

"It was in a yellow limestone church in Stockdale, Kansas, a crossroads town, that I sat dreaming during summer Sunday sermons, not of heaven or hell, but of the good dinner to come."
--Clementine Paddleford