A Woman Sconed

Baked Sunday Mornings: Pairing pears and plums

By rahoward, on August 11th, 2019

Plums are so unique and uniquely summer. Their subtle sweetness, spicy and floral, extends beyond that into a spectrum of flavors, depending on the type of plum or plum cross (plum/apricot, plum/cherry), with hits of tartness and soft notes of apple, berries and citrus.

I look forward to plum season every year, our . . . → Read More: Baked Sunday Mornings: Pairing pears and plums

Scone of the Month: Feeling just peachy

By rahoward, on July 28th, 2019

One of my favorite desserts is cobbler, specifically peach…the cobbler of my childhood, made by my mother, with what I feel is the true “cobble” of cobbler — a constellation of thick biscuity dough scattered over a pan of hot, stewed fresh peaches, oozing with warm juices and dotted with butter. Eating it . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Feeling just peachy

Baked Sunday Mornings: Waking with banana, espresso and chocolate

By rahoward, on July 14th, 2019

A few good muffins…it really doesn’t hurt to have a handful of go-to recipes for these underrated (and too infrequently made) breakfast and coffee-time treats. Why don’t I make more muffins? After all, they are easy (even kids can stir them up) and come together quickly. In a matter of moments you can . . . → Read More: Baked Sunday Mornings: Waking with banana, espresso and chocolate

Scone of the Month: Cooling it with citrus

By rahoward, on June 30th, 2019

Certain ingredients create certain sensations, like those whose tastes create the illusion of cool, despite not actually being a lower temperature. Powdered (confectioner’s) sugar is one…a fine dusting of this soft sweetness automatically tempers any sort of sweet — even one as strongly warm-flavored as coffee or chocolate or cinnamon — and on . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Cooling it with citrus

Baked Sunday Mornings: Expanding the magic of blueberry muffins

By rahoward, on June 30th, 2019

Certain baked goods win in the comfort category, those old, tried-and-true traditional recipes that make you feel better just to think about them. Homey treats like apple pie, biscuits and chocolate chip cookies have that soothing quality. So, too, in this category are blueberry muffins.

Blueberry muffins have always been there for us, . . . → Read More: Baked Sunday Mornings: Expanding the magic of blueberry muffins

Scone of the Month: Picking a floral-scented scone

By rahoward, on May 26th, 2019

Sometimes, you can’t see the recipe for the blooms. I’m twisting an old phrase here, but it applies to my obvious lack of perception when trying to decide on a scone recipe for this month.

I was set on something with raspberries or white chocolate or coconut. Or white chocolate-raspberry-coconut, when lo and . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Picking a floral-scented scone

Springing to life with homemade citrus salad dressing

By rahoward, on May 26th, 2019

Spring fever hit me hard this year. It began way back in January, with the greening from the rains here in California, and it has not let up. It has had me pondering the moon, cricking my ear for every croak and chirp, sniffing every blossom. It had me sitting in the backyard . . . → Read More: Springing to life with homemade citrus salad dressing

Molding an artful cookie

By rahoward, on May 5th, 2019

Life, baking and the Internet can sometimes take you down paths you never expected to go. On one innocent afternoon about a year ago, I was “tossed” one of those random food videos that come our way, generated by our googling interests. Sometimes when these are sent in my direction, I’ll ignore; . . . → Read More: Molding an artful cookie

Scone of the Month: Introducing babka to scones

By rahoward, on April 27th, 2019

Fusion baking has become popular — taking two favorite baked goods and making one new hybrid, aka, the “scuffin,” cro-puff,” “cronut,” “pretzel challah.” Cookies have been turned into pizzas, and pies have been enlarged into sheet cake-sized “slabs.”

Versatile and sturdy scones lend themselves very easily to some hybridized new version of . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Introducing babka to scones

Mashing sweet parsnips for patties

By rahoward, on April 7th, 2019

The first time I tasted parsnips — and I’m embarrassed to admit that it was not all that long ago — I was astounded. To say that parsnips are like the freshest, sweetest, spiciest carrot is too simplistic. The complexity of a parsnip’s flavor is far more reaching. Slicing into their very . . . → Read More: Mashing sweet parsnips for patties

“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