Scone of the Month: Ending the year on a sourdough note

I , like many others who have been baking our way through the pandemic, have turned to my sourdough starter more than ever. Dear Petrie (yes, with an “e”), my beloved fellow of the fridge, offspring of “Spike” (my friend Elaine’s starter), has served me well for several years and especially these past . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Ending the year on a sourdough note

Cookie of the Month: Boosting flavor in a cranberry slice

I am big fan of slice-and-bake cookies. Their make-ahead and make-as-you-need-them approach makes me happy in a holiday season crowded with recipes and goody-making possibilities. I’m also a big fan of shortbread, and if the shortbread comes in slice-and-bake form (as many of them do), I’m even more enamored.

I had saved a . . . → Read More: Cookie of the Month: Boosting flavor in a cranberry slice

Riffing on a mother’s love for rhubarb

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

Green(bean)ing the Thanksgiving table

I would wager the discussion happens in a large percentage of kitchens every Thanksgiving: “Well, we should have something green…” Then, this green item — in the sea of brown, beige , white and maybe orange dishes that crowd the Thanksgiving table (and plates) — may or may not happen. After all, you . . . → Read More: Green(bean)ing the Thanksgiving table

Baked Sunday Mornings: Expanding the magic of blueberry muffins

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: Celebrating a “mile-scone” of 200 posts

Whoa, where do all the hours, flours, butter and keyboard strokes go? As of this writing, A Woman Sconed is now conjuring her 200th post! Why, just the other day, it was my 186th!

I am delighted with disbelief at this “mile-scone,” and, to be honest, when I saw it on the horizon . . . → Read More: Scone of the Month: Celebrating a “mile-scone” of 200 posts

Bread of the Month: Brewing up a fruity tea bread

Great discoveries can happen in your own backyard, or, in this case, your own bookshelf. I was recently cleaning (gasp!) and re-organizing some books, and I stumbled across a little baking book from Ireland, actually named “The Little Irish Baking Book,” by Ruth Isabel Ross (1995), and, eager to take a break from said cleaning, . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Brewing up a fruity tea bread

Baked Sunday Mornings: Deepening a joy for ice cream-making

I love to make ice cream. But when I bought my first ice cream maker, just several years ago, I had dueling ideas about where things might go from there — would I be making all sorts of the ice creams, gelato and sorbets of my dreams, or would the ice cream maker sit, unused, . . . → Read More: Baked Sunday Mornings: Deepening a joy for ice cream-making

Bread of the Month: Beating winter blahs with orange, cranberries

In my youth, I was resistant to cranberries. My over-sensitive tastebuds (as is the case with most childhood tongues) couldn’t tolerate their bitter tartness, nor could they handle dark chocolate or hot sauce. Today, my tastebuds, matured and more dulled and ready for strong flavors, make staples of all three.

My love of cranberries . . . → Read More: Bread of the Month: Beating winter blahs with orange, cranberries

Jamming with ripe berries

Back in the day, which is really only an arm-length back, a generation or two, ladies “put up” vegetables and fruits in an ongoing summertime ritual as the produce came to fruition in their gardens and orchards. By fall, cellar shelves were agleam with shining jars of jewel colors, the “fruit” of their efforts. . . . → Read More: Jamming with ripe berries