Last night in an online book group, I was asked what is the simplest crust to make. This is a question I am often asked and without a doubt the one that I suggest is a press-in crust made with cookie-like things…you know, cookies, wafers, crisp biscuits, or graham crackers. Press-in crusts are quick and […]
Spinach, Onion, and Cheese Quiche
Is a quiche a pie or a tart? By the strictest definition, a pie with only a bottom crust is a tart. Janet Clarkson writes in her book, Pie: A Global History, of the lively debate in the 1920s in which “the Oxford English Dictionary, the erudite nineteenth century readers of The Times, and the […]
Aquafaba Meringue
Make meringue from bean-water? I let the idea roll around in my mind until I was making a quick hummus for lunch, saved the liquid from the canned garbanzos, took a deep breath, and made a meringue from it. I was amazed to find the results to be very similar to Basic Meringue, not tasting […]
How to Create a Recipe
An Experiment in the Oven It’s is in the oven. An experiment. I put it in 5 minutes ago and I wonder what will it turn out to be…a hit or a miss. I’ve made both. You would think I might take a hiatus from creating recipes for a time but on my counter today, […]
We Need Brownies
We Need Brownies Brownies Sweet moist and dark I crave them I want them You know you want them, too So without further ado Here’s my recipe for you
Greek Beef Pie
Greek Beef Pie There was a Greek coffee house and restaurant in Santa Barbara called The Plaka which opened in 1971. If you lived there for any length of time, you may have even spent an evening there enjoying its delicious home-style Greek food, and the hospitality of the owner George Alexiades. Once every evening […]
White Bean Soup Recipe
White Bean Soup Recipe I don’t consider myself a writer. A home baker, yes–but writer? Well, that has come as a big surprise. When writing Art of the Pie, I had no idea what I was doing. I thought one handed in a sheaf of recipes, went to some photo shoots, and then everything would […]