Bobbi’s Infamous Apple Cake
According to my mother, going over to someone’s house empty-handed is a major infraction. One punishable by death! Or at the very least a smack on the tuchus and a lifetime of guilt. So this…
Vegetable Kugel with Matzah
When I think of Passover I think of two things: my stepmother’s guest list and vegetable kugel with matzah. For years my stepmother has been channeling her mother (Grandma Shirley) who was notorious for opening…
Passover Cake You Can Eat All Year
I can’t imagine what it’s like to have a food restriction. Scratch that, I totally can. I did the Ideal Protein diet a few years ago and lost 40 lbs in three months eating only…
Bikes & Buttermilk Biscuits
I love biscuits. I love them warm or cold, light or dense. I like them savory with melted cheese on top and bacon bits inside, or sweet with a slather of clotted cream and a…
You Had Me at Brioche!
Baking used to terrify me. Granted it was before I had a KitchenAid standing mixer, which can make a newbie baker feel like a professional, but there were just too many rules and it freaked…
The Positive Reinforcement Diet
Based on Thorndike’s Law of Effect, early 20th Century behaviorist B.F. Skinner was considered progressive, because he thought it made more sense to study human behavior by systematically measuring visible causation and action vs. trying…
A Professional Chef at Age Twelve
Nearly twenty years later, and I still remember the first whole meal I ever made. Now, I’m not talking about the first time I assisted my mother in the kitchen. That would have been her…
Friggin Focaccia! with Roasted Tomatoes & Onions
Although it might not look like it when I realize the bread dough needs another friggin hour to rise and I’m yelling obscenities from the kitchen and the dinner guests are starting to arrive and…