From the category archives:

Recipes for Winter

Quick Chicken Fricassee with Olives and Broken Cherry Tomatoes

by Laura 26 March 2011

This quick chicken fricassee is a perfect lazy night’s cook up. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs are rich and ready quickly, and the sauce is three simple ingredients: white wine, briny olives, and the best cherry tomatoes you can find. By the time they simmer down to a pan sauce, the chicken thighs are fall-apart tender [...]

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Meyer Lemon Mascarpone Muffins

by Laura 23 March 2011

We’ve been on a muffin tear this week. But our Honey Girl’s Mr. Right arrives tomorrow morning from Alabama for a visit. And since his favorite meal of the day is breakfast, she’s test driving another muffin idea we had tonight to make sure it’s perfect for an airport basket-full-of-love welcome. As we were walking [...]

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Orange Chocolate Muffin Pudding

by Laura 21 March 2011

Sometimes I feel a bit like the bear family that Goldilocks disturbed, or at least how I imagine they would feel, not really bothered so much as surprised. Surprised to come home to find their bedclothes rumpled and their chairs sat upon. Except that it’s not a not-so-little bear that’s disturbing my house. It’s my [...]

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Poached Pear & Fresh Ricotta Turnovers

by Laura 18 March 2011

I’m not very good with non-critical deadlines. Taxes, work, all good. But I think I have missed entering the Pillsbury Bakeoff about ten times, and last time around I didn’t check the time of day that entries closed and, busy checking my recipe for the nth time, missed it by 11 minutes. So, it should [...]

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Lamb Stew

by Laura 17 March 2011

The birds returned to Minnesota two weeks ago, on a day when the temperature was negative one. They are the first harbingers of spring for me, when the world still feels impossibly cold for birds, and it’s hard to imagine little green blades rising through the frozen earth. Now their twitter tweet-tweet-tweet is a morning [...]

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A Banana Bread Spectacular :: From Plain Jane Loaf to Homey Dessert: Banana Bread Sautéed in Clarified Butter with Caramelized Bananas & Flaming Whisky Sauce, Tea Cake with Celtic Crossing Frosting, and More!

by Laura 16 March 2011

Thumbnail image for A Banana Bread Spectacular :: From Plain Jane Loaf to Homey Dessert: Banana Bread Sautéed in Clarified Butter with Caramelized Bananas & Flaming Whisky Sauce, Tea Cake with Celtic Crossing Frosting, and More!

Our Sweet Boy Freddy woke up to a happy surprise. His friend Carly came over to bake with me Sunday morning. Much silliness ensued. I told my friend William yesterday that I suffer from recipe brain. It’s a blessing, until it isn’t. It wakes me up, keeps me up, and seldom lets me rest. I [...]

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Tipsy Pudding with Spiced Wine & Honey Cream Cheese

by Laura 15 March 2011

I remember the St. Patrick’s Day of my childhood as the day of the Irish Sheridan sisters: there were the twins, Marguerite and Mary, and Kathleen, whom I also called ‘grandma,’ and Delores, my grandma, the youngest. We have pictures of them, all decked out in green and standing in a row, smiling brightly, a [...]

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Pearl Muffins & Winter Citrus Jelly

by Laura 12 March 2011

I picked up my Honey Girl this morning from an early flight from Boston. She is my pearl, my sunshine, my joy. So it seemed fitting to make these pearl muffins and some shiny-wiggly, glowy-jiggly winter citrus jelly for her welcome-home breakfast. I took the syrup I boiled down yesterday from the candied winter citrus [...]

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Homemade Yogurt with Winter Citrus Syrup

by Laura 10 March 2011

I’m thinking this morning about long lost books. My books. I have what is perhaps a peculiar emotional attachment to them. And I wish they could return home to their places, still waiting, on my bookshelves. Some of the books, I know, are well cared for and will return someday after their long excursions. The [...]

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A Late Winter Tart: Candied Winter Citrus with Vanilla Custard, Dark Chocolate, & Flaked Salt in a Whole Wheat Almond Shortbread Crust

by Laura 9 March 2011

Thumbnail image for A Late Winter Tart: Candied Winter Citrus with Vanilla Custard, Dark Chocolate, & Flaked Salt in a Whole Wheat Almond Shortbread Crust

This lovely late winter tart is a tarte composée, or composed tart. A buttery shortbread crust made with almond and whole wheat pastry flours and turbinado sugar for a little crunch is filled with a very thin layer of dark chocolate ganache, napped with vanilla custard, decorated with a kaleidoscope of candied winter fruits, and [...]

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Spinach Lasagne with Wild Boar Sausage, Olivada, Fresh Ricotta & Mozzarella, and Simple Tomato Sauce

by Laura 7 March 2011

When my Dear Husband had surgery a few years ago, we saw a steady stream of homemade lasagne arrive, thoughtful visitor by thoughtful visitor, pan in outstretched arms. It was a very touching parade, and we slowly and happily made our way through every last one. What surprised me was the fact that so many [...]

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