Ginger & Rhubarb Swirl Ice Cream

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Rhubarb & Ginger Swirl Ice Cream I feel like summer is almost here.  And it’s not because my cherry tree is starting to blossom, it’s not because my skin tone has darkened slightly from “corpse-like” to merely “fair”, and it’s not because I took my first boat ride of the season; it’s because I churned my first batch of ice cream.

This ice cream is a perfect way to ring in late spring/early summer.  It’s an impossibly smooth, creamy orange-scented ice cream, swirled with a gingery sweet-tart rhubarb sauce.  I served it alongside a stack of my favorite chewy ginger cookies, but licked from a cone while dangling your feet off the end of a dock would be just as good, if not better. [Read more…]

Strawberry Buttermilk Cake with Lemon Glaze

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Strawberry Buttermilk Cake

My grocery store has been doing a very good job of catering to my need to immerse myself in all things spring, stat.  I walked in a few days ago and was greeted by a huge tower of daffodils.  Behind them was an equally large tower of asparagus, and behind that, a sea of red strawberries.  Needless to say, I wound up leaving with a cheery bouquet of daffodils, a couple of bundles of asparagus, and more strawberries than I could ever (reasonably) eat fresh so I simply had to bake a treat.

I’d like to call this strawberry-lemon buttermilk bread, mainly because I’m eating a slice with my morning coffee as I write this, but it’s really more of a cake and I’ve got to say, it’s everything I wanted it to be: light, bright, optimistic, and tasting delightfully like spring.  The crumb of the cake is tender and moist, there’s a strawberry in nearly every bite, and the lemon glaze is a much-needed pop of sunshine.

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Cherry Marsala Olive Oil Cake

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Cherry Marsala Olive Oil Cake

The way I see it, there are 2 species of cake. There are the fancy, celebration cakes with swirls of frosting, bells, whistles, and the whole bit. And then there are the everyday cakes. I’m talking about the cakes that are made at a moment’s notice when you need an afternoon pick-me-up or when eating a salad for dinner only seems like a viable option if you get to round out the meal with a little slice cake.

Today’s cake, if you hadn’t already guessed, falls firmly into the second category. It’s nothing fancy, just a good, solid anytime cake to have in your repertoire. It’s the kind of cake that can be made on a whim, mixed up in less time than the oven takes to heat. Olive oil gives it round, fruity flavor and a splash of Marsala gives it a subtle but haunting Italian flavor. 

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Apricot & Salted Pistachio Brown Butter Blondies

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Apricot & Pistachio Brown Butter BlondiesSometimes this whole food blogging business can be downright painful. See, I’m sitting here at my computer, remembering what these blondies smelled like as they were baking…like buttery, caramelly, brown sugary goodness, straight from the heavens. And now instead of writing, I’m just staring at the crackled tops of these bars, thinking about their perfectly chewy edges and just how addictively sweet/soft/salty/crunchy/chewy they were .

See, I’m remembering all of this. I made these over a week ago and now, as I’m finally getting around to writing about them, they are loooooong gone. I’m sitting here, tweaking photos, writing about these beauties, and they’re nothing but a memory. A beautiful, beautiful memory.  It’s painful, I’m telling you.  

But, as difficult as it may be (mostly because my keyboard is now covered in drool), I’m going talk about these blondies because they were simply too good not to share. They’re just your basic blondies with a few special touches–browned butter, dried apricots, and a handful of salted pistachios. Those little extras are enough to transform a simple bar into an “I want to eat the entire pan right now” treat that I can’t get out of my head and soon you won’t be able to get out of yours. Consider yourself warned.

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Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

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Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Oatmeal-Raisin CookiesJust writing the title of this post, I feel like a maniac.  How on earth do you even punctuate such a cookie concoction?

See, I was having the kind of day where I just needed a cookie–a good old classic, dunk-it-in-a-glass-of-milk kind of cookie.  It also happened to be the kind of day that I couldn’t make a decision to save my life.  Can I get away with wearing the brown boots with a black sweater, should I vacuum the house or do my taxes, do I feel like oatmeal-raisin cookies or chocolate chip or peanut butter…

…you can probably see where this is going.  My indecision led to continuing not to care if black matches brown, not vacuuming or working on my taxes (by far the easiest choice of the day), and jamming everything that’s good in the world in 1 crazy cookie.  It turns out, indecision can occasionally be a good thing and sometimes not showing an ounce of restraint actually works out.  These cookies are majorly satisfying and just the thing to bake when you’re having a just-need-a-cookie sort of day.

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