A 3 Week Study in Dominique Ansel’s Tart Presentations

It has been a month of tarts. I was given nearly two dozen apples a few weeks ago and immediately thought of Dominique Ansel's apple tart. Pastry cream has always been a little intimidating to me due to how easy it is to mess it up at every stage but I jumped in and tried … Continue reading A 3 Week Study in Dominique Ansel’s Tart Presentations →

A Week (or two!) of Valentine Cooking

My plan for last week was to have one recipe to make each day for Valentine's Day. And then I got sick. I successfully made the stuffed cow heart. I followed it the next day with something easy - chicken pot pie. It wasn't the beautiful, fancy chicken pot pie I had planned because I … Continue reading A Week (or two!) of Valentine Cooking →

It’s Valentine’s Week! (themed cooking)

The only problem with holidays is that each one is only one day - either you have to cram a huge amount of cooking into that one day or you only get to cook one or two things. I dislike that method, so I spread a holiday out for a whole week. Including Valentine's Day! … Continue reading It’s Valentine’s Week! (themed cooking) →

Cooking Non-Masterclass Meals: Desserts

Something I spent a good deal of time on this year was learning the art of pie decorating. I never did very much before - a basic pie weave, a simple pressed trim on the crust. Nothing very pretty, really. I was more focused on the taste. But I mastered a few pies to taste, … Continue reading Cooking Non-Masterclass Meals: Desserts →

Christmas Menu

I've been so busy this month, from running my kids to Nativity practice, choir practice, PREP school, ballet class, (etc, etc) while also trying to keep up my Book Event Coordinator duties (ie, sorting through hundreds of donated books each week), keep up to date with query replies, make next year's writing/cooking goal list, and … Continue reading Christmas Menu →