Blog Post List

This blog post list contains the most recent blog posts from The Messy Baker in reverse chronological order. You can also browse by recipe category or use the search function.

No-Knead Semi-Sourdough Rye Bread In true Gemini-fashion, I'm following the rules and breaking them at the same time. I observe pandemic protocols -- I practice physical distance, wear gloves when grocery shopping, wash my hands frequently, and go out only when necessary. But once in the...

Roasted Squash Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts This Roasted Squash Soup with Sage and Hazelnuts started out as a straightforward concept. Thanks to an impulse buy, a kabocha squash landed in my grocery cart along with a packet of fresh sage. I figured I'd sort out...

No recipe today. Instead, a story about chicken stock and teenage attitude. Save the bones. Always save the bones. 
 For as long as I can remember, the remains of a chicken dinner found new life in Mom's stockpot. She took an entirely utilitarian approach to the...

Bev's Best Banana Bread I'm not a banana fan. They're so pushy. They will smother every ingredient in a fruit salad -- except for obnoxious cantaloupe. They leap from peanut butter sandwiches just to annoy you, and will slime-up a perfectly decent cream pie. Banana splits...

Easy Black Bean Soup Back in 2000, I lived in Australia for a year. I craved this Easy Black Bean Soup. Really badly. I'm not sure if it was a classic case of wanting what you couldn't have or merely a tasty way to make it through...

Black bean and Roasted Red Pepper SOup Yesterday, I looked at cooking dried legumes at home. I mentioned that beans could lose their colour if soaked too long. I should add simmering them too long will have a similar affect. This soup proves my point. It's quite red...

How to Cook Dried Beans and Legumes Pre-pandemic, the main objection I heard regarding cooking dried beans was, "But it takes soooo long!" Well, now that many of us have a bit time, I thought I'd revisit the topic with an updated post. Even if you're...

Image by rawpixel.com No recipe today. No food theme either. Instead, a story from an era when travel was more open but also more challenging. This takes place in Spring 1988, when I was young and foolish and had a 6-month rail pass but little...

3-Ingredient Browned-Butter Crispy Rice Squares This 3-ingredient recipe has almost as many hyphens as ingredients. And no, Browned-Butter Crispy Rice Squares are not in my book. Not because I was holding out on you. It's just that the concept didn't occur to me until too late...

5-Ingredient Black Bean Salad Who says easy needs to be boring? I've been making this 5-ingredient black bean salad for years. I've taken it to picnics, potlucks, and family reunions (back when we had picnics and potlucks and family reunions). It's healthy, travels well, adds colour...