Bake with abandon!
Like most kids, when I discovered wordplay I was so thrilled with my new found skill I told jokes and made puns non-stop. On one occasion, I followed my grandmother around her apartment like a duckling, quacking knock-knock jokes at her in a continuous loop. …
Right outside my kitchen porch, a graceless post stands cemented in the ground. Its thick, square bulk is so awkward it can’t be passed off as rustic. Ferns and periwinkle hide its base while a honeysuckle vine attempts to disguise the rest of its towering …
I have my Father’s nose. I also inherited his high cheekbones and strong immune system. However, his natural math abilities and infinite patience must have skipped a generation. My father can add up a column of figures in his head before I can punch the …
The weather is chilly. Our gas barbecue is out of propane, and the empty tanks are so old they can’t be refilled. Under these conditions, you’d think I couldn’t share a grilling recipe. But you’d be wrong. In fact, it’s the perfect time to showcase …
Bespoke. If you want to be a stickler, this term applies only to made-to-measure items you wear, such as tailored Savile Row suits or custom loafers. It draws a faint chalk line between high-end fashion and “built to order” non-wearables. In the worlds of fashion …
Dizzy. If I were to sum up childhood summers in one word, it would be dizzy. Dizzy from spinning in endless circles on the tire swing. Dizzy from chasing each other round and round and round the yard. Dizzy from watching the leaves sway as …
One rainy summer day, unable to build blanket forts on the climbing bars or soar through the sprinkler on a tire swing, I decided my younger sister and I should do some baking. “Baking” meant raiding Mom’s pantry and dumping everything within reach into a …
The first Mother’s Day gift I made was a card. It had a flower and stars and kittens on it because I was obsessed with flowers and stars and kittens. Mom was allergic to two of these, but I was young and unable to fully …
Altogether now. On the count of three, “Ivy, you’re a genius!” Ivy Manning, author of Crackers & Dips: More than 50 Handmade Snacks (Chronicle ©2013), wasn’t always receptive to this praise. As a caterer, she found complex dishes like Pheasant Under Glass went virtually unnoticed. …