Bake with abandon!
Swag. It used to mean some sort of garland or window dressing. But times have changed. Ignoring the Urban Dictionary’s profanity-laced first definition, I pieced together other entries and conclude it’s an overused term meaning one’s personal style or attitude. I think it’s the new …
Being born at the height of The Depression, my mother never wasted food. When there wasn’t enough leftover pastry dough to top a chicken pot pie, she made a roly-poly. She made them so often and with such authority, I assumed the roly-poly was the natural …
There were no party hats. No streamers. No banner saying “Greaty at Eighty!” There wasn’t so much as a candle. There was, however, pie. Simple, classic, 100%-from-scratch lemon meringue pie. Yesterday, my father turned 80. He marked the day by going about his business as usual. …
Easter chocolate is like the The Phantom Menace. After plenty of hype and lots of waiting you’re all set for something dark and intense, but the final product is just a disappointing merchandising opportunity. Take the classic chocolate rabbit. Tall ears, a basket on his …
The vanilla extract on the left is full of seeds and has a whole pod in the bottle. The vanilla beans on the right are fresh, fragrant and supple enough to knot. Both products are Really Horrible. Seriously. They’re from Really Horrible Enterprises located in Ottawa, ON. …
These Danish treats are aebleskivers (or aebelskivers or ebleskivers or ebelskivers). Their pronunciation is equally elusive. Some say “able-skeever” while the Danish pronunciation is more “able-skewer” with a lilt I can’t nail down. Literally translated, the word means “apple slices” since the traditional form has …
The astute among you will notice the subtle change in the header. Although the domain name remains the same, Christie’s Corner has been replaced by The Messy Baker. Baby steps, Charmian. Baby steps. The new domain name and layout are coming. Just slowly. There’s a lot …
I think I’ve created a new, never-heard-of-before dessert. Bundt Trifle. Not because I’m trying to be different or start the next food craze, but because my imagination plays tricks on me. I had wanted to make a trifle in one of those clear, straight-sided dishes that …
Hazelnuts. Filberts. Cobnuts. This tasty kernel goes by many names. I’m going to add one more to its repertoire and dub it the “hasselnut.” Because of the bitter skin, hazelnuts require a bit more work than pecans or walnuts. They need to be roasted and …