Bake with abandon!
I often have a box of phyllo in the fridge – “just in case” I “need” to make appetizers. When I do, I fold them into triangles, roll them into logs, and even stuff them into muffin tins for little “bundles”. When I’m too lazy to …
Ignore the standard dictionary. It will tell you a clanger is a blunder, a mistake, and a conspicuous one at that. This pastry is anything but a dud. It’s a riff on an old-fashioned Bedfordshire Clanger, a long hand pie stuffed with spiced meat on …
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 …
This is my French rolling pin. It doesn’t have easy-grip handles. It doesn’t have ball bearings. It isn’t made from cold, heavy marble. It’s just a smooth, tapered piece of hardwood. For years I wondered why anyone would choose this style over the comfy-handled version …
We have a tradition in our house. One of us usually kicks off the new year with a kitchen disaster. Last year, I discovered dried beans can, in fact, go stale. This year? I botched the pastry. Crostata no less. What else? I learned the …
Pastry is fickle. One day you’re rolling dough like it’s a bolt of white velvet and pull a golden, bubbling dessert from the oven. The results are so fine you briefly consider embroidering “Pie Guru” on your apron. Only you don’t know how to sew, …
Last week, Alisa Bowman asked what impressive but no-fuss meal she could serve her book club. Hungry bookworms answered with a wide range of culinary solutions: Diva Lisa jumped straight to dessert and suggested cheesecake. Lisa, you can join my book club any day. Cheri …