We probably can never have enough good, “straight ahead,” recipes in our collections. I have been wanting a good chocolate cake recipe for a while. You know, the kind you can whip up for a birthday or a rainy day or even a potluck. One that’s not complicated and you know will be good.

Mushrooms are so amazing! They make a flavorful meat substitute and help to strengthen our immune system, a big plus during the winter and early spring. Using a variety of mushrooms adds more flavor and texture to this easy-to make dish. The mushrooms can be cooked ahead of time, then baked just before dining.  It’s good as an entrée, side dish or appetizer.  Use a cast iron skillet as I did, and it can go from oven to table and remain warm as cast iron cools down slowly.

A lot of people have a love/hate relationship with eggplant. Believe me, I get it. Unless eggplant is cooked properly, it can be a chewy, rubbery, unpleasant experience. Baked until tender, eggplant yields and absorbs the wonderful flavors of the vegetables, sauce, and spices that envelop it. And this is true of silky-smooth Baba Ghanoush, a very popular dip that originated in Lebanon (the Levant) and popular throughout Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern countries. While Baba Ghanoush is available in many markets, like so many things, homemade is often the best.

One of the popular dishes David Jackman served at the 2019 Vanilla and Chocolate Festival, was spinach salad with a pesto dressing. A couple of details made it a stand-out salad. The baby spinach leaves were sliced as thinly as possible then coated in pesto made with baby arugula and pistachios, and topped with coarsely toasted pistachios. It’s unique, delicious, joyfully messy and you’ll want to check your teeth after eating it, but it’s worth it!

This is a refreshing winter salad when everything citrus shines. Ruby grapefruit are sweet and heavy with juice. If you can’t eat grapefruit, navel oranges are in season and, if Cara Cara oranges are available, choose them; they’re exceptional! Some people believe they are a cross between a grapefruit and an orange. They aren’t, so don’t worry if you can’t eat grapefruit.  Mandarins or tangerines are a snap to add in this salad as there’s no need to segment them. Do take a moment to remove the “strings” off the segments, however.

Celery soup appears to have fallen by the wayside over the years, as has celery in general. It’s too bad as celery is a nutritional powerhouse as well as low in calories. And, it tastes good! I remember as a child even Campbell’s canned soup had Cream of Celery, which was often used in condensed form for the liquid in the ubiquitous casseroles of the 50’s. Actually, maybe that’s reason celery soup fell out of fashion; the canned version wasn’t anything to write home about. At any rate, I really like this soup and I hope you’ll try it as it’s really good. On a cold afternoon or evening, add a grilled cheese sandwich and you’re set.

This holiday season and beyond, I invite you to join me to assist a dear friend and fellow graduate of the Women Leaders for the World, Rosemary Nakijoba.

This delicate Rum Almond Cake was conceived as a coffee cake  but it deserves to be elevated to a much higher status if for no other reason than it’s too boozy for a 10:00 am coffee break! As you can see from the photo, it was the ideal New Year’s Eve cake — moist, flavorful and rich enough that a small slice was sufficient.

 Chocolate Speaks: Who can resist Dark Chocolate Truffles? If you are new at candy making, truffles are one of the easiest candies to make. Even better, you can make traditional truffles using heavy cream and butter, or you can choose a healthier version by making them vegan. Follow the directions and I guarantee you’ll be a star. The trick is using the best ingredients.

Although the French name for this beautiful dessert means Christmas Log, the origins of the custom of bringing in a Yule log, building a blazing fire, then lighting candles from it are pagan in origin as is the Christmas tree and decorating with holly and other greens.  I like to think of these ancient traditions as a way to bring light and joy into the dark nights of winter for everyone, regardless of our ancestry or religion. And what could be prettier than a chocolate sponge cake filled with cream, frosted with chocolate ganache and dusted with snowy powdered sugar? Add some meringue mushrooms or sprigs of holly, and you have a lovely and meaningful completion of a holiday meal. 

Whenever I think about holiday baking, Russian Tea Cakes (aka Mexican Wedding Cookies) are at the forefront of my mind. What’s not to love about the buttery, crumbly deliciousness of these cookies. with their fragrant toasted nuts and powdered sugar spilling everywhere? Okay, the powdered sugar part can be annoying. What I do love about these cookies is that they’re pretty much popular worldwide with essentially the same ingredients though some come with a few special touches.

I recently found a unique version of these cookies in Sunset Magazine. Created by Yigit Pura of “Tout Sweet Patisserie,” they are noted for their extreme crispness and toasty-brown butter flavor. I also like that they’re made with vanilla bean paste. The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon cognac or brandy. Prefer a different alcohol or want to substitute a liqueur? Why not? And, if you don’t want alcohol, you can substitute milk.

Yigit suggests creating cookies 1-1/2 tablespoons each. I personally prefer these cookies smaller because the powdered sugar can be overwhelming with big cookies. Just like the alcohol used, you get to decide on the size you’d like to make the cookies. Just remember to adjust the bake time accordingly.

Nothing says autumn like the crunch of a fresh apple, flavorful juices flooding your mouth, triggering thoughts of autumn and hardwoods blazing with color.  While I hate to let go of summer stone fruits, by September I’m ready for apple season to officially begin. Apple Crisp or a blended fruit crisp are a pleasurable way to celebrate. I found and adapted the following recipe years ago; the consensus of at least 100 people is that it’s the best Apple Crisp, bar none, that they’ve ever had. Obviously, I concur.

 Actually, it’s difficult to have too many tomatoes. Zucchini, yes; tomatoes, not so much. However, too many overripe tomatoes at a time is an invitation to make gazpacho, the perfect soup for hot, humid afternoons and evening.

Susie Norris’s has recently self-published A Baker’s Passport, a compendium of recipes she collected over the years for her award-winning culinary travel blog, Food Market Gypsy. As those of you who have read my newsletters or followed us online for a long time know, I really enjoy supporting my friends and colleagues in their endeavors. I haven’t dedicated a full-blown blog to a cookbook for a while, so first reading, then writing about A Baker’s Passport, has been a lot of fun, especially as the book is filled with recipes from around the world, which Susie has collected over the years in her food-focused travels.

This recipe comes from, A Baker’s Passport, written by Susie Norris. Susie says, “Before the ‘British Bake-Off’ television show, a competition smoldered in Bakewell, Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. Much like Sacher Torte in Vienna, rivalries about the origins of the Bakewell Tart (also known as Bakewell Pudding or Bakewell Pudding Tart, depending on which shop in town you visit) are part of its allure.

We have been contacted by customers asking  about the strong smell of alcohol in our pure vanilla extracts. So we thought we’d address this question.

There are good reasons and a simple fix for this.

The Reasons

1.  The FDA requires alcohol in vanilla

The FDA Standard of Identity for pure vanilla extracts requires that there must be a minimum of 35% alcohol in pure vanilla extract. The alcohol may be made with grain alcohol or sugarcane alcohol. In the case of our vanilla extracts, we use sugarcane alcohol because it is both gluten- and gmo-free.

So many choices. So many prices.
Are they all the same? What is the best vanilla?

Have you ever stared at the vanilla extracts on the store shelves and wondered which  is the best vanilla extract to buy? In some respects, choosing a vanilla extract is like selecting a fine wine. How do you know which one to buy?

Read on for an insider’s view of vanilla extract, how to choose what’s best for you and why high-quality vanilla makes a world of difference in flavor.

The best quality vanilla extracts come with a price

The simple answer for what is the best vanilla extract often boils down to price. Good vanilla is not cheap. And because it is so pricey (it’s the world’s most labor-intensive crop), customers are often put off by sticker-shock. 

Most supermarket vanilla extracts are mediocre

So stores try their best to buy the cheapest extracts they can find. That means most supermarket vanilla extracts — both brand name and store brands — while they may be pure vanilla, are usually of mediocre quality in comparison to the really fine quality extracts that are available elsewhere. This is also true in the big-box stores where bulk vanilla is fairly inexpensive.

We’re doing it again! David Jackman and I are hosting another festival at Chocolate Restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA on Thursday, September 26th, this time, featuring a menu that showcases both Chocolate and Vanilla!!

While pasta won’t cure all the world’s woes, it’s reliable comfort food on a rainy, bluesie, day or when you’ve been so busy all you can think of is something easy to make.  This recipe’s not all about carbs thanks to the zoodles (zucchini noodles for the uninitiated). But what about the bacon, you might ask? It’s turkey bacon — lean but full of flavor.  If you don’t do bacon, no problem. Feel free to use real bacon if you prefer. This dish more than holds its own thanks to the saffron cream sauce!