I learned to cook from my mother. She is the original inspiration for vintage savoir faire. Mom is a country girl transplanted to the east coast with a bit of 1960′s organic/crunchiness about her. I grew up with homemade baby food, weekly bread baking, lots of playing in the woods and garden, and an endless supply of creative crafts and projects.
Mom also has a big love of old things. At one point in my life (oh, between age 11 and 17) I thought this was just totally embarrassing, and that she should modernize things! Every summer we’d go back to my grandparent’s farm in Iowa, and come home with assorted old books, glass bottles, fabrics etc from the local fairs. I thought it was such a waste of time and energy when we could be doing fun things – like going to the Mall! (*Groan*) But everything comes full circle, doesn’t it? And now I wish I still had the chance to talk with my grandmother about her earlier life on the farm and sort through the treasures in the attic.
Breakfast crisis on Saturday morning: no sausages or bread in the house for a Proper English Breakfast! What to do?!
I usually eat a bowl of oatmeal with cinnamon for breakfast … but on the weekends when Zak and I eat together, we like to have something a little more interesting. So this weekend, with sausages nowhere to be found, I dug through the pantry and found the ingredients to make these yummy muffins.
Apple and Blackberry is such a British Autumn combination for me. Apples are easy to find year-round, but the blackberries I had stashed away in the freezer a few months ago after Zak’s mom came to visit (she always brings a supply of home-grown produce in-season. For a city-dweller like me that’s such a treat!).
Continue reading Apple Blackberry Muffins
My mother would be proud – I’ve definitely inherited her inability to throw away anything that ‘might be useful someday.’ Especially if that thing involves chocolate!
Going through my pantry the other day (full disclosure: My pantry is really one small kitchen cabinet crammed to the brim – ahh the joys of apartment living!) I found unopened dark chocolate Easter bunny that I had stashed away last year. Since Easter is just around the corner, I figured I should really use this one up before the new season of chocolate bunnies appear on my doorstep.
OK, I could just eat the chocolate bunny. But it was the weekend and I was feeling more adventurous. I’ve been having a wicked craving for 7-layer bars recently, but haven’t quite made the effort to figure out substitutes for graham crackers etc. here in England. These blondie brownies have that toffee-coconutty goodness of the 7 layer bar, with a very dense chewy consistency. Don’t be discouraged by the super thick batter (mine was basically a dough) of this recipe, just press it into the pan like a cookie dough.
Plus, you get the added enjoyment of chopping up an easter bunny, if you have a little pent-up frustration to get out 
Continue reading Easter Bunny blondies
Amanda's Homemade White Bread
What’s the quickest way to make a visitor to your house think you’re a domestic goddess? Fill your house with the smell of baking bread. And no, a ‘freshly baked bread’ scented candle doesn’t cut it.
Mmmm, the smell of baking bread. Enough said. To really get this smell, you have to really bake bread. Yes, actual, homemade bread. No, don’t run away yet. It’s easy! And you’ll be so impressed when it comes out of the oven (as will the neighbors who will ineviatbly stop in to investigate the delicious smells wafting from your kitchen…)
But can’t I just buy a loaf at the store?
Continue reading Bake your own bread: the classic white loaf
I learned to cook from my mother. She is the original inspiration for vintage savoir faire. Mom is a country girl transplanted to the east coast with a bit of 1960′s organic/crunchiness about her. I grew up with homemade baby food, weekly bread baking, lots of playing in the woods and garden, and an endless supply of creative crafts and projects.
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