Is there anything as universally loved as an apple cider doughnut?
Cinnamon
Home Cooking with Laurie Colwin: Baked Mustard Chicken and Herb Biscuits
Back in mid-May, I made what very well may be the last meal I cook in my home of 16 years. My parents are selling our house. Just like baking chocolate or revenge, it’s bittersweet. After living in five different states all while under the age of 10, we finally landed in New Jersey, where I did most of my growing up and where I learned how great bagels really are. In that house, we’ve said goodbye to dear pets and we’ve welcomed new ones. On our street, I learned how to drive in a car that was recently, after 17 years, traded in for a pick-up truck. (I’m still laughing about how my dad parks his new truck behind his cream-colored Mini-Cooper with racing stripes.) Through the years, I’ve left our pretty, grey house for multiple adventures to Europe and across the U.S. Over almost two years in Brooklyn, I’ve gone back often to spend quiet weekends in the suburbs with my parents and my pets. And, in our home’s kitchen, I’ve learned how to cook.
Breakfast Hand Pies (formerly known as Pop Tarts)
I love a good kitchen adventure. While it’s important that I have my regular and dependable recipes to pull out when needed, I also want to try making something new every now and then. I mean, let’s live life, amirite? Who wants to become the predictable girl who always brings the same Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt into the office? Not me. So last week, inspired by both King Arthur Flour’s instagram and a snack-loving coworker, I set out to make my very own Pop-Tarts®. Let’s just call them Breakfast Hand Pies.
Cinnamon Rolls with a Maple Cream Cheese Glaze
Several months ago, a coworker of mine gave me a gallon of pure maple syrup. She got it as a gift for Christmas and said she’d never go through all of it. In my Vermont crazed mind, I thought I would go through all of it super quickly. You can do a lot with maple syrup! And, I don’t know if you knew this, I love Vermont. (see here, here, and here)
Pumpkin Spiced Doughnuts
Coziness is one of my favorite feelings, and therefore “cozy” is one of my favorite adjectives. When you’re cozy, you feel safe and protected. I believe that’s why coziness is such a part of fall – it protects you from the sometimes harsh fall elements. Everything during this season emanates coziness: the food, the apparel, the setting. For the second year in a row, I spent a Sunday afternoon making pumpkin doughnuts followed by having a drink at a local bar. In the midst of all the warehouses and graffiti in my neighborhood, several quaint bars are scattered. During this time of year they decorate their exposed-brick interiors with festive fake cobwebs and romantic candles. It’s mad cozy, and I love it. To be honest, when I did this last year, it was all part of a hangover cure. It was so lovely that I just wanted to do it again this year, hangover-free. As it turns out, I needed cozy comfort badly this past Sunday. Let me tell you why…
A Pinch of This 