parsnip muffins and blood orange mimosas

i rarely follow recipes word for word.  i’ve been toying around with the proportions in this whole wheat apple muffin recipe from smitten kitchen, but with everything except apples.  i tried them with blueberries, pear – and now – shredded parsnip, which i got the idea for from the very gingery parsnip cupcake at four cafe.  i bulked up these muffins with some extra ground flax seed, as well as fresh and ground ginger. i made... Read More

brown sugar and black tea roll-out cookies

i don’t usually make roll-out cookies because, well, they as just so plain.  but i’ve been seeing so many fun-shaped cookies around the blogs that i’ve been itching to make a batch myself when i was inspired by smitten kitchen‘s nutmeg maple butter cookies.  so i raided my cupboards to find the dregs of a bag of brown sugar and regular organic sugar.  i sat down to stare at them with my cup of tea in hand, when i had the... Read More

maple cookies with marmalade glaze

my kitchen activities have been adapting to the cold and windy days lately.  i’ve been making weekly pots of stew, roasting nearly every veggie, sprinkling cinnamon and maple syrup in most dishes i make and preserving the glut of citrus i’ve happened upon in the form of marmalades and candied peels.  it takes a bit more time, but when it’s dark and cold outside i don’t mind snuggling up to my nice warm stove, eagerly awaiting... Read More

pomegranate and dark chocolate chunk scones

scones have become my go-to baked good as of late.  i like how they can be a hardy catch-all for whatever ingredients seem to be lying around, they aren’t overly sweet, they keep well and i’ve already got a killer recipe that can flex to my specifications.  all you really need is a pastry cutter, some cold butter, flour, sugar and a hefty tablespoon of baking powder.  Everything else is adaptable. i used to make vegan scones by mixing... Read More

whole wheat raspberry rhubarb scones

i started this recipe with an hour left before i had to walk out the door for improv practice.  we had just gone berry picking that morning at underwood farms, so there was a pound plus of fresh raspberries staring me down, with a few ants still crawling on them and juice already leaking from the container.  the farm also had a small market where i spotted rhubarb for the first time, so i grabbed it without even knowing how to prepare it, but browsing... Read More

marmalade cookies for my valentine

it’s probably too late for anyone to actually make these for valentine’s day but i thought i would share what i made for my valentine. a few weeks past i exclaimed that it is the peak of orange season. i also mentioned that i used many of the seedless mandarin oranges i got from the farmer’s market to make orange spice and red wine marmalade for chirstmas – which is rich with flavor from a dash of red wine and spicy from ground... Read More

chocolate chip gingerbread cupcakes with cardamom infused frosting

this recipe started as a far cry from what it ended up as.  it began with a gingerbread persimmon upside-down cake that was a true disaster.  all the persimmons stuck to the pan, the cake wasn’t sweet or moist enough, and most of all it had no chocolate.  but 4 or 5 tries later and the result is an amazingly fluffy and moist squad of cupcakes with little chocolate chips tucked inside of them. to top them off is a recipe i’ve been playing... Read More

apricot scones

i don’t understand why it’s considered normal to eat super sweet food first thing in the morning.  if i wake up and eat a blueberry muffin my blood sugar will be bouncing up and down all day, let alone pancakes or waffles stacked high and drizzled in syrup.  that’s why i usually look to the not-so-sweet to satisfy my early morning hunger – a slice of whole grain toast, porridge or a scone. this simple recipe is hard to screw... Read More

christmas cookies: chocolate candy cane chews

nothing says christmas like candy canes.  and nothing goes with candy canes quite as well as chocolate.  just think of twirling a candy cane in a hot mug of cocoa. to make these treats you’ll just need a little peppermint extract, some cocoa powder and a food processor to grind up the candy canes.  the result is delicious chewy chocolate cookie surrounded by a crunchy candy cane shell. Read More  Read More

gooey pumpkin cranberry bread

when i think of pumpkin cranberry bread i think of a christmas party i threw 3 years ago – it involved a chirstmas tree, christmas music and a full spread of seasonal treats.  probably one of the most popular items on the menu was pumpkin cranberry bread. 3 years on, i’m going back to that successful recipe and making it vegan friendly – the result is a gooey, delicious loaf that goes well with all types of holiday treats. Read... Read More