-
Crazy About Cookies
From your email, please click on the title to view the photos and comment online. On the Website, you can read past blogs, search for recipes, and browse. Are we about to be gripped by a cookie frenzy? This…
-
Whatever Happened to Pudding?
I’d like to know: what happened to pudding? Especially in the 1950s, thanks to good old Jell-O, our pantry was well-stocked with vanilla and chocolate pudding boxes. And when our local grade school began providing hot lunches, I would look…
-
Can You Name That Apple Dessert?
This is the time of year when my mother and grandmother would get together to make apple pies that were put unbaked into the freezer for a future dessert. They were masters at pastry, and the apples were from my…
-
A Buzz with Flavor: Cooking with Bourbon
When I first moved to Boston and began cooking for others on a regular basis, one of my go-to desserts was a bourbon pie featured in the New York Times Large Type Cookbook. As I think of it, my other…
-
Bring Me Some Figgy Pudding!
You have to love a tradition that’s based on a six-century-old recipe. On Thanksgiving Friday, Mrs. Farmboy happily continued one of her own holiday rituals (suspended last year): creation of her Christmas plum pudding. It’s the Christmas tradition that was…
-
The Pie’s the Thing
Pies have always been my favorite dessert. But even though I grew up watching my mother and grandmother make pies, I don’t think I have the skills necessary to make a great pie. It’s all in the crust. However, I…
-
How Do You Say “Custard” in Greek?
During a trip to New York City last month, we spent one evening with friends over dinner at a family-owned Greek restaurant in Astoria, Queens. This delightful area of the city abounds with a plethora of colorful restaurants featuring cuisine…
-
There’s Always Room for (Somebody’s) Jell-O
Just when I thought we’d heard the last of gelatin desserts and Jell-O, along comes an Epicurious e-mail last week enthusing about the Gelatina de Mosaico by chef Esteban Castillo. The headline trumpeted: “Looks Like Terazzo, Tastes Like a Dream.” …
-
A Paean to Pie
Growing up in the Midwest farmland of the 1950s meant that I was living in the pie capital of the world. In most homes, it was the dessert of choice. In my grandmother’s time, pie suppers, where the local bakers’…
-
Here Comes the Fudge
Whatever happened to fudge? That question occurred to me since it’s Valentine’s Day – which usually means chocolate. And what could be more chocolate than fudge? When I was growing up in the 1950s, it seemed that a lot of…
