I’ve come to the conclusion that baking is by far harder than cooking.  When I’m cooking it’s easier to improvise as I go, tasting, tweaking, coming up with new twists on standard things without really feeling pressure. The minute I start baking I lose all self-assurance. I might not really be a failure when I’m baking–I’m [...]

I seriously love baking bread because I get it wrong, all the time. Of course, I also bake bread for the instant gratification of breaking open a warm crusty loaf. My (finally) success in sourdough rekindled the love of bread. All this bread appreciation got me thinking about how I came to bread baking and [...]

  The Allston neighborhood of Boston–which I happen to live right near though not in–is more often than not ridiculed as a college slum. It is affectionately called Allston Rock City because of its music scene and do it yourself house shows and Allston Rat City, well, because there sure are a lot of rats [...]

Homemade gifts tend to be a theme of my December as I’ve inherited the cheap gene (thanks, Dad.) I’m also inclined to making catastrophic messes in my free time. This year I made around five batches of biscotti, salted caramels, spiced nuts, flour free peanut butter and dark chocolate cookies, and sriracha salt. The former were [...]

I’ve been thinking about a recent opinion piece in Washington Post “The new domesticity: Fun, empowering or a step back for American women?” for a while now, especially as I made homemade ricotta last week for the first time and while I baked the olive oil granola recipe below. In the peice Emily Matchar argues that [...]

I am taking a vacation to Paris! So really, this is a big deal vacation for me. I will be eating one of everything I see & touch. But I will be gone just a bit from my blog. Expect some french inspired cooking adventures when I get back, though. I will probably also be [...]

We successfully roasted a 20-pound turkey yesterday. It involved a lot of last minute thawing, fears of an eternally frozen bird, and more time than I ever want to spend with my hand stuck inside the cavity of a turkey. Good thing that our first turkey was not meant for an actual Thanksgiving feast but [...]

Knit Chicken from The Knit Etsy Shop Hurray for Friday! I’m going have a beer, sleep in tomorrow,and then eat whole wheat waffles with jam for my late breakfast. Enjoy some food related linkage for now: A Year of Slow Cooking | I am a bit behind in finding awesome food blogs, but now that [...]

I am on a losing streak when it comes to cooking and baking. First, it was coveted Pumpkin Scones, inspired by (yes, get ready for it) Starbucks. I followed a few recipes online, but for some reason my scones came out tasting like hard lumps of tasteless dough. I just can’t figure out what I [...]

I am back in Massachusetts from a mini vacation in Western, NY. I enjoyed the food, the relaxation, and the time spent watching cable. While away, I took a small break from cooking. Although I love creating and making things, I also love eating everything and anything made for me by others. That doesn’t mean [...]