• Apple-cranberry pie

    As much as I love pie, I’ve never been big on apple. Give me raspberry, pecan, key lime or blueberry cream over apple any day. But as I was clicking through a fall pie slideshow on Epicurious.com, this pie caught my eye. It isn’t the typical chunks-of-apple-with-too-much-cinnamon-inside-two-dry-crusts pie. The apples are thinly sliced and piled […]

  • Toasted coconut-cardamom shortbread

    When Toby and I went to visit my BFF Melissa in Toronto over Christmas break, we walked by a super cute bakery that, unfortunately, was closed. We pressed our faces up against the window, though, and I could see “coconut curry shortbread” taunting us from inside. I adore coconut and shortbread. Then, about a month […]

  • Butterbeer and pumpkin Linzer cookies

    A few months ago, I happened to find some Halloween linzer cookie cutters (those cookies that look like sandwiches, but with a shape cut out of the top part) while I was shopping for something else. They were so cute that I had to get them, but I had to wait forever to use them. […]

  • Puff pastry pizzas

    Halloween is all about costumes and candy. But before the kids go out with their superhero pillowcases and plastic pumpkins (or before you rip open the bags of fun-sized Kit-Kats), everyone needs some dinner. And it seems like trick-or-treating gets earlier and earlier every year. We always had pizza before we went on our hunt […]

  • Georgia-Florida cookies

    A very important event is coming up, y’all. And I’m not talking about a Halloween party. The Georgia-Florida game is Saturday: the epic battle of good vs. evil, sundresses vs. jean shorts. Clearly we’re going to need some cookies. I got these cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma — the set comes with three cutters and a […]

  • Tell-tale heart chocolate-raspberry cupcakes

    “It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night.” It was the old man’s pale blue eye (with a film over it) that turned me into a cake-flour coated madwoman. Well, that and a heart bundt cake Isabel baked a few months ago. […]

  • Natty Boh beer cupcakes

    If you’re not from the mid-Atlantic, you may not be familiar with National Bohemian beer — or Natty Boh. Natty Boh has a long history in Baltimore, and while it’s not brewed in the Charm City anymore, many people consider it Baltimore’s beer. And the super cute one-eyed mascot, Mr. Boh, still winks at everyone […]

  • Cookies for hire

    My neighbor, Joanne, was co-hosting a bachelorette party a few weeks ago, and the other co-host wanted to give everyone a favor. They ordered monogrammed koozies in the wedding colors (purple and silver)… but then they thought they should have something to go inside the koozies. That’s where I come in.   Joanne hired me […]

  • Coconut cake

    As my mother and most of my friends will tell you, I may have been the pickiest child on the planet. I am a lot better now — although I still won’t eat lunch meat or cold sandwiches, mushrooms, fish, raw onion, cantaloupe or many breakfast pastries — but even at my pickiest, I loved […]

  • Go Navy cookies

    You all know I am a Georgia fan. But since we’ve been living at the Naval Academy, I’ve also become a Navy fan. It’s kind of hard not to, with the midshipmen “marching” (walking) to every home game, the plebes doing push-ups every time the football team scores and that ship-like horn that blows for […]