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baking

Favorite Recipes, Food, People, Recipes

Mom’s Molasses Ginger Cookies

December 3, 2023

My Christmas holiday doesn’t officially start until I take my first bite of my Mom’s legendary gingerbread cookies. These are made with sweet, thick molasses, which gives them the most scrumptious chew in the center, juxtaposed perfectly by crisp edges to nibble and the crunch of sweet granulated sugar on top. These remain the top requested cookie from my cousins and family members each year after decades of baking. My Mom used to toil to assemble giant cookie baskets each Christmas for friends and family, and I remember every square inch of our countertops being covered in cookies of any and all varieties, from Rugelach to Peanut Butter Balls, but this gingerbread cookie was the one I always plucked from the pile as they cooled (when Mom wasn’t looking, of course). If you are a holiday cookie maker, give this one a try. The tang of ginger mixed with the warmth of cinnamon and cloves is irresistible. This recipe is worthy of a spot in the annual lineup.

Tip: Be sure to leave time for chilling the dough when you set out to make these, as it is a crucial step in the process to achieve the correct consistency in your cookie.

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Favorite Bakeries, Food, Inspiration

Kouign Amann – The Queen of Pastries

November 6, 2023

I have been taking a deep dive into baking and pastry making lately. As I have mentioned before, I consider myself to be somewhat of a novice when it comes to baking, thought I am slowly getting more skilled with lots of practice.

I grew up in a very accomplished baking family, but shockingly, I never took an interest or considered myself to have any talent in this department. I wasn’t super into sweets growing up, and all of my attempts to bake were half-hearted and lackluster, particularly in comparison to that of my more talented family members.

Skip to the current moment. I couldn’t tell you what changed, but I have what could be described as an insatiable appetite for all things baking. As soon as I begin to research one recipe, I fall into a rabbit hole of 10 more, along with the techniques that accompany them, and before you know it hours have passed. I find this whole new world of baking to be so incredibly interesting and it satisfies my thirst for continual growth and knowledge. I am teaching myself the ropes, one recipe and technique at a time.

I think we all have the ability to psych ourselves out and let fear get the best of us, particularly as we get older. We may convince ourselves that once we have defined ourselves as unskilled at something, we can never change it, particularly as we grow in age. I say bullocks to that. If there is something that you want to do, move past the fears and try it.

This has been my goal with baking. To stop telling myself I can’t, because I am finding as I go and have the courage to try, that I really CAN bake, and bake pretty darned well! It also brings me immense joy, so here I am doing the work and sharing in the hopes of inspiring others to reach their goals of baking too.

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Food, Recipes

Chicken Pot Hand Pies

October 16, 2023

It is that glorious time of year when we feel a cold nip in the air, the leaves begin to turn and float to the ground, and we feel that irresistible urge to make warm foods ignite in our souls.

One of the prime cornerstones of southern cooking is creating warm, cozy comfort food, so cooking at this time of year just seems to come even more naturally. I have found that if the recipe seems like something your Grandma would have made by hand, it fits right in, here in the south.

A chicken pot pie definitely falls into the category of pure comfort. It is like a warm hug wrapped up in a puff pastry crust. Now…picture it…combining the comfort of pot pie in all of its warm, flaky goodness and making it…wait for it… portable! I don’t know why a savory pot hand pie never crossed my mind, but when this recipe came together for me, it was a life changer.

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Food, Inspiration, Recipes

Demystifying Sourdough Starter

October 11, 2023

Due to the Covid years, I think by now we have all tried our hand at making a loaf of sourdough bread, whether it was a successful attempt or not. I was a little later to the game. My Mom was the first to join this worldwide elite club of bread artisans, and I was dually impressed that she had ventured to make her own starter as well.

I remember speaking to my Mom in one of our long-winded phone conversations where she regaled me with details on her latest loaf of this crunchy, pillowy variety of bread.

She informed me of the nuances of working the dough, allowing it to rise, kneading it with proper form, baking techniques and the tools needed to properly form a loaf worthy of a boulangerie window or San Francisco soup shop.

I like to think that perhaps it is in our DNA somehow to craft bread. Poilâne Bakery in Paris, France is a third generation boulangerie renowned for creating the best sourdough in the world by hand, since 1932.

Aside from being at the top of my destination wish list, the foodie nerd in me likes to dream and wish that our strikingly similar last names means that the owner, Apollonia, and I are somehow cousins removed somewhere back in the recesses of our lineage. I have no proof or facts to justify any connection whatsoever, but hey…a girl is allowed to dream, right?

But, I digress. Back to the breadmaking process. The one factor that I couldn’t wrap my head around that my Mom kept referencing when we spoke was “feeding the starter” every couple of weeks to “keep it strong.”

What did this mean?! Was this a living entity that resided in her refrigerator, and why was it so hungry?! I was intrigued, to say the least. I kept picturing that plant from Little Shop of Horrors and wondering if her starter would shout “feed me” in Steve Martin’s voice from the back of the refrigerator every time she opened it to grab the butter or pour a glass of iced tea. While that sounds pretty cool, it is not that dramatic. So, let me explain the science behind it.

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