Truth be told, I don’t care so much about pumpkins. I love them when they are hollowed-out and carved into jack-o-lanterns but I don’t need them in my ravioli, bread, or pies. I get excited about the first bite but I am usually bored by the second.  I generally pass up recipes for pumpkin bread, but this recipe was in my new cookbook obsession, The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. Bryan loves pumpkin bread and so I thought I would give it a try. read more+++

I love this time of year. I know that it portends some seriously bad weather ahead, but for now I don’t care. I like putting on a scarf and walking around our beautiful new neighborhood amazed by the colors that a tree can produce. I am also pretty enamored with the foods available at the market right now: baskets of apples, and squash and especially concord grapes.

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….Timmy’s back! At long last we are in our new place! There is still much to do but we are settling in and are very much in love with our new home. Once we are a little more settled (when every surface isn’t covered in bubble wrap and boxes) I will show you around the new place. But before we get to that, lets rewind a little. I never got to write about our time in New York and more importantly I never told you about a certain porridge recipe I love. read more+++

I decided to make focaccia for dinner at about 7pm on a very hot night in Chicago. Maybe not the best decision I have ever made. Three hours later we were both starving and very hot.  Luckily this focaccia was worth the wait. It is wonderful. We ate almost all of it in one sitting and I was truly sad to see it go.

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You all know how obsessed I was with cranberries this autumn. Well, their summertime rival is the sour cherry which has finally made it’s way to farmers markets in the Midwest. Sour cherries have a painfully short season and as soon as they arrive I feel panic set in. I know that there isn’t much time to try to bake all of the recipes I have been saving that require their tart electric sweetness. I hoard them. On my way to the market I am worrying that they may be sold out. I freeze them. I find excuses to bake things for friends. In short, I am obsessed. read more+++

Okay everyone, let’s start tackling some of our kitchen fears. A while back I asked you to share some information with me in the form of the Lottie + Doof Food Quiz (If you haven’t already completed the quiz, go for it!). One of the kitchen fears that came up most often was YEAST. I think there is a general misconception that working with yeast is difficult and I know many of you automatically dismiss recipes if they contain the words “let rise”. I used to be one of you! The truth is that yeast doughs are as easy as any other and just require a little extra time and patience. read more+++

Like all good Polish boys in Chicago, I grew up eating Kolaczky (Kolaches or Kolachky). My family bought ours by the dozen at a local bakery where my mom still shops. My favorites were filled with either cheese or apricot. I didn’t know until recently that these Eastern European wonders were also popular in Texas. The kolaczky in Chicago (which claim either polish or Czech descent) range in taste, shape and filling from each other. Some are a pastry or cookie, some are a yeast bread, but what they all have in common is a slightly sweetened dough filled with a variety of delicious sweet fillings which include fruit, cheese and nuts. They may be coated in powder sugar, drizzled with icing or finished with a crumb topping. The Kolaches in Texas seem more standardized, a slightly sweetened yeast roll which is topped with a spoonful of sweet filling. read more+++

This is one of my least favorite times of year in Chicago. The weather bounces back and forth between sub-zero and balmy spring-like days. We’ll enjoy a couple of days of sun and mild weather only to be reminded of winter by snow and temperature below freezing. We’re all so anxious for spring that it ends up making the city a little crabby. It is on days like these (high of 24 today) that we need a piece of coffee cake to drink with a hot cup of coffee before work.

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Even though I know better, I look forward to watching the Oscars every year. The movies I like rarely win and often aren’t even nominated—but there is still something fun about watching the show. This year’s show seemed particularly strange, but I kind of liked that about it. And I certainly liked that Milk received a couple of major awards accompanied by a couple of politically charged speeches. read more+++

It is cold and snowing and really the only way to deal with it is to make some scones. Imagine waking up and eating a warm, toasted almond scone that you spread with butter and some cherry preserves. Even better, you can freeze these scones before baking and have fresh, hot from the oven scones any day you like. These are really very delicious and you should go try them right now. read more+++