Do you ever feel like a short order cook in a restaurant?  I sure do.  Sometimes it seems like every one wants something different and breakfast seems to be the main problem.
What is it about breakfast that makes otherwise non-picky people so darn picky?  I have some that want pancakes, daily, others that want homemade granola, and still others that would prefer French toast.  The worst offenders, in my opinion, are those that claim not to be picky, claim they don’t care and then proceed to sigh and push their food around the plate with a fork.
To this, I have …read more

 
I don’t know how many of you know about the cool rise method of yeast baking.  It was, as far as I know, one of those things that was developed in the 1950s or so to help the homemaker get her bread made more conveniently.  It is a process of using a little more yeast and sugar and then allowing the dough to rise in the fridge overnight.  I wanted to see if it would work for my maple pecan rolls so I made a batch of dough last night and stuck them in the fridge.

 
I looked at the calendar and I was amazed.
Oh my gosh! It will be Thanksgiving  in about a month!  I am usually so prepared but this year has absolutely been insane!

I could not believe it. I was working on formatting the cookbook until about 1:30 a.m. and when I went to bed it was still hovering around 90 humid degrees.
We are just about into those dog days of summer when even the bugs seem to take shelter in the afternoon heat!

This is my submission for Presto Pasta Night. This week it is being hosted by A Scientist in the Kitchen. There are sure to be lots of fantastic dishes so run by and check it out on Friday July 11.

I wanted to do something a little different to go with lunch the other day. Usually scones are a breakfast item here, I just don’t think of them for lunch. But with a salad and some Brie these are a great way to round out a light meal.
They are sweet from the glaze. The vanilla mellows out the lavender to make a great taste combination. A few months ago I read about a technique where you grated cold butter into scones and biscuits to give a more tender product. This really does make a difference and I have …read more

 
If you have never had beef brisket you have never lived in Texas.  A huge beef brisket is a must have at nearly any summer celebration from Memorial Day to a family reunion, and there are as many arguments about making a good one as there are about whether or not Texas should succeed from the Union.
If you didn’t know THAT was a common conversation then you haven’t even VISITED here.  Another thing you must know is that it can be spelled barbeque or barbecue. I will probably spell it both ways in the course of writing this because spell …read more

Summer is the time for cook-outs for sure. When you can make homemade, delicious (soft!) hot dog and hamburger buns in less than an hour why in the world would you buy them?
Did I say less than an hour? Yep!
These freeze well so you can make them ahead of time. If you have a regular baking day, or OAMC weekend make up a few batches of these for the month and freeze them for quick meals anytime.
Most of us do not consider

Sometimes I feel that I have no time to cook. I really hate that because I love cooking but my life right now is just so busy that cooking seems to take a back seat.  I know I have been scarce in visiting your blogs…blame it on a huge amount of writing assignments and Chris being home…both good things!
Even my photography seems to be BLAH.

Crumbcake. A muffin but not.
Usually when you see a recipe for crumbcake it will be baked in a square pan. I like to make them in muffin cups; little individual bites of WOW. By doing it this way you can