I am so thankful for my family, my friends, and my fur kids. I am a lucky girl.

My girls have finally blessed me with some beautiful fresh, homegrown eggs. Right now they are a little small yet to use much for baking, but I guess that is what a kitchen scale is for.

I tried my hand at some French macarons this weekend. They were a total disaster. So much of a disaster, I do not have a photo. There was no foot. They turned brown. Terrible. This is Tornado. He is the other sort of beast that I enjoy wrangling. I have had him for ten years through much good and bad. … Read More

The next bread for the BBA Challenge was Greek Celebration Bread or Artos. There were a couple of options when making this bread in regards to the shape of the bread. You could make Christopsomos which is served at Christmas time and has raisins, cranberries, and walnuts mixed in. The other option would be to make Lambropsomo, which is served … Read More

I know I am posting about it a bit late, but I am participating in the BBA challenge put forth by Nicole from Pinch My Salt. Its quite an interesting challenge. The idea is to work through Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice at the rate of one recipe per week. Because life has gotten busy on me, I … Read More

There is something amazing about Spring. It is full of what could be. Northern Illinois usually has fairly substantial winters; complete with lots of snow, ice, and below zero days. Somewhere around March, Mother Nature starts toying with us and she tosses us a few 60-70 degree days. Enough to make our hearts beat faster, hoping that winter is behind … Read More

A few years ago, as a part of a wedding shower gift, I received a Brown Sugar Bear. It was a small gift given to me by my sister. We both knew the meaning: no more lumpy brown sugar! Even my mom was excited for me over this small token gift. Growing up in northern Illinois, we had the most … Read More