Calvados in any apple dessert gives it substance and deeper flavor. This recipe is based on clafoutis, but uses caramelized apples instead of pears or cherries. If you love custard and baked fruit, this is about as easy and delicious as it gets. It’s a great way to use up old apples, and makes a warm and welcoming hot dessert casserole for a buffet table or tailgate party. If you leave the calvados out, it’s a big hit with little […]
Here’s a between-seasons favorite that deserves to be re-posted. So simple and easy to love, just like a Beatrix Potter picture book. As a child I always loved the stories of Peter Rabbit, Mrs. Tiggywinkle, Squirrel Nutkin, and the dangerous Mr. Tod, as did my own children. Later I came to admire Beatrix Potter even more for the independent life she was able to create for herself through her writing and art, especially in an era when it was difficult […]
This end-of-season cooler is fruity and light. I think of watermelon as a smoothie fruit, not a milkshake fruit, but this has a tropical flavor that’s enhanced by the strawberries. Somehow the strawberries strengthen the watermelon flavor, rather than adding their own unique taste, and it’s very clean and smooth. This would be yummy at a kids’ outdoor birthday party, or it could be something you want to drink poolside with a little rum blended in to celebrate a more […]
There’s a really fascinating book called “Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience,” which I’ve been reading this summer. It’s a compilation of historic, moving, and extraordinary letters written by famous people throughout history. One of the more endearing is a handwritten letter from Queen Elizabeth II to President Dwight Eisenhower, in which she shares her recipe for drop scones – which the President had tasted and admired while visiting the Queen at Balmoral […]
It’s time for another of those unhealthy treats that I cannot resist from time to time. Chocolate sodas. Here’s my rationale for making them: they’re delicious, especially when you use thick chocolate milk, cold-pressed coffee, and dark chocolate and Turkish coffee ice cream to amp up the flavor. To make them less unhealthy, I made them half the size of a standard ice cream soda. They satisfy the craving, but not in a way that fills you with self-loathing afterward. […]
