I have a running theory that if I was a superhero (or, more aptly, a superheroine), my Kryptonite would be homemade granola. I’d be able to climb tall buildings effortlessly, travel for miles i...
I’m looking outside my window at the dense fog and winter chill clinging to bony tree branches and wishing I could see sunshine and palm trees instead. I’m sitting here surrounded by a pi...
Were I a professional baker, I probably wouldn’t end up with flat, under-risen loaves of bread on a near-regular basis. I probably wouldn’t have nightmares in my sleep of covering my enti...
This has been one horrible, no good, very bad week so far. I know this isn’t why you came here. You came here for doughnuts, not to hear about how my car’s windshield wipers stopped worki...
There are a few things I can’t get enough of: Mini pigs, paintings by Van Gogh, brownies with ice cream, intriguing and nail-bitingly dramatic episodes of “Mad Men” (and perhaps mor...
Let it be said that this time of year, the most wonderful time of the year, is meant for caroling and baking cookies and decorating trees and putting up lights and skating on lakes and wrapping our h...
There are so many cookies in my life right now. Seriously — I’ve got pepperminty candy cane cookies, fudgy chocolate crinkles, peanut butter balls and snickerdoodles coming out of my ears...
If I ran my own bed and breakfast, I’d bake these cinnamon rolls every morning. Scratch that — when I have my own bed and breakfast, I will bake these cinnamon rolls every morning. I̵...
Look at my wit! Look at my skill! Look at how I took two different types of food and made them into one! OK. Enough on that. I cannot tell a lie: I made a blunder. A culinary blunder. And yet one tha...
Thanksgiving is almost upon us, people! Does that freak you out? It shouldn’t; it really shouldn’t. Even if the turkey is tough and the pies are burnt to a crisp and all you’ve got ...
Holy snowfall, Batman! That’s right, we had our first snow here today (well, more like a rain/snow snot — yes, snot — but snow was involved). We also had the most insane wind gusts ...
It’s been a long month. I feel like I say that a lot. Or maybe, I’ve just been saying it a lot to myself these past few weeks. The truth is, I’m amazed I came out of October without...
I know what you’re thinking. This is a Thanksgiving food. I know. I know. And it’s not even Halloween yet. Here’s the thing — I get really excited about holidays. And I get ev...
Hi dear friends! I love you. I really do. I am so grateful for and warmed by your comments, and it just makes me even more inspired to get in the kitchen and bake up something else for you (now if on...
I’m starting anew. With the way life has been lately, it’s the only way to go. I’m not complaining — in fact, I’ve learned more about myself, about others, about life in...
Hi, my name is Stephanie, and I’m a recipe collecting addict. Hi, Stephanie. It’s true. The recipe book in my cabinet is a serious mammoth, lurking, just waiting to devour more cut-out ma...
I can’t tell you the next time it will rain. I can’t tell you if the way you see orange is the same way I see orange, and I can’t tell you if you’ll get a pony for Christmas. ...
Perhaps these aren’t the prettiest things. Perhaps they look a little bit bland, or boring, or like they were covered in rocks. Fortunately, none of these are true. But this is most definitely ...
I’m trying to get back into the swing of things. Life is slowly getting back to normal — well, a new normal, that is. Grief is a funny thing, because even if you’ve been through it ...
I’ve had this here blog now for about two years. It’s turned into more of a blessing than I could ever have imagined — not to mention the fact that I’ve made a lot of recipe t...
I’ve been feeling a lot lately. Nostalgia, pain, joy, sadness, exhaustion, exasperation, peace, ambition, complacency, anxiety — it’s been quite the week, the month, the summer. You...
I haven’t talked about it much, and I suppose it’s because this is not that kind of blog. This blog is about baking and being silly and making mistakes and eating them anyway, because eve...
I knew about this one. I knew about this one the first time I saw it. I knew, like the way you know about a good melon, that this bread would be fantastic. And sure enough, I was right. Very right. T...
Did you know there are different names for desserts depending on their toppings? For instance, a crisp is topped with a streusel-crumb mixture, a.k.a. magic. And a buckle is a type of crumb cake that...
As you may or may not know, I’m a fan of beer. I’m a really big fan of wine, but I’ve already put that into a pizza crust. I’ve put beer into bread before, too, but I wanted t...
I’ve been trying to write a bucket list for years, ever since that one movie came out and everyone else was doing it (I’m a follower sometimes. Truth.). But, to be honest, my list is rath...
Most everywhere I’ve lived, I’ve been spoiled with excellent farmers markets. My hometown in northeast Illinois has fantastic summer, spring and winter markets. I visited a few farmers ma...
If you’re close to me, you know that I like to pawn off most of the things I bake. I do this for three reasons — one, because I care about you and like to show it via baked goods; two, be...
To quote Charles Dickens, only one phrase can describe my week and the week preceding: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the best of times being on vacation, relaxing in ham...
My friends, it is officially summer. I know for some of you that might be stating the obvious, but for me, I feel as though I went to sleep one night in the winter and woke up to a hot, summer mornin...
You are no longer following . Undo?