Nantucket Cranberry Pie – It’s Really a Cake

During the holidays, Trader Joe's is a minefield of treats, from Peppermint Joe Joe's to chocolate advent calendars to Jingle Jangle candy-pretzel mix. You almost have to put on blinders to avoid filling your basket. In the frozen section, I stumbled on Nantucket Cranberry Pie, which looked a bit like upside down cake (theirs had…

ByMichelleDecember 12, 20160Comments

Baking Book Reviews Cooking

CITY BAKER’S GUIDE TO COUNTRY LIVING | Book Review

City Baker's Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller **ARC provided by the publisher for review** 4 stars! Save your fork, there’s pie! Louise Miller’s City Baker’s Guide satisfies like the best apple pie – sweet and a little spicy, but not cloying. It’s about creating family where you find it and finding your place in the world. Oh,…

ByMichelleJuly 30, 20160Comments

Cooking Just for Fun

What’s New at Trader Joe’s – April 2016

Here's a quick look at some of the new items at Trader Joe's this month, spotted at stores in Washington state. The new offerings run the gamut from soups to condiments to dessert. TJ's also has a new Moroccon Mint Tea (not pictured - 64 oz. plastic bottle) which is surprisingly good, not too sweet,…

ByMichelleApril 26, 20160Comments

Baking Dessert Fruit Recipes

Birthday Cakes & Simple Apple Galettes

Sometimes you just have to do a little something for yourself. My birthday was on a Monday this year, so I didn't take it as a day off. Instead, I thought about getting myself cupcakes or a dozen donuts, but then decided to make myself an apple galette with the Arkansas Black apples I had rolling around the produce drawer. Is that the practical side of adulthood?

ByMichelleDecember 9, 20132Comments

Appetizers Main Course Recipes

Back-to-School Black Bean & Sweet Potato Empanadas

The hand pie may be one of the world’s best food creations. Whether it’s a piroshky, a Pop Tart, a beerock or an empanada, the idea of tucking something sweet or savory into a little pocket of dough is an idea embraced by food cultures the world over. It’s an easy way to have a snack or a meal on the go with relatively minimal mess, which makes these Black Bean and Sweet Potato Empanadas perfect for back-to-school and back-to-work lunch boxes. (I know, I don’t want to think about it, either, and I don’t have kids).

ByMichelleAugust 5, 20131Comment

Baking Recipes

Easy Strawberry and Lemon Curd Pie

Something about pie dough scares me. I’m forever not rolling it to the right thickness or into shapes that resemble a rhombus rather than a circle. It’s ironic, because when it comes to eating pie, I love a double crust. But if pie making is a drug, this strawberry and lemon curd pie is a Nilla wafer and saltine cracker gateway drug. Yes, I said SALTINES. You’re in, right? So let’s go.

ByMichelleAugust 7, 20120Comments

Main Course Recipes

Chicken & Noodles a la La Palma Chicken Pie Shop

The La Palma Chicken Pie Shop in Anaheim, California is an institution (an institution without a Web site, so you know they're old school and proud of it). I haven't been in years, probably double-digit years, but it doesn't look like it's changed much, still a classic 50s-era coffee shop/diner with naugahyde booths and counter seating.

ByMichelleOctober 19, 20117Comments

Recipes

Peanut Butter Pie for Mikey

Jennifer Perillo, you and your family are in our thoughts and our hearts today. In celebration and remembrance of your husband Mikey, and because sometimes words just seem inadequate, here's a peanut butter pie partially (filling & ganache) based on Rose Levy Beranbaum's Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Tart.

ByMichelleAugust 12, 20111Comment