Last updated on April 10th, 2021 at 02:47 pm This chocolate rugelach recipe calls for all the traditional ingredients but takes a vegan turn with the help of a cream cheese-style spread. Rugelach (not to be mistaken for arugula—but they’re pronounced very similarly) is a pastry with a murky history, but it is known as…
Shanghai Surprise: Soup Dumplings
I stole that title; if you’re old enough to remember Madonna and Sean Penn were once married, you might remember they were in a movie together called Shanghai Surprise. I never saw it, but I heard it was terrible. But I think soup dumplings can restore the title’s virtue. They originated in Shanghai and if you’ve…
Making Sense of Leftovers: Pumpkin Banana Cupcakes with Caramel Ginger Frosting
There are so many things to love about living in San Francisco: Sunny days, chilly nights, a walk uphill to the grocery store counts as a workout, burritos… But, I have to say, the one requisite item for living in California that brings me pure joy is my compost bucket. I love reducing, reusing and…
Pumpkin Babka
Fall in Northern California… is not quite fall. In San Francisco, there are no leaves crunching under foot and the temperature is more or less the same on October 15th as it is on July 15th. In the Midwest it’s an all-sensory experience that makes death pretty appealing: you can see the leaves transforming from…
Cream Biscuits
Three months and three days ago I blew up my life: sold most of my belongings, packed up the rest and dragged my cat with me to San Francisco to be closer to family. There’s nothing like a 2,000 mile move to make you appreciate the value of simplicity. And simple I must be. After…
The Tart Keith Richards Won’t Touch
“It wasn’t my idea of a dessert, and they tried to force me to eat it, threatening me with punishment or a fine. It was very Dickensian. I had to write out ‘I will not refuse food’ three hundred times in my infantile hand.” That was Keith Richards’ reaction to the Gypsy tart they served…
Lila Clementine Cookies
I am a notoriously bad gift giver. There’s no excuse for it; I am just not gifted at giving gifts. My dad is probably the biggest victim of my bad gifts. One year for his birthday I picked up a book for him at KMart simply titled “Running.” Basically, it was a guide filled with…
WTF Is Yorkshire Pudding? Answer: Definitely NOT Dessert
Last updated on April 7th, 2021 at 08:19 pmIf Yorkshire pudding is a bit of an enigma to you, we’ll set you straight on what it is and how other traditional dishes lean on it. If ever I were to go back to culinary graduate school and had to write a thesis, it would be…
Black & White Cookies
If you’ve never had a black and white cookie, they’re not really cookies at all, nor are they black and white. They are not crunchy and crumbly the way you expect cookies to be, rather they are soft and supple cakes hidden beneath a thin layer of half vanilla and half chocolate fondant (hardened icing)….
Pralines And Cream: Cure for Indian Summer
October isn’t the time to eat ice cream — at least it’s not expected. However, today in Chicago, temperatures are expected to reach 79℉. I’ve seen the words “Indian summer” floating around social media, but that doesn’t seem quite right. Indian summer just means unseasonably warm. But I think it’s losing its meaning — I…