We’ve all heard the never-ending array of holiday fruitcake jokes, right?

The famous Johnny Carson line: “There really is only one fruitcake in the world, passed from family to family.”

And the recipe that starts like this: “10 undented cans of Spam, 5 bags of those horrible little jellied fruits…”

And this ditty, sung to the tune of The Monkees’ Last Train to Clarksville:

Eat the last piece of fruitcake
that we got from Auntie Mabel
We can’t keep it in the kitchen
‘cause it broke right through the table and the floor
Oh no no no, oh no no no…  (more…)

See that pie? The one above, the first thing your eyes were drawn to when you opened this page?

I made that pie. And I got the highest compliment on it from Halley, our King Arthur Web director.

Halley: Who made that pie in the kitchen?

Me: I did.

Halley: You’re kidding! I thought Sue made it.

Me: Yeah, really… (more…)

“The frost is on the pumpkin.”

Sure, we’ve all heard that expression (haven’t we, class?) It comes from the title of a famous poem (well famous to us American lit. majors) by James Whitcomb Riley, a short bit of doggerel that begins like this:

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock…

I don’t know about the fodder being in the shock, but I sure am. I finally took my summer vacation last week, down on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Where the temperature was 20° below normal, the state was recording its earliest ever snowfall, and the frost was definitely on the punkin. (more…)

As much as I love summer – with its respite from boots, icy roads, and heating bills – I’m never devastated to see it go. Because hard on its heels is my favorite season, fall: best baking time of the year.

Think about it. Fresh, crisp apples, ready to slice, dice, and chunk into a cinnamon-y apple pie, or streusel-topped crisp, an apple challah, or my favorite totally moist, ridiculously dense apple cake with over-the-top brown sugar frosting.

And then there’s all that zucchini, crying to be made into chocolate zucchini cake. And the butternut squash (and potatoes, and onions, and peppers), perfect for roasted vegetable pizza. (more…)

You know, Starbucks really does have some good ideas.

And I’m not above stealing them.

Not that I visit the World’s Favorite Bistro often; there’s not a Starbucks within 100 miles of me.

But when I travel, I find myself slipping into the first Starbucks I see – you know, just to check things out.

Also, since I recently learned a cup of plain coffee at Starbucks is cheaper than a cup at Dunkin’ Donuts – ’tis true! – I’ll treat myself to some Starbucks buzz: both literally, and figuratively. (more…)

Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and from South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?
- John Greenleaf Whittier

You know, I just HAD to print that 19th-century poem here, even though Thanksgiving is weeks away. And the recipe we’re making today isn’t pumpkin pie. Because, if you think you don’t like poetry, the verse above might make you think again.

Indeed, what DOES call back the past, like the rich pumpkin… sweet roll? (more…)

“Help! I just went and picked apples with the kids and we don’t have an apple crisp recipe on our site!”

That was the gist of an email I got one recent Saturday afternoon from my colleague Halley, who leads the Web team here at King Arthur.

“That can’t be,” I thought. “Apple crisp is the absolute penultimate fall recipe. How could we NOT have it on our site?”

I searched. Halley was right. No apple crisp. (more…)

Alas, Hostess Choco-Bliss… I knew ye well.

Your rich, moist chocolate cake… your creamy lighter-chocolate filling… your fudge-like topping, with its signature striations…

Sigh… Gone the way of wax lips and bubblegum cigars. Snack cake ancient history. A minor blip in Hostess’ corporate memory.

But still longingly remembered by those of us who loved you.

(more…)

I recently visited my cousin Kris at her mountaintop home in southern New Hampshire. We sat out on her deck, acorns dropping like mini-bombs around us, and talked about family, movies (she and her husband are film producers), and food.

After a bit Kris went inside, and emerged moments later with cups of coffee and a cake. Always on the alert for promising new recipes, I started to pry. “What’s that? Looks good. What’s in it?” I said. (more…)

Crumpet.

Just the word sounds like Merrie Olde England, doesn’t it? So… jolly, with a splash of class. And a soupçon of serious respect, as is only proper for this classic grilled bread: the first crumpet recipe appeared 240 years ago, in 1769.

So, what’s the difference between an English muffin and a crumpet?

(more…)