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? Read the rest of this entry »

“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. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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Ahhh, college, and for the days when one’s diet could consist of large quantities of beer and Cheez Doodles. While writing my thesis at Bates, I lived on three foods: Diet Dr. Pepper, Cracker Jack, and Pillsbury slice and bake chocolate chip cookie dough, straight from the tube, unbaked. Even now, opening those packages is akin to the cannon under a potential avalanche. Once they’re open, it’s all going down, baby. No wonder Weight Watchers calls them “trigger foods.”

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When we started planning our Snack Cake Smackdown (more word on that Friday), my first thought was “Woo-hoo!” quickly followed by “I wanna do Twinkies!” Growing up in Massachusetts, we lived in the same town as a Hostess Thrift shop, and boxes of Twinkies were a favorite treat for lunchboxes and after school. With three kids and a tight budget my mom rationed them out so that we didn’t eat the whole box in one sitting, but I think we could have without too much effort. The cake was soft and fine, but ooooh, the filling!

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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?

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Guess that apple cake recipe sounded pretty irresistible to a lot of you bakers out there - we sold 749 bottles of boiled cider this past week, which cleaned out both our stock, and that of Willis and Tina Wood, who press the apples and boil the cider at their orchard in Springfield, Vermont.

But never fear - help is on the way. Another crop of apples is being harvested now, and more boiled cider should be ready the first week of October.

Thanks for your enthusiasm! And, if you got a back-order message – we appreciate your patience.

Think about it. They both fit any occasion, from day into evening. They both dress up or down with equal aplomb. And they’re both appropriate, no matter the circumstance.

But whole grain? Isn’t that like wearing a burlap sack to the prom?

Au contraire. Not when you have the right recipe. Read the rest of this entry »

Oh, boy!

I was driving by the farmstand on the way to work this morning, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but my favorite sign of autumn:

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