I can’t help but think back to last fall when I was bustling around the kitchen in preparation for my friend to arrive. While grey clouds floated by outside my kitchen window, and the rich red and jewel-toned orange and yellow leaves fluttered in the breeze, I felt happy to be putting the finishing touches to the cake I baked. Having friends over for coffee was a regular occurrence before the pandemic but standing there at the counter, trying to artfully swoop the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: 100 Afternoon Sweets”
Tag: home baker
Book Club Tuesday: The Plain Cake Appreciation Society

Sometimes, thinking back over those early years of the pandemic, it’s easy to see why home baking became such a source of joy and connection. Here in Nova Scotia, bubbling was tight and, due to the lack of close family nearby to share that bubble space with, I started to invest in cardboard bakery boxes so that I could spread my baking (and love) around. So, reading through Tilly Pamment’s new book, The Plain Cake Appreciation Society, I feel both kinship as well as Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: The Plain Cake Appreciation Society”
Book Club Tuesday: Plantcakes

My year has been bookended by Lyndsay Sung’s cookbooks and, after sharing her first book (Coco Cake Land) in February, I feel the exact same about her latest book, Plantcakes: her books are too good not to share! Coco Cake Land was a book that I had bought based on a recommendation from a friend and I immediately loved Sung’s playful approach to cake decorating. At the time, I referred to her style as “choose your own adventure” because the book Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Plantcakes”
Book Club Tuesday: Stuffed: The Sandwich Cookie Book

From the response I recently received on an Instagram post dedicated to Christmas cookie boxes, and how I felt that these boxes are the embodiment of pure joy, I’d say that everyone loves a good cookie. Home baked cookies are such a treat because it feels special when someone has baked just for you (or, at least, this is how I hope people feel when I give them a box full of cookies!). I love baking and, cookies are the perfect thing to share. Unlike a cake, you can gift cookies Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Stuffed: The Sandwich Cookie Book”
Book Club Tuesday: Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom

[B]aking isn’t just following instructions; it’s a journey and an exploration. (1)
It’s not very often that a home baker can pinpoint where tips come from because we take them in, make them our own, and move ahead. One tip that I learned from watching Anna Olson on her show was to add skim milk powder when making whipped cream to stabilize it. That piece of information has served me well (as well as all my friends and family who I passed it onto). Watching her often, I learned that much of her Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Anna Olson’s Baking Wisdom”
Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company: Baking School

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: cookbooks are a great equalizer. Whether it’s because cookbooks allow us to experience so many ingredients and techniques, or cuisines and places, our kitchens become a place to culinarily try it all from the comforts of our own homes. Can I travel to Norwich, Vermont, to attend classes at the King Arthur Baking School? No (insert sad face here) BUT I can pick up a copy of their Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company: Baking School”
Book Club Tuesday: Snackable Bakes

I don’t often begin reviews like this, but here it goes: Jessie Sheehan‘s Snackable Bakes is marvelous, and I think everyone should have a copy. While I have a huge library of cookbooks, Snackable Bakes ranks near the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Snackable Bakes”
Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf

“…when we sat down in that coffee shop and laid out our bakery dreams to each other, they were really about creating a space we wanted to go to every day. To build something that would address as many of the systemic issues we had seen in our own bakery jobs as possible. A place to foster creativity and feminist ideals. A business that would give more than it would take from the community and that centred sustainability in all its decisions. The results have not always been what we intended, and we are still learning how the systems in which we operate affect our biases and how we can continue to be better. It has been a financial challenge. Trying to operate in an effectively non-profit way in a capitalist system is fraught with compromises and disappointments. Luckily, we are resourceful folks and have had the honour of working with many amazing people over the years, so we feel like we have won the life lottery.” (4)
Over a decade ago, Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham opened the brick-and-mortar version of Cake & Loaf in Hamilton, Ontario and now, they have a newly published cookbook (of the same name) to share with home bakers. I’m new to the Cake & Loaf world but as I read through the introduction, I learned that Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf”
Book Club Tuesday: Fabulous Modern Cookies

To us, cookies are the most approachable of all desserts. (9)
What Chris Taylor and Paul Arguin say in the introduction to their latest book, Fabulous Modern Cookies, is absolutely true! Of all the desserts, cookies are the most approachable. Thinking back to when I was little, one of the first things that I baked with my mom were cookies, and this is the case with my own daughter. It’s about having fun and enjoying the results. I remember that when Katie and I made animal crackers, hers weren’t that great looking, however, Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Fabulous Modern Cookies”
Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company — The Essential Cookie Companion (Revised + Updated)
People love dichotomies, which exist in infinite number in the world of our kitchens. For example: cooking or baking? Gas or Electric? Cookbooks or websites? Cakes or Cookies? When it comes to this last one, I’ll be brave and say “neither.” Or maybe even: either. Which can I bake, with love, and share it with my family and friends? Baking is a Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: King Arthur Baking Company — The Essential Cookie Companion (Revised + Updated)”
