Book Club Tuesday: 100 Afternoon Sweets

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”

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

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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: Cake & Loaf Gatherings

You know what cookbook I didn’t know I needed in my life until now? A baking book that focuses on seasonal gatherings. Much is made of seasonal cooking and, it’s mostly to do with availability of ingredients (i.e., the fresh ones). But, as I baked from the newest cookbook from Nickey Miller and Josie Rudderham (co-owners of Cake & Loaf Bakery),  Cake & Loaf Gatherings, I’ve come to appreciate their approach to what seasonal baking Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Cake & Loaf Gatherings”

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: Home is Where The Eggs Are

After writing a couple of hundred posts about cookbooks, I’ve learned a lot about myself. Of all the personal insights, the most crucial one: joy. I want to read it, make it, bake it, feel it, and serve it to people so that we can all experience it. Sometimes joy is in the heart of the beholder — not every author or every cookbook lends itself to these joyful musings. But, as I’ve found with Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Home is Where The Eggs Are”

Book Club Tuesday: Good & Sweet

When a copy of Brian Levy’s Good & Sweet arrived in the mail, I felt leery about the subject matter. To be honest, I am tired of the narrative of sugar being unhealthy – has there ever been a time when someone ate sugar because it was healthy? I find that these narratives set up sugar as a false opposite – while refined sugar is “bad,” books go on to convince home cooks of the Continue reading “Book Club Tuesday: Good & Sweet”