Technically, I suppose, apple butter is smooth. I originally made this recipe last winter and pureed it afterward. Since, however, my main use for this particular condiment is in my morning oatmeal, I have found I much prefer it to be left chunky. Recipe is adapted from one I found at The Art of Homemaking. […]
cooking
THE SECRET OF EVERYTHING, Barbara O’Neal
PRE-ORDER NOW Coming your way January 5, 2010: FROM THE BACK COVER: In this spectacular new novel, Barbara O’Neal delivers a generous helping of the best in life–family, food, and love–in the story of a woman’s search for the one thing worth more than anything. At thirty-seven, Tessa Harlow is still working her way down […]
Cooking and books, books and cooking: my Julie/Julia story
One Christmas season, I was at loose ends. I was finally, officially divorced after a fairly long marriage. My sons were working and traveling, or out with their friends. There was a man I’d been seeing, but he was traveling, too, and anyway, he was never going to be My Guy and I knew it. I […]
The heady alchemy of baking bread
It’s a cold winter afternoon, the kind when winter blisters past the windows, turning everything blue. Inside, I am kneading bread. Not in a bread machine but with my own palms and wrists. The dough is whole wheat, heavy and thick, and it takes muscle to punch it down, to knead and fold and press, […]
Ed’s Carrot Cake and plotlines
I haven’t been posting many cooking blogs lately, mainly because I honestly haven’t been cooking anything of interest. Obviously, the work is satisfying and enjoyable and I haven’t hit any plot snags. Or something. Yesterday, I really hit a wall. I talked with my editor, who is smart and helpful and knows my work and […]