by Brian | Oct 28, 2016 | Cookie Jar, Recipes
Earlier this week, I review the brilliant new cookie book from Dorie Greenspan: Dorie’s Cookies. And I’ve posted one recipe for her Melody Cookies, a thin chocolate wafer topped with sugar sprinkles. The first chapter of Dorie’s massive book is...
by Brian | Jan 29, 2016 | Cookie Jar, Recipes
The word “gooey” is increasing popular. If you use the Google Ngram app, you can track a history of word usage all the way back to 1800. Gooey did not appear at all until about 1900. Usage crept up to 1940, leveled until the early 1960’s and now...
by Brian | Nov 3, 2014 | Dessert Digest, Recipes
Our friends gave a dinner party last weekend and asked us for the Alpha and the Omega. For a Mexican-themed dinner, my role was to supply margaritas and dessert. We knew the main entry, pork shoulder cooked for hours with spices and chiles, would leave people with...
by Brian | Jan 6, 2014 | Cookie Jar, Dessert Digest, Recipes
Sometimes life does get better. And easier. For example, a couple of years ago, a Starbucks opened on our block. It’s around the corner, to be true, but in a short walk of 400 feet we can have our java anytime we want. There is no excuse, no matter how wet or snowy or...
by Brian | Mar 2, 2013 | Cookbook Review, Recipes
Quick now. What is mocha? Or moka? Or mokka? Or Mocca? Or Mocha? In a land of coffee shops, no, in a land of Starbucks, we all know that a mocha is coffee plus chocolate. It was not always so. The word mocha comes to us from the port city of Mocha on the Red...