Savvy Eats

Tomorrow, I’ll turn 26. My twenty-fifth year was interesting one. While I was often sick, plagued by headaches and nausea, the year was still overall positive. We took some big trips: a 10-day jaunt to Oregon and Washington, a fun yet exhausting weekend in Massachusetts for the Healthy Living Summit. I made a short visit [...]

The Taste of Madison was held the weekend before classes started my sophomore year of college. In a desire to escape the endless “welcome, freshmen” activities at the dorms, I rounded up my roommate Nicole, boyfriend Dan and classmate Cordelia. I preferred the idea of tasting dishes from restaurants around the city than watching all [...]

I’ll admit it: I’m afraid of baking layer cakes.  My decorating skills are lacking, and though I am a trained scientist, in the science of layer cakes I seem doomed to uneven layers and fillings that weep and ooze.  I hate the feeling of failure, so I typically just avoid baking layer cakes at all [...]

When you make a fennel blood orange salad, or otherwise eat oranges, don’t toss the peels. Instead, refrigerate them until you have the peels of 4-5 oranges.  Candy them and dip them in rich dark chocolate for a sweet dessert. I used this recipe with the peels of four blood oranges.  Blanching the peels three [...]

My first encounter with crepes was 9th grade French class.  We ate them with some butter and powdered sugar, then with some Nutella, identifying each flavor an ingredient en français.  I was in heaven. In high school, my friends and I would have “crepes party,” making plates stacked high with paper-thin crepes to fill with [...]

Serves 24 Prep Time: 1 hour Cook Time: 45 minutes For the bottom layer: 3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped 2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil 2 cups light brown sugar 3 eggs 1 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon baking soda For the middle layer: 4 cups powdered sugar 2 tablespoons milk 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 1 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 shots) creme de menthe 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract For the top layer: 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 4 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil For the bottom layer: Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9×13″ baking pan. … Pour the batter into the greased baking pan and bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the pan.

For three years, Kelley and I spent every fall and spring Saturday morning drifting through the Dane County Farmers’ Market in Madison, Wisconsin. We arrived early when the crowd was still thin, knowing that in a few hours, the sidewalks would be packed 6 or 7 people wide. The crowd moved counterclockwise around Capitol Square, [...]

Tomorrow is December 1, and you know what that means… cookie baking season! I have so many treat ideas brewing, but I also want to make some of last year’s favorites and our traditional cookies as well. I forsee a lot of baking coming on. And a lot of friends and family receiving homemade goodies [...]