Rhubarb Pie

There’s no fresh fruit to be had this early in the growing season, but fortunately there’s something else in the garden that can satisfy the craving for fruity flavors: rhubarb! The stems of this bushy, tropical-looking perennial have a citrusy tang that, when baked into a sweetened pie, make a dessert that will have everyone asking for more….

100% Whole Wheat Bread That’s Just as Soft as White!

I’ve made homemade bread for a long time but until recently have shied away from 100% whole-wheat recipes. All the loaves I tried turned out very dense and dry–enticing only to health-food nuts and people in need of doorstops. Then, just a few weeks ago, I discovered a recipe on An Oregon Cottage that had the word ‘soft’ right in the name:…

Caramel Popcorn

I love making homemade edible goodies for stocking stuffers. Last year, it was caramels and orange-flavored hard candies. This year, I’m returning to an old favorite: caramel popcorn. My recipe comes from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking. It’s been almost five years since I started eating eggs and dairy again, but the recipes in…

Real Whipped Cream in 5 Minutes

There’s no reason to settle for a tub of Cool Whip or a sputtering can of Reddi-wip this holiday season. Not when homemade whipped cream takes only 5 minutes to prepare! While one person’s slicing the pie, another can be whipping up a batch of the freshest, most luxurious whipped cream you’ve ever tasted. And if you have…

From Pumpkin to Pie

‘Tis the season for baking pumpkin pies! Especially if, like me, you lazily store your pumpkins in the house. At room temperature, they start molding and rotting after a couple of months, so now’s a great time to cook up the August/September harvest and either bake it straight into pies or freeze the purée for later…

Pie Crust: No Rolling Required

For several years, I rolled my pie crusts out, just the way the recipes say to do–and got frustrated when they would break as I was transferring them to the pan. Eventually, I realized that, if you’re only making a single-crust pie– that is, one that doesn’t have a second crust for a “hat”–there’s no…