Holly Jolly Dirt Cake

Holly Jolly Dirt Cake Here’s another no-bake adventure for kids who enjoy cooking.  Little kids, if making this for an adult, like to pretend the cake really is dirt! I’ve modified it as the quantity of sugar would have the ‘cooks’ standing on the table throwing the mix at each other and the amount of […]

Praline recipe passes test of Austin pecan expert

Once I stood in line in the grocery store behind a woman whose cart had a pretty ho-hum selection – except for the fourteen boxes of butterscotch pudding. I couldn’t resist asking why she was buying so many and she told me that she lived in Marble Falls and couldn’t buy them there. What an […]

Kitchen kit – Jane’s top six kitchen essentials

If you were cast on a desert island, what six pieces of music would you choose, and which book, beside the Bible and Shakespeare? This question has been posed weekly on a BBC radio program since 1942.  Well-known personalities come up with assorted answers like Beethoven and the Beatles, George Strait and Georges Bizet, Louis […]

Minding the English . . .

Jane Manaster takes this cookery post from Austin back to England with Minding the English . . .  Jane was raised in England long ago when eating roast heart or stewed tripe served with a glutinous white sauce were not uncommon. No special names disguised their identity! English food unjustly has a very bad reputation.  Wangle an invitation to someone’s home […]

Recipe Risk

Jane Manaster shares her take on  . . . risky recipes Selecting a recipe online is such a temptation and such a gamble.   Even experienced cooks eager to try something new can be lured into making bad mistakes. My latest failure was bran and raisin muffins.  I trawled one site after another, rejecting the recipe […]

Peel and Eat Potatoes-Peelin’ with Jane

Peel This The Cookery welcomes Austin’s Jane Manaster back this week to challenge us with a post on peeling potatoes. Peelin’ with Jane: Remember when potatoes were a staple? At 50 – 99 cents a pound, and with pasta and rice down in price, they are almost a luxury.  When a visit to the supermarket […]

About that nutmeg . . .

Sometimes it sounds like a nut – but it’s not. If you’re managing nut allergies among family and friends, you probably bump into the nutmeg question, as we do, this time of year. I lace my pumpkin pies with nutmeg, and our nut-allergy-positive family members and friends freely indulge.  Nutmeg is not a nut, but a […]

Rhubarb Pie . . . from your own oven

Keen on rhubarb? Here’s a look at Mama’s rhubarb pie . . .  just in from our 80-year-old baking mama. She’s sending out the challenge to give this one a try. No time to make crust? Take the shortcut if you don’t want to factor in crust preparation. Strawberry Rhubarb Custard Pie         […]

Craft these sweet treats

Family Fun featured this Treat of the Month in their August issue. Improvise with your pantry items, and kids can make their own fun decorating these under-the-sea treats. Go sweet . . . or savory – with crackers and cream cheese. The sugar splash in The Cookery turned out sweet Pearly Bites.