Or rather, it’s just over there to the right. Have a browse and give me your recommendations.

Some day I hope to compete with Oprah. Does that sound realistic to you? Thought not. But I was feeling a little guilty for getting after Martha Stewart the other day. She’s such an easy target. On top of that, I promised from the beginning to resist becoming just another gripey, navel gazing blog. My […]

An Italian cooking show, much like Italian cooking in general, is all about ingredients. Turn on Mario Batali and you’ll hear all about olive oils from Umbria, tomatoes from Naples, rice from the Po Valley, and cheese from Lombardy. Judging from TV shows like his, you’d think Italians did nothing but work on farms and […]

When I say ciabatta is only a fifty year-old bread, what I really mean is it’s only been fifty years that ciabatta has been eaten in its current form. That is, in small slipper-sized loaves (that’s what the word ciabatta actually means, slipper). Classically, bread in Italy didn’t come in such small iterations. It was […]

There are three loaves of ciabatta proofing in the kitchen right this very second. I can hardly wait to bake’em! Though to be honest I had more than a little trouble handling such a slack, sticky dough. It’s been a while for me. But, a few times through the process is all it’ll take to […]

This is the recipe that I wanted to put up for the Project of the Week, but didn’t. It’s Rose Levy Berenbaum’s version of chocolate pecan pie. It’s deeply flavorful, light and delectable. It is however complicated, especially if you make the flaky cream cheese pie crust that goes with it. Should you be up […]

It’s Derby week down here in Louisville, so it only seems fitting that we do something Derby-ish. Now maybe it’s because I’m a newbie in Kentucky, but I have yet to discover what a “true” Derby pie is. For some it’s a kind of toll house pie without the brown sugar. For others it’s simply […]

This isn’t exactly pastry news, but as a former resident of that great city, I have to say I’m more than a little disappointed. Even in California, where this little legislative fad started, the ban won’t go into effect until 2012. The Chicago ban starts this June. This is the hog butcher for the world? […]

Got a question the other day about gelatin that I’ve been meaning to get to. That is: why are gelatin desserts on the no-no list for vegetarians? The reason is that gelatin powder is an animal-based product. It’s made by boiling cattle and/or pork skin and bones for extended periods of time, then reducing and […]