Treats from O-kitchen, Yoko Fujiyoshi's sweets manufacture in Tokyo. They serve up delicious baked goods from Be a Good Neighbor cafe in Shibuya.


Oh, and here's a Mont Blanc monster. Just for you!

[1-5. O-kitchen]

In keeping with the idea of working through all of the groceries you have in the fridge before you leave for a trip, I wanted to do something with all of the jarred Meyer lemon juice that I had left over from the limoncello I made for friends for the holidays. What does one do when one has way too much lemon juice? Make lemon bars!

I worked off of Ina Garten's recipe to make these luscious lemony treats. Now I just need someone aside from A and myself to eat them! Any takers?

[1. c. lynn]

There are some beautiful pies to feast your eyes on over at the New York Times. As a member of Team Pie, I loved the title of the article, "Pie to Cupcake, Time's Up."

From top to bottom: Pecan Pie with Rye Crust, Date Butter Tart, Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie, Food Processor Apple Tart, and Apple Pecan Tart.

[1. Evan Sung for The New York Times, 2. Tony Cenicola for The New York Times, 3. Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times, 4. Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times, 5. Francesco Tonelli for The New York Times]

In a flurry of indecisiveness over what to bring to the turkey dinner potluck tonight, A decided to whip up a batch of English toffee squares. It's M's family recipe and it's delicious. The rich shortbread cookie bar is crumbly sweet while the dark chocolate topping and bitter walnut add much needed notes of contrast.






[1-3. c. lynn]

 


I just had the most perfect day baking apple pies (7 in total!) with friends. While pie parties have been somewhat of an annual tradition for some of the girls, I was very honored and quite pleased to make the invite. It was so much fun—thanks ladies!

[1-5. c. lynn]

Et voila! Here's last night's summer tart that disappeared quicker than any dessert that I've ever made.


[1-2. c. lynn]

I'm putting together the makings of a pistachio crust. It is a lot of work to shell all of the pistachios, rub off their skins, and then grind them to a fine powder. But all this effort will be worth it. I can just imagine how scrumptious this salty pistachio crust will be when it's nestled with a vanilla bean pastry cream and topped with handfuls of fresh raspberries.


[1. c. lynn]

Earlier this week we purchased one of the best blenders on the market, and so lately I've been experimenting with a new frontier of culinary pursuits that was impossible to reach before with my mini food processor alone. Sure, it could macerate big juicy canned whole tomatoes, but it would always leave chunks of garlic in pesto or do a mediocre job at creating a small dice. Plus it was really tiny and I would have to process chunky soups ladle by ladle leaving a very messy counter space to clean up afterward.

With our new blender muscle in the kitchen, I've been trying out different types of fruit smoothies in the morning and venturing into a variety of soups as well. So far, I've made a tortilla soup that was quick and easy (no waiting for the vegetables to boil apart in the soup) and a chilled cucumber, yogurt soup that worked well for lunch during a hot day last week.

However, one of the best experiments was to try to make a frosty yogurt-fruit ice pop. I worked off of a recipe from Bon Appetit, which could be tailored to anything you have on hand. I chose to alter the original recipe with agave syrup (instead of simple syrup), strawberries (you can use any fruit that would be complementary with yogurt), and adjusted everything else to taste to yield six strawberry-yogurt honey pops.

Our cute ice pop molds were sourced online; here are some other great options: standard pop shape, a grooved pop, rocket-shaped pops, star-shaped pops, jewel-shaped pops or simply use a shooter glass with a popsicle stick. 

[1. c. lynn]

It's A's birthday this weekend—well, technically tomorrow—but we're celebrating with friends today. Dinner, gifts, cupcakes, and Champagne—what more could you ask for?

We love Butter Lane bakery. Clockwise from top left: vanilla cake with chocolate icing; "the Elvis," banana cake with peanut butter icing and marshmallows on top; chocolate cake with cream cheese icing; vanilla cake with cream cheese icing.

[1. & 2. c_lynn]

After watching scary movies and baking all day, we are off to a costume party at one of our Halloween-obsessed friend's house. We're bringing brain creepcakes, one of the many creative Halloween recipes available on marthastewart.com. How disgusting and utterly perfect for zombie movie fans!

N.B. Don't use the suggested Swiss merinque buttercream icing for the brain—it curdles and is rather finicky. Instead, use the cream cheese frosting from pinchmysalt.

Also, in honor of Halloween, I present the scariest non-scary movie of all time: The Peanut Butter Solution [1985] and because I grew up about an hour away from Sleepy Hollow, Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow [1952] and also The Skeleton Dance [1929].

The results are in:

Van Leeuwen chocolate ice cream is my very favorite.

It's so hard to walk by their truck without indulging. Their ice cream is made with the very best, down to the chocolate. They source from Michel Cluizel—the same chocolatier that A and I visited on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris on one of our most memorable walks.

The beginnings of a nectarine clafouti that we served up for dessert at last night's dinner. Fresh summer fruit baked off with a rich, soft, custardy batter. C'est magnifique!