FROM SCRATCH CLUB

I asked my husband to write down some of the recipes he misses from his childhood in Estonia. He wrote Vatrushka on our family message board and it was there for over a year. I am on the third version and we are all happy with how it came out.  My starting point was a […]

Chocolate. Caramel. Shortbread. Three of the loveliest words in the English language. And bringing them all together is America’s beloved Twix bar. As I was preparing for my annual homemade Christmas gift extravaganza, I stumbled across a recipe for homemade Twix bars, and they have proven themselves to be a fan favorite. They were such […]

I’ve lived a lot of places but grew up mostly in Phoenix. Phoenix is a very interesting place. The things I love about it are pretty much what most tourists would find really stupid, or just plain odd. Since my whole family still lives there (How can they possibly still live there? It’s so hot!!) […]

For my contribution this month, I figured I’d share one of my favorite go-to brownie recipes, and introduce its secret ingredient – roasted chickpea flour. Roasted chickpea flour is orders of magnitude different than plain chickpea flour as it comes from the bag. Roasting the garbanzo flour gives it a nice deep rich nutty flavor, […]

…(Or a how to make perfect chocolate chip cookies)   Chocolate chip cookies are great conversation starters. People are passionate about them. Some folks like ‘em crispy, others chewy, then there’s the whole “with nuts or without” debate. And don’t even get people started on their feelings about raisins in chocolate chip cookies. (I’m firmly […]

Yes you read that title right- Sweet and Spicy Chocolate Black Bean Dip. I feel like you need to understand my inspiration for this recipe before I go on… So a few years back during one of my many health kick phases, a.k.a. damn my ass got big I need to do something about it, I […]

I’m about to share a recipe flop with you. Enticing, isn’t it? Let me explain. Lately I’ve been playing with whole-grain/rice-free gluten-free recipes and I turned my attention to Irish soda bread. Years ago, I created a recipe that makes a large loaf of Americanized soda bread. It’s delicious. Among other things, it contains caraway […]

 I say that ALL home cooking is a way to someone’s heart but if you want to focus on sweets & treats, here’s a couple recipes to inspire! -Christina Elizabeth’s step by step guide on baking cut-out cookies. +++ If you missed yesterday’s piece by Becky H’s on DIY Chocolate Bars- get to it! +++ Becky […]

AHHH…chocolate. If my best friend was a food this would be it.  So amazingly satisfying on many different levels with so many options in flavors and taste. Milk, dark, bitter, organic, fair trade; the spices and flavorings are endless.  Little does one realize though, chocolate is simple, easy, and quick to make yourself. You just […]

I have a very large and scary birthday coming up in two weeks.  Last fall I pledged to lose twenty pounds to confront it and, while I did manage to lose 8 pounds, I am  painfully aware that I fell short of my goal.  I think I will drown my sorrows in birthday cake. I […]

Is it just me or does a plate piled high with cut-out cookies look both elegant and homespun at the same time? Over the years, however, I’ve had many people tell me that they avoid making cut-out cookies. Due to bad experiences, they only make drop cookies. And while drop cookies are wonderful, it’s nice […]

As I stated yesterday, we seriously like our sweets and our treats. While yesterday’s recap was all about the food-allergiy friendly sweet treats, now its time for the milk, wheat & nuts versions. -Christina Let us start with a bang –> Deanna’s Fried Cakes (OMG!) +++ Alexis’ Chocolate Coconut Popcorn +++ Dianna’s Biscotto de Nocciole […]

We seriously like our sweets and our treats. While putting together this ‘best of 2012′ post, I quickly realize that we have A LOT of sweets & treats recipes which screamed for multiple installments. While on said FSC Time Machine, I proudly saw that we have MANY, MANY food allergy friendly sweets & treats recipes […]

I have always wanted to make Baked Alaska. I’ve always been fascinated by the name and the combination of hot and cold. The new year seems like a good time to tackle new projects, so I rounded up some people to help me eat it. I got the recipe from The New York Times Essential […]

I really love popcorn.  When I make a bowl of popcorn for my daughter to snack on, I find myself unable to stop eating it and usually consume an entire batch in one sitting.  Most often I eat it sprinkled with nutritional yeast, but when given the opportunity to consume sweetened popcorn, I get excited. […]