Dutch Babies

Grandma's Homemade Bread

Apple Cake

The Best Cinnamon Rolls

Jumbo Apricot Muffins

Blitz Kuchen

Maple Nut Cheesecakes in Mason Jars

Cinnamon Sugar Breakfast Muffins

I don't know what it is about these muffins. On the surface, they don't really have much of a wow-factor.  No fancy ingredients, nothing flashy.  Just a tender muffin with a hint of nutmeg and a

Salmon-Potato Quiche with Fresh Dill

I am on a personal crusade to change the image of quiche.  People think of it as a menu item for a ladies' brunch.  And that's pretty much it.  But it's got so much more potential than that!

Quiche is such a great dish.  It's amazingly versatile.  Comfort food or fancy food?  Both!  Breakfast, lunch, dinner?  Check, check and check.  Freezer-friendly? Yes!  You can throw in there whatever you've got in your fridge.  When I was a house-mom for orphan teenagers, I used to make huge pans

Old Fashioned Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry shortcake will always make me think of my best friend, Val.  (Strawberry shortcake the dessert, that is.  Strawberry Shortcake the cartoon makes me think of my sister who I think had the entire collection of dolls when we were kids. But I digress.)  Anyway, every year when strawberry season hit, Val would hit the market and buy up kilos upon kilos of strawberries.  (We live in Europe.  We use kilos here.)  Then she'd get home, wash and slice and bag the berries in her immaculate kitchen.  

Welsh Cakes

Every summer starting when I was 10, I went to summer camp for a week.  It was one of the highlights of my year.  My time at camp impacted me tremendously and is part of the reason I am in camping ministry today. 

Mostly when I think of camp, I remember the songs, the games, the rope swing, and the constant smell of campfire smoke and pine needles. 

I also remember the welsh cakes.  We had these for breakfast at least once every year I was there.  They are not quite a biscuit, not quite a scone.  A little sweeter and denser than either one, dotted with

Homemade Hamburger Buns

So what do you do when cheeseburgers are in the list of your top five favorite foods, and you can get ground beef, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. BUT you cannot get hamburger buns?

You make 'em.   From scratch.

Cheese-Herb Biscuit Cups

I love freshly baked breads.  It just feels homey and peaceful to me.  I never imagine bread-baking happening in a stressful environment.  I always feel like when someone walks into my house and they are met with the smell of baking bread wafting from the kitchen, it is like a subliminal message that says: "exhale.  relax.  it's safe and warm here.  good things are coming."

S'mores Mini Pies

So this last winter was the first winter we had a wood-stove.  Man, it was awesome.  On chilly mornings I would fire that thing up and sit in my chair right next to it, getting all toasty warm with a quilt and a cup of coffee.

Another bonus: since we had a fire going constantly, and we had some marshmallows leftover from last camp season, I got into the habit of making myself a toasty, tasty, one-serving treat for a dessert every now and then -- yes, a s'more, right in my house.  That campfire taste instantly took me right back to 4th of July gatherings at my grandparents' house when I was a kid.  That toasty, roasty tastewas a time machine straight to childhood nostalgia, and that sweet, crunchy, chocolately, melty bite was a perfect mouthful of a treat.

I highly recommend getting a wood stove, just for this purpose.