cookies

Chocolate Hearts and a Cookbook Appreciation

February 11, 2011

Eight or nine years ago I took a cookbook writing class at L’Academie de Cuisine, in Bethesda. I don’t know what prompted me to sign up for it; I never imagined I would be writing a cookbook. Writing cookbooks was for people like Julia Child and Jacques Pepin and Marcella Hazan; certainly not for a [...]

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Biscotti alla Nutella (Nutella Butter Sandwich Cookies)

February 5, 2011

You may not remember the old days, before Nutella was available in this country. I do. Those were not happy times. My little kid brain could not fathom why something so marvelous–a chocolate concoction that Italian children spread on bread and ate for breakfast–could not be had in the land of peanut butter and marshmallow [...]

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Traditional Scottish Shortbread-By Way of Italy

November 2, 2010

Traditional Scottish shortbread was the first recipe I ever clipped from a newspaper. I know it sounds odd because it’s not Italian. But of course that’s precisely why I was drawn to it. To me, everything that was not Italian was exotic–even a basic biscuit with just three main ingredients–butter, flour, and sugar. What drew [...]

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