classic soft dinner rolls

I can say with extreme confidence that any kid in any school cafeteria in America ate these rolls growing up. At my school, they were ubiquitous with a tray full of mushy spaghetti that, no matter how gross, everyone still seemed to love.

Here’s something strange that maybe you witnessed during lunch — kids would hollow out the dinner roll and shove the spaghetti inside it, then devour the whole thing. Somehow, this was a thing. Even kids who went to school in other states knew of this! How did this strange method of spaghetti-eating become widespread knowledge? The world may never know.

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AmandaSeptember 21, 2014September 13, 2015Leave a comment

Breads, Breakfast, Holidays, Main Dish, Meat, Savory

mini bread bowl quiche

Sometimes you discover an idea that you wish you’d thought of first. Chocolate chip cookie shot glasses? Guacamole grilled cheese sandwiches? Cake pops? All brilliant, but they’re sadly the brainchild (brainchildren?) of other people.

And how about little single-serving quiche made in bread bowls? Not my idea, but I love them just the same! I saw them on some random blog back in the day. I adore the idea of miniature food and single serving snacks (for years, I’ve loved the Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook by Martha Stewart, mostly for the pictures inside!). Instead of serving a whole gigantic quiche to your breakfast or brunch guests, why not create individual versions stuffed with all their favorite quiche fillings, adorably crammed into little bread bowls? Tell ’em the idea was yours alone. I won’t be bummed if you take the credit — they’re just too cute!

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AmandaMarch 29, 2014September 17, 20152 Comments

Breads, Breakfast, Dessert, Fruit, Sweet

strawberry scones with cornmeal + black pepper

I can never resist the combo of strawberry and black pepper. I can’t remember where or when I first heard of pairing the two together, but it’s somehow genius! I’ve done it before with these popsicles, and I had always wanted to apply those flavors to a pastry of some kind. These scones seemed like a natural match!

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AmandaMarch 1, 2014September 13, 2015Leave a comment

Breads, Breakfast, Dessert, Fall, Fruit, Snacks, Sweet, Winter

autumn spiced donuts with apple curd filling

You guys. Ohhh, you guys. I can’t remember the last time I cooked something that I loved as much as these donuts.

Fall and cider donuts go hand in hand. I live in the southwest so they’re not quite as popular around here as they may be, say, in upstate New York or somewhere, so I decided to make my own. I had been wanting to make homemade donuts for a while, and I’m so glad that this is the recipe I settled on. Think of it as sort of a modified, inside-out cider donut.

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AmandaNovember 16, 2013September 17, 20155 Comments

Breads, Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Savory, Sides, Snacks, Vegetables

olive focaccia with tomatoes + onion

If there’s one thing I haven’t truly mastered in the kitchen, it’s homemade bread. I just haven’t made all that much of it. I can hold my own with pizza dough and no-knead bread, and I did make some damn good challah once, but that’s sort of the extent of my bread-making experience.

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AmandaOctober 5, 2013September 13, 20152 Comments

Breads, Breakfast, Fall, Fruit, Sweet

carrot cake scones

Once the first day of fall arrives, we’re finally allowed to celebrate all things pumpkin without risking a punch in the mouth. We’ll get our fill of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and of course the ever-present pumpkin spice latte. With all this pumpkin overload, there’s another autumn-appropriate flavor that always gets upstaged by pumpkin, and that’s the humble carrot cake.

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AmandaSeptember 28, 2013September 13, 20156 Comments

Breads, Breakfast, Drinks, Fruit, Holidays, Savory, Summer, Sweet

rise and shine!

I love a good three day weekend. Aside from the obvious (not going to work on a Monday!), there’s the bonus of having more time to get things done, or more time to be lazy if you choose.

herb + cheddar scones

honey-almond peach crisp

summertime fried egg sandwich

sparkling fruit sodas!

rosemary roasted baby potatotes

creamy baked eggs

tomato + ricotta tart

radish + chive tartine

jalapeno-cheddar bagels

honeyed peach aguas frescas

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AmandaAugust 31, 2013May 4, 2014Leave a comment

Breads, Breakfast, Savory, Snacks

i’ll never buy bagels again

A long time ago, like 10+ years ago, I attempted to make some homemade bagels. I remember virtually nothing about them except that I found the process slightly tedious and annoying. I’ve always loved bagels, but up to now, I’ve been content to just buy them from places like Einstein’s and the like. There’s nothing really wrong with their bagels, they’re just not spectacular. Don’t even get me started on the crap “bagels” that you can buy in most grocery store bread aisles. They’re essentially dense hamburger buns with holes in the middle. Where’s the chewiness? Where’s the good crust?

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AmandaFebruary 27, 2013September 14, 20157 Comments

Breads, Dinner, Lunch, Savory

lazy pesto bread

A short while back, Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread made the rounds on the interwebs. It’s still super popular, as more people discover the recipe all the time. It’s a miracle of bread- and dough-making technique, perfect for all the people out there who feel that a good loaf of homemade, crackly-crusted bread is beyond them. The ingredients are mixed by hand into a rough dough which sits at room temperature for several hours, and then gets baked in a cast iron dutch oven. When I first made it, I was shocked that a loaf of bread so good was able to come from my crappy electric oven.

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AmandaFebruary 12, 2013September 14, 20152 Comments

Breads, Breakfast, Savory, Snacks

herb + cheddar scones

I wake up for work at 5:30 every morning. At this time of the year it’s still pitch dark outside (and cold, even for Arizona standards!), and it makes it very hard to get moving, much less to eat breakfast. All I want to do is turn off my alarm clock, send a text that says “Sorry I won’t be coming in today, I’m far too sleepy.”, and go back to bed.