4 Rochester

For my mom's birthday (which is today) I offered to bake her anything she liked. Always a butter cookie lover, she requested: A butter cookie that is partially dipped in chocolate. You know, like the old fashioned delicious cookies that bakeries used to make themselves before they bought them wholesale...

If you live in or around Canandaigua, Pittsford, or Geneva, NY, sign up for the Fellenz Family Farm CSA next year. (In the meantime, stop by their roadside stand right now.) The quality of produce we get is phenomenal -- just last night, I toted home a large bag filled with just-picked spinach, green...

When Lis , Ivonne , Fran and Shea announced this month's Daring Baker Challenge -- an opera cake sans the traditional coffee and dark chocolate flavors -- I was apprehensive. What flavors should I use to make this my own? How many steps in this recipe? How many ingredients? How much will they cost...

Click here for photos and a discussion of making this recipe. Cinnamon and Sticky Buns (from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice) Daring Bakers Challenge #10: September 2007 Host: Marce ( Pip in the City ) Days to Make: One (1) Active/Resting/Baking Time: 15 minutes to mix, 3 1/2 hours...

Cinnamon rolls. Sticky buns. Click here for the recipe. I was so excited (and, um, nervous) about participating in my first Daring Bakers Challenge, I decided to cover it "live blogger" style. Of course, that doesn't really work when you publish the coverage almost a month later ... so...

Before our Halloween/Dessert party, I asked the Daring Bakers for ideas. Peabody suggested I make Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars; she'd just made them with great success. So, I happily followed her suggestion, and she is so right: these are delicious! Spicy and sweet with added depth from the molasses...

The only time a presentation like this is appropriate is for a Halloween party. Or, maybe, when celebrating Charles Manson's birthday. My favorite part of Halloween is the candy. Candy makes me swoon. And the opportunity of getting mounds of it simply by dressing up, knocking on a few doors and saying...