All posts filed under: food

cupcakes

orange-vanilla muffins and wool eye candy

Published by fairfaxhill

Walking in the morning has been wonderful the last few days. Today especially, the sun was shining and the air was super crisp. I love it when I make it up to the trail in the morning before heading out to the office. It makes the day feel less like a regular weekday. Estelle likes it too! She is so happy when we get out early. Now with winter behind us, I have no more excuses to not do this more often. (Every day? #Goals!) Over the weekend, I had the chance to flip through some of the new magazines that have been arriving in the mail and piling up on our kitchen counter. I especially enjoyed seeing the article on Cattywampus Crafts in the Martha Stewart Living March issue. This store’s 33-foot-long wall, full of everything from cotton to mohair is the stuff of every yarn addict’s dreams. (Yes, me!) I recently discovered Cattywampus on IG and have been following them ever since, just for inspiration. Because I admit that some days I dream …

chocolate cookie

(amazing) chocolate-toffee cookies

Published by fairfaxhill

Can you believe this recipe has been in the “to try” section of my recipe binder for over 20 years? Besides the fact that I was able to hold on to a small piece of paper for this long, realizing how good these are after all these years is almost a sin. My sister-in-law sent me the recipe by email back when I had a Hotmail account, which was like a million years ago. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t make these right away, but I do know how easily I forget things if I don’t write them down, so I finally added “make chocolate cookies” to my to-do list. (Tip: Lists are a forgetful and distracted human’s best friend.) Unfortunately, I don’t always remember to carry my to-do list with me, and often must rely on my not so perfect memory. I managed to remember during my last trip to the supermarket, that this recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, so I bought two bars thinking it would be enough. Guess what? I had …

karlsbaderkrans

bake a swedish karlsbaderkrans to soothe your nerves!

Published by fairfaxhill

Election Day was two days ago. We won’t have final results for at least a week, and I’ve been so stressed out about this that yesterday morning I really needed some help getting away from my desk and my laptop, where I have spent most of the day staring at the same two numbers: Biden: 253. Trump: 213. All we need is for Biden to get to 270. But that is not so simple. So, I decided to bake. I made a recipe I had wanted to make for a very long time. I had eaten this at many coffee shops in Sweden, and I wasn’t sure I could get it right. Karlsbaderkransen is a soft, sweet bread that is filled with almond paste and butter. As it bakes, the filling drops to the bottom while the rest of the dough rises, giving the bread a domed look that is sure to impress after you sprinkle a little pärlsocker and sliced almonds on top. I was out of pärlsocker (Swedish pearl sugar) and sliced almonds …

bring lemon cake to the party

Published by fairfaxhill

I’m not sure what it is about lemons, the color, the flavor, the scent… I love it all. Things may be different now, but when I was growing up in Costa Rica, you couldn’t find lemons anywhere in San José. We had limes — tons of limes — and at our house, we drank limeade almost daily with lunch, dinner, and with pretty much everything in between. I loved that, too! It wasn’t until I lived abroad that I finally got to taste lemons — and then, quickly, I fell in love with them. For me, lemons symbolize spring and the start of warmer weather. So, as soon as spring gets near, I start to crave lemon everything (even in the color of the clothes I wear). Since the beginning of February, yellow colors are popping up everywhere: daffodils, acacia trees, spring fashion in store windows, and all sorts of lemony cravings in my head! So, when about two weekends ago, I was asked to bring some dessert to one of our family dinners, understandably, …