I don’t usually give much thought to the day before Ash Wednesday– my mind and my plans have already wandered into Lent itself. But this year I made an effort to research some traditional foods for this celebratory Tuesday. Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras, the last day of Carnevale– no matter what you call … More A little Indulgence from Italy
February is a strange month. Sometimes it brings a taste of spring, sometimes a return to winter with a vengeance. Today it is cold– almost colder than it’s been all winter– but the sun is shining fiercely, and somewhere nearby, birds are singing. Have they seen singing all winter, without my notice? Or do they, … More Birdsong and Cream Buns: small winter delights
We love these crisp little Easter biscuits so much that we’ve made them once a week since the Easter season began. They are simple and humble; not too sweet but greatly enhanced by the (very British) addition of dried currants and candied citrus peel. They’ve made a nice little Sunday treat, both at home and … More Mary Berry’s Easter Biscuits, all season long.
I had intended to bake traditional Polish Babka this week, for the Third Sunday of Easter, but plans change. My young son– too sick for school, but not too sick to be up and about– asked to bake something from The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion, which I checked out from the library. One-on-one time … More Flexible plans and crunchy biscuits
The First of May, or May Day, is a holiday with no particular liturgical significance, and yet its history and implications connect so perfectly with the Easter Season that it seems right at home on the liturgical calendar. With roots all over Europe, May Day had an undeniable importance for early agrarian societies. Far fewer … More Welcoming Spring with May Baskets
Easter, like Christmas, is usually celebrated as a single day– however, both holidays are actually much longer than many people realize. Eastertide is 50 days long, beginning on Easter Sunday and ending with Pentecost. This means there are seven Sundays in the Easter Season, and I plan to use every one of them as an … More Italian Easter Cookies
In the past few years, I’ve developed a ritual of baking bread during Lent. Not only does a loaf of fresh bread round out a simple meal nicely, but baking bread has become a study in mindfulness for me. It is necessarily a slow process; laborious enough that the finished product begs attention, awareness, gratitude. … More Irish Soda Bread, two ways.
In Due Season 