by Dianne Boate
There are remarkable people who come into our lives and become authors of certain types of adventures. I am speaking of my former “gentleman friend,” a Mr. Watkins, an Englishman who took me three times to England, and was responsible for a career turning point in my life when I became a staff member of the Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Even after we parted (after nine years together), English ways and recipes carved out new horizons for me.
by Dianne Boate
What do baking and letter writing have in common? Passion! Communication! Adventure!
Two of my most revered friendships came about because of letters I wrote. Last year I told you about Rose Levy Beranbaum; today, I would like to share another story about meeting M.F.K. Fisher, and share the recipe she loved most of all the things I made for her. The recipe is called “Starlight Sugar Crisps,” from a 1950s Pillsbury Bakeoff book, a croissant type of pastry laced with vanilla sugar.
Flashing back for a moment, someone lent me The Art Of Eating, an anthology of five books written by M.F.K. Fisher. Her style, sensibilities and wry humor captured me instantly. She made me fall in love with France all over again.
by Dianne Boate
Just imagine for a minute that your kitchen is a rehearsal hall, your dining area a stage, and your favorite dishes as the actors in the dinner plays you produce and direct. It can put a different focus on what your favorites are and how many times you haul them out from the wings.
by Dianne Boate
It took a lot of nerve, really, starting a baking business in my apartment kitchen, but by training myself to use what I have on hand for all of my life, I was provided with a history of certain derring-do, a yes-I-can attitude that made it a success from the start. Continue reading
by Dianne Boate
This is a loaded question, don’t you think? We do not “find” time, we make time for the things we care about. Continue reading
by Dianne Boate
It is good to have strong opinions, but best to have the experience that laid the foundation for them before running off with arms flying in the air to express your ideas. Continue reading
by Dianne Boate
Two little plastic boxes containing leaf-shaped copper cookie cutters were a gift from years ago that sat unopened on a shelf in the kitchen for a long time. Happy was the day I finally opened the packages, and found on the back of the box my new all-time favorite recipe for Rolled Sugar Cookies. Continue reading
by Dianne Boate
… for once again transporting all of us who love baking into the prospect of new realms of baking experience. Flavor, texture, method and yes, sexy appearances fill the pages of The Baking Bible , a brand new book of 105 recipes guaranteed to lure you right back into your kitchen to get out the ingredients and bake! Continue reading
by Dianne Boate
This story could be compared to a Spanish soap opera that has a beginning, a middle, and an end, but the conclusion resembles a football game fumble …
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by Dianne Boate
There was a terrible sound from the kitchen, an ominous chorus. I took another sip of champagne, closed my eyes, and waited for the four folks in the kitchen to report their mischief. These well-meaning individuals had decided to cook up a spaghetti / meat sauce dinner-–(“You won’t have to do a thing, Dianne.”) Dianne wasn’t about to do anything, having cooked and baked her heart out for 12 people at a Stern Grove Concert Consular Corps Table picnic that day.
by Dianne Boate
It was for love of a Jewish man that I came to a point of receiving 50 pounds of all-purpose flour at my doorstep, converting it in one weekend into delicious round loaves of Egg Twist Bread, challah, for the annual Art Fair in Beverly Glen Canyon, located in West Los Angeles, where I hoped to make a small fortune in two days. What a cartoon feature it would make, with me shoveling the little white glass bowls filled with dough into an oven that had one rack inside and an oven door that had to be closed by a propped broom handle, the whole house steadily increasing its inventory of little round golden loaves, like the fairy tale porridge that multiplied and filled a small village. Continue reading
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