Memory’s flavor

I made these cookies trying to recapture something elusive. Was it that feeling of new independence, of being on my own for the first time just after college, fumbling along in ill-fitting clothes to an ill-fitting job, a windowless office, my first summer in New York?

Bread with a twist

How do you try out a new recipe? Do you follow it to the letter, or are you a tinkerer? For years, I didn’t cook often enough to feel confident deviating from the written word; the recipe was law unto the kitchen. But after being forced to improvise when I was living in a rented […]

Farro salad with cumin-yogurt dressing

I’ve kept you on pins and needles waiting for this recipe, haven’t I? To be honest, I delayed posting it because I wasn’t as happy with it the last time I made it and wanted to make a few adjustments, so you see, I had your welfare in mind all along. Well, that and we […]

Chocolate-Coffee Cupcake Parfait

Chocolate-Coffee Cupcake Affogatto

Have we mentioned that Valerian is a coffee freak geek? That we have about five different coffee-making apparatuses in our kitchen, not to mention a microwave-size roaster in the garage? If you follow EC on Facebook, you’ve surely figured it out from Valerian’s profile pictures; coffee looms large around here.