Dried Cherry Panettone

by Helen Kain | Jun 3, 2020 | Breakfast, Fall Recipes, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Sweets, Tea, Winter Recipes

I”m a glutton for slightly sweet bread. Not the super-sweet-sticky stuff like iced cinnamon rolls, but scones, date loaf and Portuguese King’s Bread, also called Bolo Rei, a marvellous concoction that Isabel, our cleaning lady, brings every Christmas....

Baklava Pull-Apart Bread

by Helen Kain | Apr 12, 2020 | Breakfast, Fall Recipes, Recipes By Season, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes, Sweets, Winter Recipes

Baking is a very soothing activity. Baking bread with scads of butter, sugar, cinnamon, and nuts is the epitome of soothing. Baklava Pull-Apart Bread came to me along a somewhat circuitous path, as frequently happens with my food inspiration. During this strange time...

Poached Pear Pistachio Tart

by Helen Kain | Jan 26, 2020 | Fall Recipes, Holiday, Summer Recipes, Sweets, Winter Recipes

Earlier this month, we invited some friends over for dinner at the Cape, and I wanted to make a dessert that was somewhat virtuous but with a hint of decadence. (The nearly universal donning of the January culinary hair-shirt gets a bit depressing). I thought about...

Winter White Cupcake Wreath

by Helen Kain | Dec 9, 2019 | Christmas, Sweets, Winter Recipes

Ever since I laid my hands on “Hello, Cupcake!”, Irresistibly playful creations anyone can make, by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson, I’ve been dying to make the White Wreath. The project really is as easy as the blandishments in the book claim....

Monkey Bread

by Helen Kain | Aug 26, 2019 | Breakfast, Fall Recipes, Sweets, Winter Recipes

When I was planning the table setting Monkeying Around, I discovered Monkey Bread. Where has it been all my life? It’s absolutely delicious and a really fun thing to make with small kids. Those sticky little hands can be put to such good use! The little sugar...

A Scottish Themed Tea with Paisley and Spode

by Helen Kain | Jan 6, 2019 | Appetizers, Pink and Red, Sweets, Tea, Vintage china, White, Winter Recipes, Winter Tablescapes

For the Scots, Hogmanay, or New Year, is a much bigger celebration than Christmas and is marked by much feasting, often over several days. I thought it would be fun to pay homage to this tradition with a Scottish themed tea. Daughter Kirsten, son Adam and Papa...