Christmas is the perfect time for red velvet. It’s the festive color of the season, and it is just so fun. I’ve made Red Velvet Polka Dot Cookies and Red Velvet Surprise Cupcakes, and experiment with even more ideas. But this may be the most practical. Pound Cake is such a holiday staple – it’s easy to make, keeps well and freezes beautifully. Serve hefty slices with … [Read more...] about Red Velvet Pound Cake
Sweets
Spiced Dolly Bars
In the kitchen, surrounded by a surfeit of holiday baking supplies, I had a sudden craving for Hello Dolly Bars. I love Hello Dollies (or Seven Layer Bars or Magic Bars, whatever you call them), but they are not something I generally make, because I have lots of friends for whom it’s their standard recipe for to parties and weekends away. So I generally rely on others for my … [Read more...] about Spiced Dolly Bars
Sorghum Buttermilk Pie
In case you haven’t noticed, I love cooking with buttermilk. It tenderizes, flavorizes, tangifies and creamifies anything it works with. I go out of my way to seek out good, thick country buttermilk. It is the most important ingredient in fried chicken, biscuits and cornbread. I use it in dressings, gravies, marinades, cookies cakes and pies. It is always on my … [Read more...] about Sorghum Buttermilk Pie
Milky Way Crazy Candy Bar Cake
Milky Way Cake is a classic recipe and there are versions of it all over community cookbooks and the Internet. Some are layer cakes with marshmallow frosting; some are sheet cakes with boiled fudge icing. But I like this simple Bundt version. This is a sweet cake, with a lovely caramel undernote and adding masses of thick gooey icing, in my opinion, would make this too … [Read more...] about Milky Way Crazy Candy Bar Cake
Simple Butterscotch Pie
I have a whole stack of recipes acquired a parties and other gatherings, scribbled on cocktail napkins, crumpled receipts from my purse or monogrammed note paper from host houses. Because any comment on food always leads to a discussion of favorites and how they are made. And I don’t just idly nod. I ask questions and take notes. Some of my favorite recipes have come tome … [Read more...] about Simple Butterscotch Pie
