Strawberries have reached peak perfection at the farmer's market. The red Tristar berries are tiny and deep red, stems still attached. Pale green cardboard pints of them crowd the tables, jostling for view. They win out for me over more sensible purchases: zucchini, snap peas, radishes. You know you don't need 2 pints -- strictly speaking -- but they're juicy and voluptuous and enticing. Everyone oohs and aahs over them, like wedding guests seeing the bride for the first time.
Read moreBAKED DOUGHNUTS
I’m not really a doughnut person. Given an array, I’d choose an old-fashioned cake doughnut every time, which really says nothing except that I like cake. Not doughnuts. The Krispy Kreme phase was lost on me: one bite and your doughnut is finished, compacted into a sugar-laden square inch.
I can get behind an apple cider doughnut. I’d eat a cruller. But soft, airy, yeasted doughnuts don’t sway me: too squishy, too shellacked with glaze, all sugar and puff and no heft.
Read moreCHOCOLATE BISCOTTI + STORMY WEATHER
Last week at home on the farm it stormed. The thunderstorm was sudden and intense, like most summer storms. They sweep in from nowhere. The sky stays blue and bright until just before it starts. The only warning is a subtle change in the atmosphere --- the air feels damp and crackles in anticipation as if with some secret electric charge. Clouds gather quickly. The temperature drops ten degrees. A few raindrops fall, becoming a constant patter, and then sheets of water sluice down from above. The rain is so heavy that your shirt soaks through when you dash outside to check your car windows.
Read moreTHE EASIEST STRAWBERRY TART
It's a lovely coincidence when the most beautiful desserts happen to be the easiest, as is the case here. Aside from slicing strawberries -- which I'm going to assume you can handle -- there's very little skill or effort involved at all. You bake a simple graham cracker crust for 10 minutes, then fill it with a blend of Greek yogurt and sweetened whipped cream, and top it with sliced strawberries. Even if you are half asleep, or talking on the phone, or totally intimidated by pastry baking, you can make this.
Read moreGRAPE-NUT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Chocolate chip cookies are already pretty good to begin with. Add in a few handfuls of snack-like ingredients for crunch and chew, and they get even better.
I don't remember eating a plain chocolate chip cookie very often growing up -- this is the version I know and love. The cookie dough of this recipe is exceptional, and you should be warned that it's almost impossible to stop eating once you sneak a spoonful.
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