These days it’s pretty rare for me to cook from a cookbook. There are tons of great food blogs out there and with more than 550 recipes pinned to my Treats board, baking from a book rarely enters my mind. I do use my Joy of Cooking and America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks on a regularRead more
It’s time for another edition of Tail-Ends, where I give those who might have missed them the first time a second chance at the best of the best of the previous month’s posts and projects. Four top projects for four Chester paws! And if that’s not enough Pies & Puggles for you, keep in mindRead more
I need more pillows like I need a hole in my head. But the thing is, I’m taking a sewing class and since I don’t need any curtains at the moment, I’m making pillows. Besides, Joann’s Fabric is having a sale on pillow forms right now so I bought…um…six, I think. Can you ever haveRead more
Last weekend, Doug and I took a little drive out to Frederick, Maryland by way of Lucketts, Virginia. We really love having the opportunity to get out of the city and into the surrounding Virginia and Maryland countryside. Many weekends we can be found out in Middleburg, Virginia for lunch and antiquing, Purcellville, Virginia forRead more
For this month’s styling challenge, the theme was “Morning”. I honestly hoped to be able to do a messy bed thing with the fantastic light that comes into our bedroom in the morning, but then my tripod broke. The top cracked right off! So rather than trying to shoot handheld in low light or getRead more
Let’s try something new, shall we? Most of what I bake is sweet. Or rather, the things I bake that aren’t sweet don’t tend to be very interesting: basic wheat bread, cornbread, plain biscuits (or even biscuits with bacon and cheddar). I tend to assume that everyone knows how to make those things? Is thatRead more
(Ignore the “posted by Alison Burtt” at the bottom of this post – this is Ali’s husband, Doug.) When I first moved into my (now our) condo unit, I had already been landline-free for two years, and had no intention of going back to a landline phone. The unit was built in the mid-80s, however,Read more
We went to Crafty Bastards this weekend at Union Market in Washington, DC. We had never been to Union Market before, but if you’re familiar with the Ferry Building in San Francisco, that will give you an idea of the amazing foods, restaurants and independently, many locally, made products that are available there. No HeathRead more
I think I finally cracked the caramel code. After successfully making caramel from scratch four times, I now have the recipe memorized and the technique down. Let’s just not talk about the two times I burned the dickens out of the sugar or nearly set the house on fire when the cream boiled over, mmm-kay?Read more
The house has smelled like caramel for over a week. It’s not a bad problem to have, but I now have my homemade caramel recipe memorized. More about that on Monday. You might think that’s a weird lead-in to a fashion post, but it’s relevant, I swear. See, fall is my favorite time to bake.Read more