November 27, 2012 Bars & Squares As I mentioned the other day, the most anticipated item from my Trader Joe’s haul was Cookie Butter. Everything I heard and read about it had me super excited and curious about the magic that would be unleashed when I cracked open a jar. First, let me try my […]

  Let’s talk Whoopie Pies! The previous two versions I’ve blogged about were both from Baked: Red Velvet and Pumpkin, both with cream cheese filling. I was interested in trying these ones mostly because of the filling, a Swiss Vanilla Meringue Icing that I’ve always been too intimidated to try before. They’re notorious for “breaking” and […]

March 20, 2013 Chicken & Turkey When I was in high school, I babysat for a family for with three little boys. Their mom was in nursing school, and I sometimes slept over when she was on night shift. (Did I mention she was a single mom? In retrospect, holy cow.) Anyway, on those nights, […]

Today we’re having a Virtual Baby shower to celebrate our friend Jan, and her baby boy that’ll be here quite soon! Good thing Jan herself is an expert in party planning, so I had a look on her website, Family Bites, and in her book, Gatherings, to see what I could bring to this party. I found […]

May 10, 2015 Baked Sunday Mornings When Mother’s Day and Baked Sunday Morning collide, you know you’re in for a treat. Our recipe for this week was an Ultralemony Lemon Bundt Cake with Almond Glaze, and it was the perfect end to dinner with my Mom. The Baked boys sure love their bundt cakes, and […]

I grew up watching my Mom make countless jars of strawberry jam and mustard pickles, but never really had any interest in canning myself.  Over the last few years, I’ve been making skillet jams that I can keep in the fridge, but recently I’ve been a bit jealous of my friends who are total canning […]

February 24, 2016 Dinner It was a cold, wet, miserable snowing/hailing/raining mess today, so it’s time to talk about comfort carbs. Bolognese has always been something I thought best left to the pros. My friend Jenn taught me to order it at old school Italian restaurants, and that you know it’s legit if there’s a […]

November 25, 2015 Cakes, Cupcakes & Icing Christmas is coming early to Planet Byn, and we’re celebrating the release of Rosie Daykin’s new book, Butter Celebrates! You’ll remember the Butter Baked Goods Bakery from previous gushing here (when I visited the store in Vancouver last year) and here (when we hosted a giveaway for Rosie’s […]

I feel like shortbread has a bad reputation as a “boring” Christmas cookie. I made a traditional whipped shortbread for my first Champagne & Cookies party back in 2010, and I think it was kind of overlooked. Partly my own fault, because when there are nine other treats to choose from, a plain shortbread cookie […]

As soon as I saw these cookies on Joy the Baker, I knew I would make them for the gluten-free ladies in my life.  I’m not a huge fan of lemon in desserts (I’m a chocolate / butterscotch /peanut butter girl through and through), but something about citrus just makes it perfect for Spring. It would […]

  Let’s talk Whoopie Pies! The previous two versions I’ve blogged about were both from Baked: Red Velvet and Pumpkin, both with cream cheese filling. I was interested in trying these ones mostly because of the filling, a Swiss Vanilla Meringue Icing that I’ve always been too intimidated to try before. They’re notorious for “breaking” and […]

My  mouth is watering just thinking about this. I was super excited to hit tomatoes on the re-introduction list. What more is there to say? I think everyone grew up eating some variation of this dinner. In our house, the sauce either came out of a jar or a can (Sorry Mom!) and it was one […]

February 11, 2015 Cookies There are some people you just love to bake for, and my friend Janelle is one of them (previous examples here and here). She’s always so excited to receive treats, and they literally go directly into her desk drawer, for fear that someone will see them, and she’ll have to share. […]

November 23, 2013 Dinner Mushroom BOOM! That was our challenge for this week, and I knew right away what I wanted to make. Smitten Kitchen’s Mushroom Bourguignon, which is both on her site and in her cookbook. It was warm, cozy, and filling, but just not really a looker. Since I had the day off […]