The Homemade Ranch Dressing Lesson

I've learned a couple of things already this first year with the attempt of teaching my kiddo to cook.

Week Four of Two-thousand Twelve Minus a Day

Chocolate Crepes Oozing with Mint Whipped Cream

Flat rich chocolate chunk mocha biscotti. Deflated buttery vanilla bean cupcakes. Flaky but in dire-need-of-salt pie crust. Baking flops. All of which happened in my kitchen while trying out to develop new recipes (I blame a good portion of it on the American education system and teaching us the imperial way to measure over the metric... I just can't seem to get a good reliable conversion for every recipe and it drives me nuts). Each and every one reminded me why I prefer cooking to baking.

Week Three of Two-thousand Twelve Minus a Day

Oil and Whiskey Preserved Piri Piri Peppers

Tasty little fiery piri piri peppers. They dot Portuguese gardens, vibrant red amongst the dense green leaves. You can find bottles of piri piri pepper sauce and oil on the tables of restaurants throughout Portugal. But I've found that the people who cook with it here are holding back when it comes to these little malagueta peppers.