Swedish Baker

Today, May 16, is the Feast of Saint-Honoré, the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs. There's even a special cake, Le Gâteau...

Late last night, my colleague and friend Heidi and I were e-mailing back and forth. It was getting on to midnight and both of us commented ...

The beauty of Panna Cotta is in its remarkable simplicity. It's made with just a few ingredients - milk, cream, sugar, and gelatin - an...

You know how it is, you start chopping onions and you realize you didn't apply the waterproof mascara. Your eyes start to sting and you...

The famous theoretical physicist, John Archibald Wheeler said, "In any field, find the strangest thing and then explore it." For ...

In Shakespeare's Twelfth Night , Sir Toby Belch says, "Dost thou think, because thou art virtuous, there shall be no more cakes an...

In the 1965 film, "The Flight of the Phoenix", a single-engine aircraft (piloted by Jimmy Stewart) crashes in the Sahara desert. ...

We human beings are a strange lot. We spend a lifetime acquiring things that we're afraid to use. The precious jewels and luxury timepi...

Last evening I dropped an entire half-gallon of milk on the kitchen floor. Of course it was a glass bottle that shattered in 846,836 pieces...

Last month I was looking for a dessert recipe as a take-along for an impromtu celebration. It was already the middle of the afternoon and I...

You might want to strangle your parish priest for putting you through those long homilies every Sunday, but why not invite him to dinner in...

My college experience was a remarkably happy one. I attended a small Catholic institution 30 miles from Chicago. The school was a little ge...

A few years ago, when I headed a not-for-profit institution in Chicago, I was asked to entertain a group of young would-be not-for-profit e...

In a sincere effort to keep my aging mother reasonably healthy, my brother advised her to eat several bananas a week. That was a mistake. A...

It is said that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. This is especially true in Chicago. We recently had a teaser - a couple...

The results of my "comfort dessert" survey are in and it appears that Bread Pudding remains the stepchild of desserts, the bastar...

It seems to me that St. Patrick's Day (March 17) overshadows St. Joseph's Day (March 19) by a mile. The greeting card stores are fu...

One of the first indicators of spring is rhubarb. Most people have a strong response to rhubarb - they love it, they hate it, they don'...

When my mother died, someone asked me about the most valuable advice she had given me. Without hesitation I said, "moisturize, moistur...

Cupcakes, it would seem, are all the rage. From New York City's celebrated Magnolia Bakery (famous for their Red Velvet Cupcakes) to San...

At the risk of shocking my readers, I'd like to see a month-long garlic embargo. Of course that will never happen, given its widespread...