Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Browned Butter Walnut Laurel Wreath Bundt Cake

Today is a milestone, one that I likely didn’t think would ever happen. Today is the 15th anniversary to this here little website. Who knew that I had it in me to keep a hobby (and some days, a salvation) going for this long. I sure didn’t, and I don’t think that a lot of people did, and that is ok. But here I am, nearly 3800 recipes later — some abject failures on the first go. Maybe there is another 15 years to go. There are some plans for this year (like I am finally going to write that cookbook; stay tuned!) but no, no one is going to convince me to audition for the Great British Baking Show.

So I made a cake to celebrate. It’s a Browned Butter Walnut Laurel Wreath Bundt Cake and it is quite yummy.

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10. February 2026
Cookies, Sweet Snacks

Bakery-Style Triple Chocolate Cookies, Dressed up for Valentines Day

I’ve gotten to be pretty known for my “Biggie” cookies — the oversized, deli-style cookies as big as your hand. So I decided to make a rile chocolate variety of them to include with the Valentine’s Day set. As with the others, these are huge (about 4-4 1/2 inches in diameter), both crunchy on the edges and gooey in the middle. The M&Ms didn’t still particularly stick well so when I make these in the future, I think that I will still with White Chocolate Melting Wafers as the decoration.

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7. February 2026
Breakfast/Brunch

Pineapple Passion Fruit Jam

It’s winter. There isn’t that much fresh fruit around. OK, that’s a fib. There is a lot of fruit around, we don’t live in ancient times where scurvy was an actual concern, but still. Things feel a little dull right now, in the fresh fruit department. Until I made this jam and it is quite likely some of the best jam that I have ever made and I make some pretty yummy jam! I give you, in honor of Valentine’s Day, Pineapple Passion Fruit “Sunshine in a Jar” Jam. It is tart, it is sweet, it is bright and I could eat it by the spoonful. Absolutely perfect cure for the mid-Winter blues.

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5. February 2026
Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Easy “Fruit on Top” Mixed Berry Cobbler

Let’s talk about this “Cobbler” for a sec. First of all, it’s delicious. It’s modified from an America’s Test Kitchen / Cooks Country recipe, which described it as a “cobbler”. So, in my mind cobblers have the fruit on the bottom, no bottom crust and then a top crust of crumble, biscuit dough or a batter. So, it’s not really a cobbler. It’s also not really a pie, which would have at minimum a bottom crust and this has a bottom batter. I don’t really know what to call it, except yummy.

I also don’t really know when to eat it. It would be a great afternoon tea or coffee thing. It would be a great dessert thing with some ice cream and it would even make a fantastic breakfast casserole with maple syrup. So, I guess that is up to you. It comes together in a flash with mostly pantry ingredients: sweetened condensed milk, milk, butter, flour, baking power, salt and a touch of vanilla for the base. I used mixed berries, but you could also use just one berry type, or cherries or even chopped up peaches. Frozen berries / fruit work great here (bake 10 minutes or so longer) and best of all, it isn’t overly sweet.

Perhaps one of the easiest and quickest recipes I have done in a long time. I had it ready to go before the oven had even preheated.

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2. February 2026