Aunt Anna’s Easter Bread
I don’t know who Aunt Anna is…probably my mom’s aunt or maybe even her great aunt, but her bread will live on in my family for generations if I have anything to do with it. I’ve been eating this bread since I was a baby and making it for about 12 years now. It is DIVINE. You could just call it “Challah with raisins” because, well, that’s basically what it is! It’s soft, chewy, a little bit sweet and best the day it’s baked with a hefty smear of good butter. Continue reading
To say that George loves all things kitchen related would be a ridiculous understatement. He doesn’t just like “playing” kitchen…he likes using the real stuff, carefully stirring at the stove, watching every single step and trying it out himself. He even sort of non-verbally lures new guests or friends to lift him onto the counter near the mixer so he can touch it for a while (since he knows Jeff and I won’t). Obsessed would be a better word to use.
I adore a simple, crunchy, lightly sweet slice and bake butter cookie. They are lovely rolled in colored sugar, chopped nuts or coconut. For a quick Valentine’s Day treat, I rolled my cookie dough log in homemade colored sugar and shaped it into a heart when it was partially chilled. Once it was completely firm, I just sliced it, revealing darling heart cookies with a red sugar edge. Super simple and a gorgeous little gift! Recipe after the jump. 
Last year, I couldn’t think of what to bake for Jeff for Valentine’s Day when I ran across an adorable heart-shaped Whoopie pie/muffin top pan in Michael’s and inspiration struck. He loves red velvet cupcakes so I decided to make him a sort of whoopie-pie-cupcake-sandwich hybrid. The result was gorgeous, super tasty and a less messy version of a cupcake to boot! I used 
It’s pretty rare that I get to bake elaborate and ridiculously fun things in the kitchen, so when Christmas comes, I like to go big…really big. I had some leftover trees and a skiing Santa from the year’s 
Is there anything more wonderful than bread smeared with butter straight out of the oven? No. Not really. This nutty and fruity cinnamon swirl bread is my favorite bread to make around the holidays. It combines everything delicious into one loaf; cinnamon, sugar, nuts and dried berries swirled into a soft, squishy and ever so slightly chewy white bread. Don’t be scared of baking bread! I know it can be daunting, so I’ve broken it down with photos to help make it fool-proof. 
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