Break

I'm sort of on a forced break here now that my computer no longer exists. Nonetheless, I have a few things in the works: photos to come and a photo-coordinated menu tab on the site, a Facebook fan page where you can order pies and other sweets, and I'm selling my tea cakes through the Oakland Farmer's Market.

I've been doing yoga each morning as well, so I haven't felt much like eating butter. Not that butter is bad. It's very, very good. I just feel like cleansing myself of all that for a bit.

The Purloined Laptop, Pies in Jars, Pretty Tea Cakes

Want to know what I've been working on? Normally, I'd say you wouldn't care because, like, why would you? But this is really beyond adorable.

Well, to preface this, I've been without a computer for several days. My car was broken into, and poor, forgetful me had left my brand new Macbook in the trunk. Needless to say, whoever broke into my car just popped open the trunk and purloined my precious computer.

So I've been using my phone to take photos and updating remotely. It isn't easy. Excuse the graininess.

Nonetheless, here is the exciting development: I am now doing the cutest ever pies in jars! Last week, I tried out my chess pie, sweet potato pie, and bourbon apple pie, and they worked like a charm. The jars I found are just the right volume and depth to hold up to my normal pie recipes as well.

I sent some out to customers this week, leaving one on a doorstep and mailing one package all the way to Montana. These will cost $6, and, as with all my pies, the sky is the limit. Bacon-maple custard pie in a jar could be yours.

The final package

My apple pie in a jar

I've also been hard at work creating a customized cookie to match my friend Jeni's amazing House Breakfast Tea No. 2. She runs a truly delicious tea company, called SKY Tea. All of her tea is handmade, and her chai is the best I've ever tasted.

So these cookies I'm making are honoring all of the time and care she puts into her masterpieces. The result: a nutmeg-ginger southern tea cake. These are delicate with a spicy aftertaste that wakes up your tastebuds and cleanses your palette for the next sip. They might just be my cookie masterpiece.

The package for the tea cakes, all covered in gold sugar and chunks of my homemade candied ginger 

The cookies are sold in her holiday gift baskets, but you'll also be able to buy them at her market stall in Oakland! This is huge for me! Yay!

Finally, I will be participating in a blogger meetup later this month, which is really exciting for me because I feel like I will finally get a chance to meet some of the people I follow religiously on Twitter, and I will also get to talk about what I truly love: food. Oh, there's free wine too. Forgot to mention that.

Hello, Fall

It's November, and it's finally starting to feel like autumn here in San Francisco. That is, the mornings are a bit foggy but the sun is shining by mid-afternoon. Still, there's a bite in the air at night that is crisper than it was in the summer, cleaner somehow.

Here's a small glimpse into my kitchen and life this fall, and all that I am grateful for as I embark on several new baking projects and adventures in the coming weeks.

The view from my kitchen in the evening as the fog rolls in. I look out over this as I mix together some cookie dough by hand.

Some of the loot and a shopping list from my birthday in October. I got a whole Sur La Table gift basket. 

And my friend Marie handmade me this adorable apron.

Some of my favorite cookbooks that I keep on hand at all times: White Lily's classic, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook, Southern Cooking by Nathalie Dupree, a vintage pie cookbook or two from the 60s, and Ken Haedrich's Pie (I don't know if a better pie cookbook exists)