Sweet Treats

Strawberry season isn’t over in North Carolina, yet. It is nearing the end quickly, sadly. Strawberry season lasts for a short period of time and I love to go to the farms and gather or buy already picked fresh berries. The deal is, once you get them home they don’t last long. A couple of […]

Meet the “#1 Chef of Cuba”, Alexis Alvarez Armas. Triple AAA – I wonder if his lovely mother chose his name with that in mind? I’ll begin by telling you how I found Alexis. Then I’ll share my experience at his home as he prepared an 18 dish dinner for that blew my socks off. […]

Last year I attended Community Table 2018, Triad Local First’s fund-raiser, as a behind the scenes blogger. This year I am co-charing the event. Without a doubt last year was a fantastic time with local chefs, breweries, farms, distilleries and foodies buzzing about like hungry bees. This year will be an over the top event […]

Recently I had the privilege of meeting Amie, owner of Francesca’s Dawn Farm in Halifax, Va. Let me tell you if you live in the Triad of North Carolina and aren’t ordering your meat, poultry, etc from Amie you are missing out. Engaging in ethical, transparent and local beliefs Amie and her family are excited […]

Do you want to know the secret to the best sugar cookies? I knew you would! I have to give credit to the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book. As you know I’m baking my way though the CI baking book- with no restrictions or time lines. I sometimes crave a simple and plain cookie, like a […]

Baking a loaf of Cranberry-Nut bread is an excellent way to use up any leftover or frozen cranberries you have from the Christmas holidays. I froze a couple of bags since these tart berries seem to be harder to find after the holidays. I like to keep a loaf of some type of quick or […]

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are the bomb! I love a peanut butter cookie with some softness and crunch – you? I feel a little silly that I never knew exactly how when I bought a pb cookie from a bakery they had crunch and were soft and chewy at the same time. Duh! I […]

One of my Christmas gifts from my man, Dan was the Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book! It was a welcome surprise! Back in the fall when we attended an Octoberfest party the hostess showed me this book and I’m sure I made the comment, “I need this book”. My husband is good at making note of […]

A pleasant early fall evening set the stage for Triad Local First’s Community Table, a gathering of local businesses, chef’s, distillers, breweries and community members. Community Table is a yearly fundraiser for the promotion and support of local businesses. I had the privilege of documenting what goes on behind the scenes as a select group of […]

My man Dan and I celebrated our anniversary last night at home with a scrumptious home cooked meal for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant dinner. We’ve never had more fun nor a more delicious meal. Originally my wonderful husband made reservations at a fancy restaurant where we’ve celebrated in years past. After […]

Blueberries are everywhere and blueberry pie is on my kitchen counter! When I found these tiny blueberries I knew I needed to scoop them up and get busy baking a blueberry pie for the weekend. Blueberries are not always small, often we find big, plump berries when shopping for summer fruits. In Maine they say […]

These are the cutest Orange Almond Sugar Cookies you’ve ever seen – they are shaped like bees, flowers and pigs! I had to do something to make myself feel better as I had an unfortunate encounter with my bees on Friday and by Sunday I needed a lift. I’ll be sharing the bee story with […]

This is such a busy time of year for all of us. I barely have the bandwidth to spend time at my desk blogging because I’d rather be baking pies! Today I’m sharing recipes for a “variety of pies” for your Christmas table. In The Orange Bee kitchen there will definitely be a Bourbon Pecan […]

“Bourbon Pecan Pie“, ’nuff said! It seems pecans are a favorite holiday nut. I know around The Orange Bee we like them in many ways, spiced, sugared, toasted, in cookies, cakes, breads and especially in this pie. My man Dan wouldn’t consider it a holiday without a Bourbon Pecan Pie. It’s the subtle whiff and […]

Well, do you think I nailed round two of Apple Pie Amsterdam? Hopefully my guests…read…guinea pigs from the second go round will weigh in and answer that for you! Personally I felt good about the outcome. Making the few changes I mentioned in my first post – read it here – made a big difference in […]

SO, I tried my hand at Apple Pie Amsterdam last week. It was only a partial success but I am going to share with you anyway. I know that none of us are 100% successful in the kitchen and sharing a lack of success is as important as sharing every perfect accomplishment. Especially when it […]

So about that apple pie in Amsterdam… Before we left for our European trip I did a ton of research about the places we’d visit. Particularly Amsterdam and Gent as I’d only been to Amsterdam once and it was a long, long time ago and never to Gent. In fact my memories of Amsterdam were […]

I’m at it again – food touring! Recently I took a trip to Miami and signed up for the Little Havana Food Tour with Miami Culinary Tours. This is my second time to tour with this company and they do it up right! The guides are knowledgeable and personable and the food….well I’ll tell you […]

Black Onyx zucchini cake may be my favorite zucchini recipe to share with you. You probably thought that I was finished sharing zucchini recipes but no! This is the most moist, deepest, darkest chocolate zucchini cake ever. It pretends to be an overly indulgent cake but in reality it is simple, easy and not overly […]

This post was sponsored by LaFarm Bakery in collaboration with NC Blogger Network. As always, all opinions are mine and mine alone. LaFarm bakery and master baker Lionel Vatinet caused me to consider becoming a baker, only with his tutelage however! But when I heard that the bakery begins to put loaves of shaped dough […]