The historical origins of this cake are somewhat unclear, but it may date back to a 19th century tea room in Charleston, South Carolina. Or not. The Old Foodie has an article on the origins of this cake.

Regardless of its origins, this is a white cake frosted with a seven-minute frosting and filled with the same frosting combined with nuts and dried fruit. There is also a Lord Baltimore cake, which uses a yellow cake base and a slightly different filling.

LADY BALTIMORE CAKE

• 1.75 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 stick (8 Tbsp.) butter
• 1.25 cups sugar
• 3 egg whites
• one recipe Lady Baltimore Filling and reserved Seven-Minute Frosting

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8- or 9-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper rounds.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together and set aside. Mix the milk and vanilla in a separate bowl and set aside. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add half the milk mixture to the butter and combine. Repeat with half the flour. Repeat again with the remaining milk and then the remaining flour until all the ingredients are just combined.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Stir in one-third of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining whites.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.

To assemble: spread the bottom layer with the Lady Baltimore Filling, then add the top cake layer. Use the remaining Seven-Minute Frosting (leftover from making the filling) for the top and sides of the cake.

Makes one two-layer cake.

Source: Adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking.

This is a variation on Seven-Minute Frosting and is what turns a white layer cake into a Lady Baltimore Cake.

LADY BALTIMORE FILLING

• one recipe Seven-Minute Frosting
• 1/3 to 2/3 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup chopped dried figs or dates
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup raisins, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. almond extract

Reserve two-thirds of the frosting. To the remaining third, add all the other ingredients and mix well.

Source: Adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and the The Joy of Cooking

This is a very white, fluffy frosting. I was surprised the first time I made it that it formed a hard shell on the surface after about an hour, with the consistency much like that of a meringue. I'm not sure if that's normal or because of how I made it. The Joy of Cooking version of this recipe includes a tablespoon of light corn syrup and I wonder if this would keep it soft

I made this without a hand mixer, but with a stand mixer, so this is my interpretation of how to make it. It should be used quickly, as it will dry out.

SEVEN-MINUTE FROSTING

• 1.5 cups sugar
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all ingredients except the vanilla extract. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, making sure that the pan does not touch the water. Whisk constantly (this is where a hand mixer would help) for 5-7 minutes. Place the bowl into a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 5-10 minutes or until the frosting has thickened and become fluffy and spreadable.

Fills and frosts two 8- or 9-inch cake layers.

Source: Adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking

A very simple, versatile chip for dips and spreads. This
makes about one baking sheet full. If you make these ahead of time, don't put
them into a container until they are completely cooled, or residual steam will
stop them from getting crisp.

There seem to be two kinds of pits running around. One is
just a kind of round flatbread, the other is a "pocket bread," which is what
I'm more familiar with. If you use the pocket kind, you may want to separate
the wedges into halves to get both sides to crisp up.

PITA CHIPS

• 2 pita breads (white or whole wheat)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. dried oregano (optional)
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F

Cut each pita into eight wedges. If you are using pocket-type pitas, separate
each wedge into two. Spread on a baking sheet and brush at least one side with
the oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano.

Bake for about 5 minutes until crunchy or until the edges are starting to turn
brown. Let cool.

Source: Adapted from a Giada De Laurentiis recipe

This is a rather fun recipe to make. I don't know why, but then I'm a nerd. Plus, it's so simple, I almost feel silly posting it as a recipe. I imagine kids would enjoy doing it, as well, if they're interested in cooking. I've used this mostly in place of cream cheese, usually to spread on a bagel. I've read you can base a low-fat cheesecake around this, but haven't tried it myself.

The only variables in this recipe are the kind of yogurt you use, how long you let it drain, and whether you weigh it down or not. I've used regular plain yogurt (whole-milk and non-fat) and mildly flavored (vanilla) yogurt. This does concentrate the yogurtyness of your starting material, so if you start with a tangy yogurt, you'll wind up with a tangy cheese. I think I liked the vanilla best. I find most of the draining takes place within 24-48 hours; there's really not any point draining it longer than that

If you don't weigh this down, you'll wind up with something like a very soft cream cheese that's not quite firm enough to hold its shape. Weigh it down, and you'll get something just a tad softer than actual cream cheese. The best weight is a plastic zipper bag full of water.

YOGURT CHEESE

• 1 cup yogurt, non-fat, low-fat, whole-milk, vanilla, whatever
• cheesecloth or coffee filters (I had run out of cheesecloth)

You'll need either several layers of cheesecloth or a paper coffee filter, a strainer, and a bowl. For a firmer cheese, you'll need another coffee filter for the top and a zipper bag full of water (no leaks!).

Yogurt Cheese apparatus

This works best in pictures. Place the strainer over the bowl, place the filter in the strainer, and the yogurt in the filter. If you're going to weight it down, put another filter on top, and the zipper bag on top of that. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 24-48 hours. Careful peel away the filter and scoop away your cheese.

Assembled Yogurt Cheese apparatus

Makes about 1/2 cup.

I originally made this recipe because the recipe suggested serving it with rhubarb and I was trying to use my rhubarb before it went bad. It turns out be be wonderful both with an without rhubarb and I think it is actually better as a winter cake than a spring cake since it is warm and filling. This calls for a LOT of olive oil. You definite want the olive oil flavor but this is not a great place to use your peppery oil from Tuscany or your buttery-silky olive oil from France. This is where you want to use your go-to basic cooking olive oil. Don't even think about substituting canola!

OLIVE OIL CAKE

• 3 eggs
• 2.25 cups sugar
• 1.5 cups olive oil
• 1.5 c. milk (whole milk will make this VERY rich, it's still pretty freakin' rich even if you use skim)
• 2 cups white flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbl dried orange or lemon peel
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350

Generously oil a 12in cast-iron skillet with olive oil and then flour it.

Combine the wet ingredients and mix until smooth and well combined.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well. The batter will be very wet.

Pour into the skillet and bake for 60-70 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

Let the cake cool and serve it directly from the pan or, after it is all the way cooled, invert it onto a plate.

Adapted from a recipe on culinate.com which was adapted from a recipe from a Tuscan olive oil producer

My husband got overexcited at the farmers market and came home with spelt flour. I hadn't the foggiest idea what to do with spelt flour and all the recipes I found seemed frighteningly healthy in a "THIS IS GOOD FOR YOU SO EAT IT, DAMMIT!" sort of way. I went to the farmers market and tracked down the guy who had sold my husband the spelt flour and asked him what to do with it. "Make spelt cereal," he said. I'm not a make-your-own-cereal sort of person but this turned out to be excellent and worth making again. The original recipe called for 1/2c. brown sugar and 3/4c. honey, I like my cereal on the not-so-sweet side so I changed it to 1c honey. If you like sweet cereal, feel free to change it back.

SPELT CEREAL

• 7c spelt flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1c. honey
• 1/2 c. melted butter
• 1 quart buttermilk

Mix all the dry ingredients together

Mix in the wet ingredients until everything is well combined.

Pour into 2 long flat pans (brownie pans or jelly roll pans)

Cook at 325 until the edges of the cakes pull away from the sides of the pans and they are getting browned on top. Don't let them burn but, given that you're making cereal, don't be afraid to overcook them.

When the cakes are cool, shred them with a fork as finely as possible. Put the crumbs back into the long flat pans and cook them in a low oven until they are toasted and hard. This is humidity and oven temperature dependent. It doesn't take very long at 300, but there is a huge risk of burning. On a wet day at 175 it can take many hours. I like the latter method because I can go about my business and not think or worry about it but other people might feel more time pressure.

Pour into airtight containers, eat with milk.

Source: adapted from Jennings Brother's Stone Ground Grains recipe sheet. http://archiejennings63.googlepages.com

I saw this in the New York Times several weeks ago and it seemed too easy and too weird not to try. The only thing I've changed from Mark Bittman's original recipe is the amount of cinnamon and substituting Habanero powder for the chili powder mainly because I didn't have chili powder the first time I made it and then the switch was too good not to keep. To me this tastes like chocolate horchata (if there were such a thing) made solid. Tofu haters, don't worry - this does not taste at all like tofu. Doubters, take heart - this makes a lovely, firm pudding with nearly no cooking and very little effort.

SPICED CHOCOLATE PUDDING

• 1lb soft tofu
• 1/2lb (8oz) Bittersweet chocolate (I use 85% dark but that might be too bitter for everyone's taste. If you're scared of bitter chocolate try 70% instead)
• 3/4 c. white sugar
• 3/4 c. water
• 2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (Ceylon cinnamon tastes very different than common Cassia cinnamon and makes this taste more "Mexican." Regular cinnamon would be fine, too, but it will taste less exotic)
• tiny pinch habanero powder. (Bittman calls for 1/2 tsp chili powder) Remember - you can add more but you can't take it away!

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler

Combine the sugar with the water in a pan and bring to boiling, stir frequently until all sugar granules have disolved.

Put everything in the blender and blend until totally smooth

Pour into 6 small dishes and chill until firm.

Source: Mark Bittman in the New York Times

I'm forever finding dried ginger in my fridge. Not good dried ginger that you pay a lot of money for but ginger that was once pink and fleshy and juicy that has now become an ugly, withered, rock hard root. I was told that I should freeze the fresh ginger but I hated the texture of the previously frozen ginger - watery and fibrous at the same time - so I was left with petrified ginger.

If you suffer from the same problem, take the root and shave it with your microplane. Even the oldest ginger shreds easily with the microplane and the dust-like particles re-hydrate instantly. Be aware - this tastes like fresh ginger but is more concentrated so cut down the amount you put in accordingly.

This is a simple recipe (lots of small steps, don't be intimidated, I just like to break things down into their simplest possible components) where the end results look really impressive.
Gravy is one of those things that takes literally no time (the meat has to rest anyhow) and makes people think you slaved over the stove. This is great for serving to people you want to date, parents of people you are dating, or people you need something from. This is not great for dispelling accusations of false modesty because no one believes that it is simple to make.

HERBED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH GRAVY

• 2lb pork tenderloin, de-boned, and tied nicely (you can -and should!- get the butcher to do this for you
• 1/2 c. salted butter.
• 1 tbl dried thyme
• 1 tbl dried rosemary
• 1 generous tbl whole black peppercorns
• 1 generous tsp salt (smoked salt if you have it)
• 1 c chicken stock
• 1/3 c. dry sherry (or, in an emergency, white wine)
• 2 tbl flour

Preheat the oven to 425F

Take all the spices and run them through a spice grinder until they are uniform in size

Melt the butter in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and, when it starts to foam, add the spices

Rub the tenderloin with the spice/butter mixture until it is well covered on all sides and place it in a roasting pan. Ideally the roast would be elevated from the bottom of the pan by a low rack but this is optional

Roast the tenderloin for ~22-28 minutes per pound. I prefer my pork on the pink and moist side so I cook it closer to the lower time frame. The important caveat is that I know where my pork comes from, can see the pigs running around being healthy, and can watch them being cleanly and humanely slaughtered. If all of this is not true for the meat you consume, you should WITHOUT FAIL cook pork until it is 160F in the center. This is closer to the 28 min/lb time and will result in some dry pieces towards each end of the tenderloin.

Let the roast rest for 10 minutes out of the oven. The meat will continue cooking during this time. Why do we let the meat rest? I'm so glad you asked! Ovens are unkind to meat and force juices along the path of least resistance in the meat resulting in pockets of dryness and pockets of sogginess. When we let roasts rest, the heat evens out, the pressure within the meat diminishes, and the fibers are able to hold more water. The juices in the meat distribute themselves more evenly and it makes for a more evenly juicy roast.

While the roast is resting, scrape all the pan juices into a heavy bottomed sauce pan. If you happen to still have the one from melting the butter, great! If you already washed that pan, that is fine too.

Add the chicken stock and the sherry to the pan juices and bring to a simmer

Put the flour into a small bowl and add one tablespoon of the boiling mixture to the flour and stir until evenly distributed.

Continue adding tablespoons of liquid to the flour mixture and stirring until well combined after each addition

When you have a brown soup the consistency of chowder in the small bowl, add that mixture to the simmering pan juice/sherry/stock mixture, turn up the heat, and cook a few minutes more until well combined and somewhat reduced.

Remove the strings from the roast and slice into ~1/2-1 inch thick sections, place on serving platter, and allow guests to add gravy to taste. This fast and easy gravy does not make enough to make a good presentation in a gravy boat so consider serving from a small pitcher

Loosely adapted from James Beard and The Joy of Cooking