Bread enthusiast. Vegetable lover. Omnivore. If the kitchen is your happy place, you're in good company. Let's hang.
Your Focaccia (Sweet and Savory) Baking Schedule + My Grandmother's Mustard Sauce, Lofty Popovers, Tiramisu & More
|
Friends, hello! This week I found myself baking for all the various things — cookie exchanges, secret Santa events, teachers' and coaches' gifts. Of all the things I baked — shortbread, peppermint bark, cream cheese cutouts, and peasant bread — I found the peasant bread to be the easiest/least demanding of all, and found myself thinking: next year, it will be peasant bread for all! Friends, if you've found yourself in a baking/gifting marathon this week, I hope it's gone smoothly, and I hope it's nearly over. This weekend, I'm making my shopping list and drafting a very rough timeline, which mostly concerns focaccia, both for Christmas morning and dinner. Here's what I'm thinking: Monday, December 22nd: Mix two batches of focaccia dough and stash them in the fridge. Wednesday, December 24th: Remove one batch, and proceed with the cinnamon-sugar focaccia recipe through step 8, then return it to the fridge until the following morning. Thursday, December 25th: Remove the cinnamon-sugar focaccia pan from the fridge one hour before baking it. Later in the day, remove the other batch of focaccia dough, 4 hours before baking it. Friends, I truly cannot believe that Christmas is next week and that another year has nearly passed. I hope all of your preparations are going well, and I'm wishing you all the happiest holiday season! Talk soon 👋
PS: Does this sight ever get old? Christmas Menu 2025
Last week I shared my favorite Christmas recipes, all of which you can find here, and below you will find a few highlights, including these brioche cinnamon rolls, which will make an appearance on Christmas Eve morning this year.
Simple Baked Ham with Brown Sugar Glaze My Grandmother's Mustard Sauce Balthazar's Mussels — A Christmas Eve tradition with these ... For Christmas morning: Overnight (or not) Brioche Cinnamon Rolls or... Cranberry-Orange Buttermilk Breakfast Cake
For every holiday dinner: Alice Waters's Potato Gratin or... 4 Easy Bread RecipesNo-Knead Buttermilk Pull-Apart Rolls No-Knead Dinner Rolls (baked in a muffin pan, no shaping required!) Lofty Popovers (if you can make pancake batter, you can make these!)
Focaccia (overnight, refrigerator or sourdough) And for dessert:Tiramisu
PS: A festive, easy drink: Tangerine Spritz In Case You Missed ItFavorite Christmas Cookies
Popular Right Now
You Are Loving These 3 Recipes... PS: ALL the popular recipes right here → Popular Recipes Thank YouThank you to all who have ordered Pizza Night. If you haven't left a review yet, I would be so grateful if you did! 🙏🙏🍕🍕🥗🥗
5 Free Resources Available to You
PS: All previous editions of this newsletter can be found here. |
Hi. I'm Ali.
Bread enthusiast. Vegetable lover. Omnivore. If the kitchen is your happy place, you're in good company. Let's hang.
... don't forget to make your hot cross bun dough tonight 🍞 You can do this two ways: You can make the recipe up to the point at which you have a pan filled with shaped rolls, then you can stick that pan in the fridge. You can mix the dough, then stick the bowl in the fridge and pick up where you left off in the morning. I just mixed my dough, and the process inspired me to send out this reminder email — the smell of freshly grated orange zest in combination with freshly grated nutmeg could...
Hi, Friends. When my son Graham was in preschool, his best friend was a boy named Luca. Having three sisters and no brothers, Graham relished his time with Luca, swimming, riding bikes, and playing with Legos. This was nearly 10 years ago, but I still remember feeling complete relief every time I saw Luca's mother, Michelle, pull into my driveway to swoop Graham away. One day, Michelle asked if Graham would like to join Luca at Chuck E. Cheese's for his birthday. Knowing Graham would be just...
Hi, Friends. A few weeks ago, I stopped by Franklin Square Market in Saratoga to pick up some fish for dinner. Knowing I would be pressed for time when I got home, I picked up a small tub of "housemade" chimichurri, which looked fresh and which I hoped would be a nice complement to the fish. It turned out to be a nice complement to everything on the table, from the fish to the roasted cauliflower to the bread. The next day, I found myself pouring what remained of the chimichurri into a tub of...