From the category archives:

Bakery | Desserts

Thumbnail image for Romance in Paris | Skillet Sugar Crêpes

Romance in Paris | Skillet Sugar Crêpes

We spent our last afternoon in Paris strolling through le Jardin des Tuileries. It was getting late in the day, and we were hungry, again. When I spotted the crêpe vendor, I stepped aside and asked my beau to pull out his change. We had spent most of our Euros on lunch, so it was [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Brahma and the Birthday | Grand Marnier Soufflé with Crème Anglaise

The Brahma and the Birthday | Grand Marnier Soufflé with Crème Anglaise

I heard the Brahma that morning. She squawked, squawked, and squawked. I could hear her from inside the house… clear on the opposite side of the property. When Mr. RGBistro brought in the GIANT egg, I understood right away. Ouch is an understatement; the rock weighed in at 105 grams. (A typical large-sized egg is [...]

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Thumbnail image for A Typical Week at the RGB | Peanut Butter Cookies with Maple Syrup and Coconut Oil

A Typical Week at the RGB | Peanut Butter Cookies with Maple Syrup and Coconut Oil

The big girls were bored and decided we needed to redecorate. (That’ll teach us to do yard work while leaving them unsupervised): The little girls decided it was time for the Egg Olympics. Based on the amount of squawking going on, I thought a hawk had injured one of them… Evidently, the poor girl was [...]

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Thumbnail image for The Calm Before the Storm | Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

The Calm Before the Storm | Apple Cinnamon Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream Frosting

It’s a calm, still… almost warm Thursday night in Southern California. Hard to believe that in a few hours, a storm full of rain is supposed to drench us all. It has been a long, long year. We’ve renovated a home, raised a flock of chickens and adopted a second dog. I’m ready to close [...]

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Thumbnail image for Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel | We Can’t All Be Winners

Apple Cinnamon Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel | We Can’t All Be Winners

Let me tell you a story about my dog. I have a beautiful dog. She’s sweet, tender, kind, and… famous. Friday comes from a pedigree of outstanding Weimaraner dogs and Weimaraner people. When she was a puppy, William Wegman photographed her for the cover of the Weimaraner Puppies Calendar. At six months old, she obtained [...]

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Thumbnail image for Swiss Buttercream Frosting | Old-School Networking at Camp Blogaway

Swiss Buttercream Frosting | Old-School Networking at Camp Blogaway

How would you bake a cake if you didn’t have an oven? Better question: What would you do if, knowing you were missing an oven, had lined up a Plan B, but the Plan B didn’t work out, you were EXHAUSTED from being at Camp Blogaway, you still had a dinner party to attend, and [...]

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Thumbnail image for Fresh Strawberry Pie | Springtime FAWG Dinner Party

Fresh Strawberry Pie | Springtime FAWG Dinner Party

About this time last year, we planted over 75 pots of ranunculus. This year, we’re happy to report that about half of them made it back.   If it weren’t for regularly scheduled dinner parties, we would never see our loved ones. You see, we’re gearing up to tear down our home, gut it all out [...]

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Thumbnail image for Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake| Christmas Morning Bites

Cranberry Vanilla Coffee Cake| Christmas Morning Bites

Christmas morning was, for the most part, just like any other. After sleeping in, we booted up the espresso machine, fed the dog and started on the last night’s dishes. And because there was no formal agenda, I did what I normally do – wiggle the computer mouse, browse through my Google Reader and look [...]

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Thumbnail image for Cranberry Tangerine Crumb Bars | A Thanksgiving Treat

Cranberry Tangerine Crumb Bars | A Thanksgiving Treat

We’re thankful that November always brings to Southern California a crisp, brisk, yet sunny type of weather that’s absolutely idyllic for growing tangerines. In fact, our two trees are right at the peak of their season.  

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Thumbnail image for One Rainy Weekend at Home | Meyer Lemon Scones with Dried Cranberries and Blueberries

One Rainy Weekend at Home | Meyer Lemon Scones with Dried Cranberries and Blueberries

This weekend was the first we’d been at home in awhile. So of course, Saturday morning’s refrigerator contents were mostly empty. We still had good eggs and cream. No yogurt, no bread, no orange juice, no fresh blueberries…  Ah, but we did have them dried. And we had a package of dried cranberries, too. And [...]

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Thumbnail image for Nutella Fudge Brownies | A Halloween Treat

Nutella Fudge Brownies | A Halloween Treat

Nutella holds a special place in my heart because I’ve been acquainted with it for over 25 years. As a child, it was the gift I looked forward to most when family returned from a trip to Europe. Back then, Nutella was so rare that when I brought it in for “show-and-tell,” I was crowned [...]

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Thumbnail image for Chocolate Buttercream Frosting | The RGB Makes an Owl Cake

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting | The RGB Makes an Owl Cake

RGB Owl Cake for Office Baby Shower  There are three things I thoroughly enjoy about baking a cake: 1) the science of mixing frosting colors, 2) scraping buttercream out of the bowl (and into my mouth), and 3) the thrill of gifting someone with the end result.  The Office put together a mid-week baby shower [...]

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Thumbnail image for Cold-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | Dessert with Jack and Diane

Cold-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies | Dessert with Jack and Diane

We’re all about old guys gettin’ with young chicks. (Sorry, bad family joke.) So when I caught Something’s Gotta Give (with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton) on cable the other day, I DVRed it for Mr. RGBistro and I to watch after dinner later in the week. In one of the opening scenes where Jack’s young [...]

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Thumbnail image for Fresh Summer Peach Crumble | An Ode to Peaches

Fresh Summer Peach Crumble | An Ode to Peaches

In Southern California, we’re fortunate enough to have regular access to Russ Parsons, The California Cook of the Los Angeles Times. Because that’s not enough, we also keep his “How to Pick a Peach” on our bookshelves. Russ taught me how to pick a peach. We’ve all been there. We “buy a peach at the [...]

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Thumbnail image for Meyer Lemon Strawberry Muffins | My Baking Addiction

Meyer Lemon Strawberry Muffins | My Baking Addiction

      Strawberries are most beautiful when they’re plucked straight out of the ground… but since they have a shelf life of about six and a half minutes, what would you do with them once they became a little “old” or “bruised?”  Someday, we’re gonna to get around to opening The Bistro, and when [...]

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Thumbnail image for Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies | And Belated Sweets

Oatmeal Chocolate-Chip Cookies | And Belated Sweets

 Garden stocks are in full bloom out back. Oh, and a happy belated Valentine’s Day to y’all. Valentine’s Morning pancakes at the RGB, from my one and only… to me… …and the stealth one. To our readers (all four of you), sorry for having disappeared. We’ve been “away” doing really important things, like raiding food [...]

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Thumbnail image for Mandarin Parfait with Candied Ginger | A Candy-Bar Breakfast

Mandarin Parfait with Candied Ginger | A Candy-Bar Breakfast

Ever wondered what the underside of a Mandarin tree looks like in the middle of January?   Note: We eat these puppies like candy; peel off the orange wrapper and pop the sugar sweetness. There were so many on the tree this week that I stood in one place to collect a whole basket (which [...]

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Thumbnail image for Mexican Lime Pie | A Sublime Garden Dessert

Mexican Lime Pie | A Sublime Garden Dessert

Barry hosted the 37th annual Bruce and Barry Holiday Party this year at our home. Two of our guests, Joyce and Louie, were kind enough to bring us some of their Mexican limes and oranges from their yard.  This morning, I decided I was going to use them to make my version of Barry’s favorite [...]

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