Good Things by David

M&M cookies seem to bring out the kid in all of us.  Those multi-colored chocolate bites that we all grew up on are the perfect addition to a classic cookie.  I've only recently attempted to make my own M&M cookies at home, because I was always perturbed about having the colors run everywhere and having the tasty candies break off into chunks.  The solution to make them just as eye-catching as the ones you find in bakeries, but even tastier because they're homemade, has been solved. The way you keep the M&Ms from weeping and breaking off is very simple when you think about it.  Of the utmost importance, however, is having a great-tasting batter which bakes cookies into nice round shapes.  For that I turned to one of my tried-and-true chocolate chip cookies from my repertoire.  It's no surprise that what comes out of the oven is just as delicious and scrumptious as what you expect from an M&M cookie. Kids of all ages are ...

September is out and October is in.  As I write this I keep wondering where the month went.  I feel like I was cheated out of a good summer because we had a lot of rain and not enough sunny days.  My only hope now is that we dry out so that our leaves get the chance to give us a glorious show of color.  What I don't want is a freak ice storm, early snow or some type of Hurricane like in years past.  Let's just have a good, simple Fall season with no surprises.  Pretty please. The month of September had some nice surprises for me which I shared with all of you.  Old favorites were rediscovered from my archives and new recipes were created.  I do like going back through my previous posts to see what was done several years ago and I especially love going through the tens of thousands of photographs I've accumulated since the early blogging days.  It's amazing to me to go through sets after sets of photo shoots, because I can see what I...

For those who love the flavors and aromas of autumn's best treats, this cake is for you.  Packed with delicious pumpkin puree, freshly grated orange zest, crystallized ginger and spices, my Pumpkin Pound Cake is certainly going to entice your palate in the coming weeks.  I don't know about you, but the moment I begin to feel change in the air as Fall approaches I must turn on my oven and get baking.  There's something so comforting this time of year about having a toasty kitchen redolent of sugar and spice. I recently had the opportunity to recreate this delicious cake for a small event and I can assure you that it was a hit with guests.  Aside from the scrumptious attributes found in every slice, the pound cake is very easy to make as long as you have the ingredients in your kitchen.  I think the most difficult thing to do is choose which bundt pan will best suit your event.  In actuality, one doesn't need an event or special occasion to create th...

The calendar says autumn has arrived, yet I look out of our windows and still see green everywhere.  On a walk over the weekend I decided to photograph our surroundings to give you a perspective of eastern Pennsylvania as it is now, with the intent of showing you what it will eventually be like next month and in November.  As much as I do it for you, the reader, I also like to catalog the property from year to year so that I note the differences in the landscape.  Storms, fallen trees, dead foliage, etc., can have a significant impact on the areas around our home.  A tree that no longer stands where it used to, for instance, can make a space feel completely different.   With such a wet summer and cooler-than-normal temperatures these past few months, it's going to be interesting to see what our foliage will look like this season.  Several years ago we had the most amazing colors that were simply breathtaking, yet the following year, the colors wer...