Eileen Goudge

Another Chilly Winter Weekend in New York

Another chilly winter weekend in New York. I put on my long johns, bundled up, and headed out nonetheless, with my hubby. A girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do when the cupboards are bare. Luckily, Whole Foods is only a 10-minute walk away, so I didn’t have far to go. I stocked up on everything, avoiding the frozen food aisle – I’d had all the cold I could take on the way there – and headed home to do my favorite Sunday activity: baking.   Right now I’m on a biscotti kick. Maybe it’s because they go so well with the endless cups of tea I drink in the wintertime. These – the cherry-almond biscotti (recipe adapted from one by top NYC pastry chef, Karen DeMasco) – are my favorite. Just the right amount of crunch, flavor, and buttery goodness. Mmmm…

Why does baking go with writing like a biscotti with a cup of tea?   Well, for me it’s a way to give my brain permission to roam. While rolling out pie dough or mixing cake batter, I don’t have to think so hard, so my thoughts drift like clouds across a sky. I come up with some of my best ideas that way. I’ve also been able to bring my love of baking into the fictional worlds I create. Kitty, in ONE LAST DANCE, has a shop called Tea & Sympathy, which says it all. Ollie, in ONCE IN A BLUE MOON, bakes for the book-café where he is coffee barista and resident Romeo.

Many of the folks who approached me at signings when I was promoting my cookbook, SOMETHING WARM FROM THE OVEN, confided that they wanted to learn to bake but that it scared them. The following are three top rules for anyone looking to get their hands sticky with baking.

Keep it simple. You don’t need to be Julie from Julie and Julia and master every recipe in a Julia Child cookbook.   Aim to learn to bake three things really well, and you will wow friends and relatives every time. If you wish to expand the repertoire, fine, but start simple.

It’s all about taste. Even if it doesn’t look like the photo in the recipe book. Buy the best ingredients and buy them fresh. Nuts especially: If they’re even a little rancid – a common problem with store-bought nuts – the muffins or cookies they’re in will taste “off.”

Follow the recipe. This may sound like a no-brainer, but I can’t tell you how many people get into trouble simply because they don’t measure properly. Measuring is key! So, if you’re serious about this, and want to remove the guesswork, invest in a kitchen scale. They take up little room and it will be the best investment you’ve ever made, bake-wise.

I think the above rules can be applied to writing as well: Keep the writing simple, as in clear-cut. It’s all about the story (which is the “taste” the reader will be experiencing) and following through with the plot (the recipe).

If I can’t personally deliver muffins to your doorstep, I hope I’ve delivered book-wise.

On that note, I’m going to go make myself a cup of tea and have one of those biscotti…

Cherry Biscotti Recipe here

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