Pandemic Baking with Rae

I am not much of a baker. That said, I am going to share a few things I’ve made since the pandemic. This is my second try at focaccia. The first time it did not rise. I went around asking everyone what could have gone wrong and my friend Gwen (thank you Gwen!) said you didn’t let the salt touch the yeast did you? Well, of course I did. This was my second try. And to be perfectly honest I am only doing this so I can make art bread . This is great with soup. The first batch did not go to waste. We had company and we decided it was veggie pizza and had a little lemon olive oil to dip it in. I did use a New York Times focaccia recipe but you can find one online. This will be a good Winter thing to do. Nothing like bread baking in Winter.

Sour Cream Rhubarb Pie, now that’s Summer. And I have rhubarb and the plants were my Mom’s. This recipe comes from The Joy of Rhubarb cookbook. And you can find the recipe here.

These are Jane’s brownies. These are the best brownies ever. My guess is that Jane got this recipe from an old 50s cookbook. They are the brownies of long ago, full of butter and chocolate. The best part is that the texture is right. More chewy than cake-like. And the recipe just makes 9 brownies. I make mine in an old square blue speckled pan. Go here for the recipe.

Here is the best banana recipe. (thanks Jen!) John often makes it, ok not really often. It is a treat and makes 2 loaves. Yum.

Enjoy!