How the cookie crumbles…or the challenges of holiday baking

I made it through Thanksgiving this year with nary a scrape. Quite an accomplishment considering the near-disastrous mishap with my knee back in October. I limped my way back to bake again! Not only did I manage to crank out two pies for dessert–delightfully airy pumpkin chiffon and a zippy riff on the classic lemon…

Pizza Rolls, Pot Pies, and Pop Tarts…or the Three P’s of Bake Sale

Okay, technically the pizza roll was really a Southern Italian specialty called the n’figgiulata or as my friend and former coworker Maria affectionately called “n’figgy”–a Vivande Porta Via catering menu staple. In trying to describe what the n’figg was to bake sale customers, I invariably resorted to calling it a big pinwheel pizza roll stuffed…