-
No-Bake Lemon Dream Cheesecake
Summer may be coming to a close, but I think there’s still time left for a few more BBQs…and no-bake desserts to go with them! And I think we need something light and lemony that lends itself to some fresh fruit topping while fruit is still in season. This No-Bake Lemon Dream Cheesecake is just the thing. The Joy of No-Bake Desserts Clearly, I love baking, or I wouldn’t have this blog. But sometimes even I don’t want to turn the oven on (hello humid Minnesota summers! 🥵). That’s when having a few no-bake dessert recipes on hand comes in handy. I’ve been focused on no-bake desserts all summer, not…
-
Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2023
There’s nothing I love more than looking back at the recipes you all have made the most throughout the year. It’s fascinating to me to see which recipes you liked the most vs the ones I thought would be the most popular (I’m often wrong, though I’m getting better at guessing!) This list has decidedly more chocolate than last year’s, and I couldn’t be happier about that. Anyway, without further ado, here are the 10 most popular Northern Ginger recipes from the past year. #10: Mud Pie Cake Coming in at #10 is Mud Pie Cake. This chocolate-lover’s dessert has layers of deeply chocolatey cake (adapted from Ina Garten’s famous Beatty’s Chocolate…
-
Top 10 Northern Ginger Recipes of 2022
It’s that time again…time to take a look back at the top moments of the year! Here on the blog, that means rounding up the most-viewed recipes from the last 12 months. Now, I know that statistics aren’t exciting or sexy, but I love getting to the end of the year and looking at my blog stats to see what recipes were your favorites over the past year. It’s SO fun (and interesting) to see which recipes you all liked, and compare the list with which recipes I thought would be the most popular. (Spoiler: most of the time, I’m wrong.) Anyway, without further ado, here are the Northern Ginger…
-
Cranberry Apple Crumble Pie
Winter is here in Northern Minnesota! We finally got our first measurable snow this week. It’s so beautiful. When it’s about to snow, you can smell it in the air. If you don’t know that scent, it’s sort of like the smell of ice—cold and clean. It smells just like you’d imagine diving into a cold freshwater lake feels. “Refreshing” is a good word for it, I suppose. And I love it. The arrival of snow means the holidays are about to pounce on us like a cat on a tasty, tasty mouse. So it’s time to get ready. If you haven’t decided what pies you’re making for your holiday…
-
Fridge Cleanout Galette (a.k.a., Any Fruit Galette)
It’s that time of year when I buy more fruit than I can eat. There’s just so much amazing fruit in season…peaches, plums, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries…I try to eat as much as I can. But ultimately I end up with some that’s…shall we say, “overripe”? That’s where this recipe comes from. I took all of the close-to-rotting fruit from my fridge, added some sugar, wrapped it in pastry, and baked it. My friends lovingly refer to this treat as “fridge trash pie,” but I doubt anyone would search for that in Google, so I decided to call it Fridge Cleanout Galette. But you could also call it Any Fruit…
-
No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake
“Summertime…and the livin’ is easy…” Louis Armstrong had it right…summertime is for easy living (or easy livin’, if you’re Louis). And that extends to baking. Summer is the time for easy, simple desserts that taste great but don’t take a lot of time…and, preferably, ones that don’t require us to turn on the oven. This No-Bake Key Lime Cheesecake fits that bill perfectly. A Simple but Delicious Mashup of Two Great Desserts Summer BBQs, picnics, beach days…all require tasty snacks. This no-bake cheesecake is perfect for all of our warm-weather gatherings this summer. This is a mashup of two crazy delicious desserts…key lime pie and cheesecake. It combines the brightness…
-
Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie
My living room is lit with twinkling lights, there are Christmas carols playing through the speakers of my record player, and my freezer is full to the brim with Christmas cookies. All sure signs that Christmas is coming soon. Now all that’s left is to plan my holiday meal, and maybe an extra-special treat for dessert. This Chocolate Peppermint Cream Pie will fit the bill nicely. Chocolate and Peppermint: A Match Made in Winter Somewhere around the beginning of November, or the first snowfall, or whichever arrives first, my tastebuds undergo a drastic change. They shift from craving pumpkin and cinnamon to a flavor combination that I’ve come to associate…
-
Mini Apple Crumble Pies
Thanksgiving is just around the corner. It’s my favorite holiday, because the only purpose of it is to gather with loved ones and eat. No presents, no pressure…just good food and good company. When I was growing up, my grandma made the pies (well, she made almost everything really). Every year there was her famous Pumpkin Pie, of course, and usually some kind of apple pie as well. As an adult, I now make my own pies for Thanksgiving. And while I always opt for my grandma’s pumpkin pie for the big day, sometimes I’ll make a second option — either this Maple Pecan Pie or some kind of apple…
-
Holiday Gift Guide: My Favorite Pie-Baking Tools
Friends, if you haven’t started your holiday shopping yet, it’s time to get on it! Last November I put together a gift guide of my top 12 cookbooks. You all seemed to enjoy it, so this year I’ve got another one for you — my favorite pie-baking tools! Pie Pans First up, pie pans. There are a lot of opinions out there about which material makes the best pie pan. And do you know what? I think they all work great. Here are the ones I use the most. Glass Pie Dishes I have this glass pie dish from Pyrex (top left) and another one from Anchor Hocking (bottom right).…
-
Blueberry Hand Pies
I just got back from a few days away in Grand Marais, MN. I spent most of my time next to Lake Superior, walking, reading, writing, eating delicious food, and sipping wine, coffee, and locally-brewed beer. It was glorious. The entire small town hugs the lakeshore, making for the most incredible lake views. It is, hands down, my favorite place in the world. I mean, just look at all of this beauty! Celebrate the Little Things Whenever I’m on vacation, I think a lot about celebration — especially taking time to celebrate the little things in life, like a sunny day, a quiet morning, the sound of birds singing, or…
Recipes and Musings from the Zenith City
