Greetings from Cape Ann, Massachusetts, where I’m now sitting, on a veranda looking out across the Annisquam River over Wingaersheek Beach, around the corner from Lobster Cove and down the road from Gloucester. Have you ever read Kipling’s Captains Courageous? (This book should be required reading for every teenager in America.) It’s Gloucester fishermen who rescue young Harvey Cheyne and help turn him from a spoiled kid to a capable young man. Here one lives by the sea and all that accompanies it: the tides which determine if you can jump off the deck into 6 feet of sea water, or walk out for hundreds of yards of mud flats, the squalls that seem to appear without warning and drench you thoroughly if you can’t find cover. Cape Ann is the home of Anadama bread, magical violet skies, and some of best seafood in the country. I’m here on vacation visiting my friends Ann and Nick in Annisquam. I’m not doing much cooking at the moment, but I thought I would share with you some photographs of the local scenery.

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Homemade Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches Yield: 12 ice cream sandwiches Prep Time: 20 minutes 2 dozen of your favorite chocolate chip cookies ½ – 1 quart vanilla ice cream Add-ons of your choice (sprinkles, chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, etc.) 1. Make the ice cream and bake the cookies. Let the ice cream sit at [...]

Among the multiple pleasant dining surprises I had in London was the discovery that St. John, famous for its subdued celebration of meat dishes from nose to tail, also impeccably pairs and prepares vegetables.
The vegetables bring brightness and color to bold meat and seafood dishes, which are simply and elegantly named: Braised Veal, Butterbeans & [...]

Have you ever had Anadama bread? It’s a traditional dark yeast bread from New England. Please welcome Hank Shaw as he shares the recipe for this delicious loaf he made for us the other day. ~Elise

My mum was never much of a baker, but she used to tell us about a bread she loved back at home on the North Shore of Massachusetts called, oddly, anadama bread. Apparently the old tale is that Anna was a fisherman’s wife who fed her beau little more than cornmeal porridge sweetened with molasses. One day, so the story goes, the fisherman came home, added some flour and yeast to the mush and tossed it in the oven to make bread – all the while muttering, “Anna, damn her!”

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This might be a record-breaking week here on Brown Eyed Baker. First Quiche Lorraine Pizza, and now corn and pepper muffins. Two savory recipes in one week… it’s shocking even to me! Don’t worry, tomorrow is all geared up to be a sweet sensation (and perfect for summer), so stay tuned. Now, onto these muffins. [...]