Top Things to do in West Michigan

Most traditional scone recipes use both butter and milk or half&half. Here we skip the butter and a few of the mixing steps by using only heavy cream. This simplifies and shortens the preparation process, and the end result yields a crispy, more glazed crust with a moist interior. Any dried fruit such as cherries,…

Focaccia, normally a savory flatbread steeped in herbed olive oil, becomes a sweet pastry by using light oil, dried fruit, and a topping of sugar. We make it in a smaller pan, which results in a taller, softer bread. The retarded rise (placing in the refrigerator overnight) allows better bread flavor development. Time is always…

Comments: It may seem unnecessary to go through all this for just onions, but the end result is truly worth the time. The vinegar adds an acidic punch, the sugar makes these sweeter than they naturally would become, and the Vermouth adds complexity. I use this recipe to prepare a large batch that I then…

This simple and quick recipe is part of our Friday Evening Appetizer gathering almost every week. I like it because it is so easy, but our guests like it because it tastes really good. The excessive amount of oil creates a lot of smoke, which becomes the dominant flavor. In fact we often call this…

To make these baked pears in honey-mint suace, be sure to adjust baking time according to how ripe the pears are. This recipe actually works better with hard, less ripe pears. Ingredients 4 Pears 6 stems fresh mint 4T honey 2T butter ¼ t ground cinnamon ¼ t ground cardamom Procedure 1. Preheat oven to…

(Most of us say Broo-shetta, but an Italian corrected me to say Broos-ketta. However you say it, simple and delicious) Comments: Easy to do on the grill, which adds a smokey flavor that can’t be replicated any other way. As with most simple recipes, the quality of ingredients really makes a difference. Use sturdy bread,…

Coulis is basically any sauce made from berries. We usually use strawberries, but raspberry coulis is the ‘red stuff’ that is often poured over cheesecake. Blackberries or blueberries also work well. It is OK to mix the berries into the same batch. This is pretty free-form, no exact quantities of anything. This is an excellent…

A Castle in the Country Classic. Our cream-filled French toast is made with our own sourdough bread to add a little sweet/sour balance. Serves: 6-8 Ingredients: Filling 4 oz cream cheese 3T powderd sugar, vanilla infused if you have it 1t vanilla extract French Toast 6 eggs-.75 egg per serving 1 C Heavy Cream or…