Andrea’s Recipes

In spite of our efforts to contain the mint, it spread beyond its designated area. We planted three different varieties (spearmint, chocolate mint, Bergamot mint), one plant of each in different areas, and each is staging a takeover. The plants spread by sending out shoots along the ground as well as seeding, and they expand [...]

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My introduction to passion fruit (maracuya) came when I was teaching in Bogota, Colombia, where they enjoy a wonderful myriad of fruit. The locals and other teachers who had been there for a while taught me about the different fruits and showed me how to make juices from the frozen pulps that were available in [...]

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What to do with a beautiful bowl of cherries and a stash of vanilla beans on a hot summer day? If you manage to rescue the cherries before my boys eat them all, you can make David Lebovitz’s vanilla ice cream and add fresh cherries.
His book The Perfect Scoop needs no introduction from me, and [...]

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When Ivonne and Lisa, the venerable founders of The Daring Bakers, choose a challenge, you know it’s going to be a challenge. Think Buche de Noel (Yule Log Cake), or in this case, think…L’Opera!
Yes, Opera cake. Until now I’ve never tasted or made one, though I’ve seen them in posh bakeries, but I do have [...]

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Vanilla beans + vodka + time = vanilla extract
That’s pretty easy math! The process is simple and the equipment list very short: you only need a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. There was a time when I would have said that the biggest part of that equation was the vanilla beans due to [...]

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