These holiday pinwheel cookies have become my daughter Isabelle’s favorite new way to celebrate the season. We made these cookies over the weekend, and now I have a plate of them next to me as I’m wrapping presents and writing Christmas cards. What more festive way to welcome the holidays? I made these cookies as […]...
Vanilla Apple Cider Panna Cottas
Inspired by the beautiful panna cotta I had at the Botanist Gin dinner, I wanted to make a panna cotta dessert for the holidays. Since I had apple cider for Thanksgiving in the house, I used this recipe from Food and Wine to make some vanilla apple cider panna cottas. The vanilla and cinnamon give the […]...
Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies with Salted Caramel
It’s full on cookie baking time and I’m excited to be part of Rodelle‘s annual Christmas Cookie Campaign again! Visit Rodelle’s page to see the collection of cookie recipes my fellow Rodelle ambassadors have created for this holiday season: there are some delicious choices to fill out your holiday table and your gift baskets. I’m sharing a riff […]...
Vanilla and Chocolate Choctal Ice Cream Review
Taste tests are one of my favorite things to do: the scientist in me loves comparing and contrasting, quantifying the differences between similar items, finding my personal choice that I like best. Choctal Ice Cream thus appealed to me instantly. All of their ice creams are made with single origin varieties of vanilla beans or […]...
Minnie Mouse Cupcakes For A 3rd Birthday Party
One of the best reasons for having a kid: an excuse to make adorable Minnie Mouse cupcakes for a Minnie Mouse birthday party. I probably wouldn’t have thought of making these years ago, but here I am fancying up some cupcakes for Isabelle’s birthday! Just for the record: we celebrated Isabelle’s third birthday on her […]...
Alphabet Cranberry Linzer Cookies
Alphabet cranberry linzer cookies – the classic holiday cookie updated with a spiced cranberry filling and letter cutouts to spell your warmest holiday wishes. Cookie swaps are one of my favorite parts of the holiday season: since I never have enough time to make all the different cookies I’ve been dreaming of, going to parties […]...
Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is a baker, writer, and photographer with a passion for pastry. She trained at Tante Marie's Cooking School and is the author of Field Guide to Cookies, Field Guide to Candy, and Lollipop Love. Anita lives in San Francisco with her husband, daughter, and dog Max. 
