morsels & sauces

I have a dear friend who is a phenomenal baker. She can make cakes like no other, but her preference is for pies. I have another friend who had a catering service on the side of a demanding teaching schedule; her brownies and cookies are to die for. I am no baker. Humidity and altitude and baking times and measuring ingredients precisely: all seem to baffle me when it comes time to bake something. However, I have Miette to help me. Miette  is a wonderful little cake, pastry, and confections shop begun in 2001 by Meg Ray as part of the Berkeley Farmer's market; nowadays, she boasts four shops, including one in the Ferry Building, another in Hayes Valley, a new boutique in Larkspur Landing, and my favorite--a small shop connected to the bakery in Oakland at Jack London Square. Her focus is on cakes, particularly the cakes she loved as a child, and she has streamlined her baking to focus on a foundation of tried and true recipes from which she can build. For example,...

Two years ago , I finished my yoga teacher training with some amazing women. While, of course, my yoga practice shifted in immeasurable ways due to an intense four weeks of 8-hour days of yoga (and yoga lectures and practicum and note taking and reading), I was unprepared for the way my circle of friends would broaden.  I was unprepared for how much more I would laugh. These women whom I have had the privilege to know are funny (as in wickedly funny), gracious, generous, and just plain ambitious. To celebrate the fact that two years have passed since we met, we held a little reunion party in the hills up in Orinda. And there was no way I was showing up empty handed. These ladies can cook (or buy really great turkey meatballs at Whole Foods), so I knew I had to bring my A-game. Who better to guide me with a natural, organic dessert than Heidi Swanson-- 101 Cookbooks blogger, author of three healthy and natural foods cookbooks, and Bay Area resident? While this desser...