Gina Ruiz on April 10th, 2010

When I was a little girl growing up and hanging out in my Grandma Lupe’s kitchen, I always looked forward to the weather cooling off because then it would be time for her wonderful empanadas. There was nothing better than being in that small but homey kitchen at the old red table half covered with [...]

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Gina Ruiz on April 7th, 2010

It’s a little chilly in the apartment this evening and my roommate Marianella and I were chatting about what to do with all the delicious Fuji apples we have in the fridge. She began telling me about her life in Norway and how her then husband Thor (such a cool name) used to make a [...]

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Gina Ruiz on September 3rd, 2008

So there was this chocolate sauce just sitting in my fridge, left over from the eclairs.  The chocolate glaze was in there too.  Seriously, they were calling me, begging not to be left in there on their own.  Several times, i walked over and thought maybe I should make more eclairs.  Maybe creampuffs.  No, it’s [...]

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Gina Ruiz on August 31st, 2008

Jasmine really loved the chocolate glaze. The Challenge: Chocolate Eclairs from Pierre Hermé’s book, Chocolate Desserts by Pierre Hermé. The Hosts: Tony Tahan and Meetak Many, many thanks to our wonderful hosts this month. What a wonderful recipe they chose and how supportive and marvelous they were. (Insert applause here). Hurry up Autumn, I’m getting [...]

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Gina Ruiz on August 13th, 2008

Recipe submitted by Darlene Chan I hate buying buttermilk for one recipe because ultimately I use 1/2 cup and then it sits in the fridge until I throw it out. This time I thought I’d be a bit smarter. I had originally bought a quart to use for buttermilk pancakes, which left me with 3/4 [...]

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Gina Ruiz on July 3rd, 2008

[singlepic=613,320,240,,center] I love cooking and baking and take just about any opportunity to try something new or make something. If I’m cooking, I’m a happy camper. So when my roommate Rachel wanted to buy Challah for Shabbat with a friend, I jumped right in and asked if I could make it. I had this recipe [...]

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Gina Ruiz on June 29th, 2008

When I first saw this challenge posted, my first thought was, “oh holy crap no, there’s no way I can make that, I’m skipping this month,” but then I shook myself off and started thinking about fillings. The fillings got me going and as I read through the recipe, it actually didn’t seem that hard. [...]

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Gina Ruiz on June 17th, 2008

A decadent and sinful Peach Trifle was the star at our recent Sex and the City movie party.

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Daring Baker’s Challenge # 3 – Make an Opera cake light in color and flavor.

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Gina Ruiz on April 27th, 2008

This month’s Daring Baker challenge was truly a challenge for me on many levels. I had made cheesecake before but not this recipe. I couldn’t find a roasting pan that my cheesecake pan would fit in so I ended up using a big stainless steel bowl, which was cumbersome but worked fabulously. The cheesecake took [...]

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