What's in season

Spring is finally here! I am so excited to start baking new things. My goal this year is to focus on what is in season and bake with those ingredients. I have found several websites that are very helpful.

Epicurious has a great interactive map that shows you what is in season in your state during a certain month (I wasn't able to find anything on year-round produce). This is really helpful for cooking, as well. At this site you can find a description and definition as well as tips on how to pick out what produce is best. They also have a list of recipes and cooking and storing tips. The site is very easy to navigate. I also love their phone app for searching for recipes (thank you for the tip, Cherri Seese!). The app home page was recently updated to show Spring and Easter dishes.

Fruits and Veggies More Matters is another great site for researching what is in season. They also have a list of year-round produce. The site includes tips how to select and how to store produce but they also have great nutritional information on each item. The website has a lot more information and tools that I would encourage you to check out (I'm looking forward to digging further into the Healthy Meal Planning Guide!).

I love Martha Stewart's Seasonal Produce Recipe Guide. There is a short intro to the produce item, how to select and store, etc. And then it jumps right into recipes. There are so many to get inspired by (there are 40 recipes alone for rhubarb!).

These are just a few sites that have caught my eye. With their inspiration I have lots on the baking to-do list this week. I can't wait to share what happens!

Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes... No, Bundt.

About a year ago I found a recipe on allrecipes.com for Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes. I made the attempt at cupcakes in late 2011 but I decided to try my luck at transferring the recipe to a bundt form instead. My little adventure was a success! It has become one of my favorite things to bake. It is great for the whole fall and winter baking season. The smell is amazing and my husband is always excited when I bake this.

I have played around with different amounts of the spices and different types of glazes. Currently I use rounded measurements for all the spices and I use about half of the amount of crystalized ginger that the recipe calls for. I also love the recipe I found for the glaze. Again, it was something I found online but I of course tweaked it a little. I can't wait to try other glazes and spices to make this a really unique recipe!

I was blessed to share this week's treat with our Bible study group. In sharing my excitement for learning all things baking the conversation quickly turned to the difference between baking soda and baking powder and of course cookbooks! I now have two great cookbooks on loan and I can't wait to go through them.