Kevin Lee Jacobs

Gardening, Recipes & Home Décor Tips

1930s Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

Don't let the name fool you -- this 1930s Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake is wickedly delicious. Mayonnaise replaces the butter and milk that are ordinarily found in chocolate cake batters, rendering a super moist, incredibly chocolaty dessert. You can mix the batter by hand or by machine as you please. Although...
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1930s Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake

French Duchess Potatoes

Duchess Potatoes have a deceptively high-brow look. Indeed, they are simply enriched mashed potatoes that are piped into decorative swirls, and then baked in a hot oven until golden. You don't have to bake the adorable mounds right away. You can freeze them for weeks (or even months), and then...
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French Duchess Potatoes

French Butter Cookies (Sablé Breton)

French Butter Cookies -- Sablés Breton -- originated in the northwest region of Brittany, France. In France and elsewhere in Europe, the cookies are instantly recognized for their fluted edges, crosshatch markings, and brilliant sheen. To me, the buttery biscuits taste like a trip to Paris without the jetlag. They...
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French Butter Cookies (Sablé Breton)

How I Strain and Store Used Cooking Oil

In the comments section below my Super Crispy Homemade Chicken Nuggets video, a viewer asked: What do you do with the leftover cooking oil? In truth, I never discard my deep-fry oil after just one use. What a waste that would be! And here, in words and pictures, is how...
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How I Strain and Store Used Cooking Oil

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

This Pumpkin Bundt Cake is blessed with a gorgeous countenance, a moist crumb, and a beautiful autumn-spice perfume. In other words, it is the kind of cake that belongs on your October or November tea table! Here's the step-by-step and printable recipe: To start, throw some flour, pumpkin pie spice,...
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Pumpkin Bundt Cake

Quiche with Hash Brown Potato Crust

This is a gluten-free twist on a traditional quiche. The crust is simply made from store-bought frozen shredded potatoes (a/k/a "hash browns"). There's no butter to cut in, and no dough to roll out! I used spinach and ham for my quiche filling here, but other fillings would work as...
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Quiche with Hash Brown Potato Crust

New Washing Machine!

THIS IS NOT A PAID ADVERTISEMENT. I simply wanted to tell you that I purchased a Maytag Commercial washing machine. Would you like to meet this old-school appliance? My former washer -- a high-efficiency, high-tech Cabrio -- bit the dust after four years of modest use.  Although the machine was...
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New Washing Machine!

Classic Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

Can you get away for a moment? Please join me for Afternoon Tea! The menu includes fragrant tea, yummy petit fours, and  three classic sandwiches. The sandwiches are the same cucumber, chicken, and egg-and-cress subjects that I enjoyed at Kensington palace. Their beauty is in their simplicity. Watch: Afternoon Tea...
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Classic Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

Homemade Sandwich Buns

Probably I was a French baker in a previous life. How else can I explain my great passion for yeast dough? I love to mix it, knead it, shape it, and -- after it has been baked -- eat it! Today's recipe is for the Homemade Sandwich Buns you see...
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Homemade Sandwich Buns

How I Smother Weeds with Newspaper

WHEN WEEDS INVADE MY PERENNIAL BEDS, I don't get mad -- I get newspaper. Newspaper-mulching, as we have discussed before, makes weeds disappear instantly. And it prevents them from re-emerging for an entire season, if not longer. I newspaper-mulched one of my weed-choked beds just this morning. Would you like...
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How I Smother Weeds with Newspaper

Strawberry Galette

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 15 Comments

And the summer hits just keep coming! Today's entry is a Strawberry Galette that will knock your socks off. I'm talking about a tender, cookie-like crust. And a fragrant filling that doesn't turn into a river of strawberry soup as it bakes.  Need a luxuriously rustic … [Read more...]

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Recipe

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 9 Comments

Please enjoy this recipe from my "Garden Tour and a Cocktail" video that was published this morning on YouTube. The cocktail in question? A thick, rich, uber-refreshing Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri! It's the ideal signature cocktail for a summertime get-together. Here's … [Read more...]

Strawberry Upside-Down Cake

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 8 Comments

Hello June, hello strawberries! I picked up some local berries the other day, and promptly turned them into a Strawberry Upside-Down Cake. Are you familiar with this rustic dessert?  It has a moist crumb and an intoxicating strawberry-lemon perfume. And talk about … [Read more...]

Classic Sandwiches for Afternoon Tea

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 19 Comments

Can you get away for a moment? Please join me for Afternoon Tea! The menu includes fragrant tea, yummy petit fours, and  three classic sandwiches. The sandwiches are the same cucumber, chicken, and egg-and-cress subjects that I enjoyed at Kensington palace. Their beauty … [Read more...]

Vegetarian “Beyond Beef” Loaf

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 16 Comments

I made this Vegetarian Beyond Beef Loaf the other day, and it was beyond delicious. Beyond Beef is the popular plant-based substitute for ground beef. It contains zero soy, zero gluten, zero GMOs. Fox and I actually prefer it to the real deal, and we're hard-core meat … [Read more...]

How to Hide a Garage Door

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 35 Comments

Got something on your property you'd like to make disappear? Mine was the door on the no-car garage, located right beside our new outdoor dining area. Prest-O Change-O, the fugly door is no more! Details and pictures: How to Hide A Garage Door The garage dates back to … [Read more...]

Watercress Soup Recipe

BY Kevin Lee Jacobs | 12 Comments

When it comes to springtime (or anytime) entertaining, you can't go wrong with Watercress Soup. I love it it as a first course for formal affairs, but it is marvelous too as a main course for supper. Potatoes thicken the soup, while a handful of fresh or frozen peas … [Read more...]