Sometimes I think there are devils at work in the kitchen - recipes that are always perfect sometimes come out less than perfect and I can't figure out why.

Cooking and baking are pleasures and I want everyone to be able to experience and share them.

Anything you make in a 'normal' sized loaf pan can be made in the longer pan - you just have to increase the recipe proportionately.

When I'm developing a recipe with brown butter - I know how much butter I want in the end and I so I start with more butter than I'll need.

Adam Roberts is an original: smart, funny, talented, endlessly inquisitive, an A student and, happily for us, an A+ teacher. Everyone from beginner cooks to sure hands will learn something new on each page. And even if, like Adam's mom's, your stove stores shoes and handbags, you'll still be charmed by Secrets-it's a great read.

Meyer lemons are a splurge, but they're so wonderful. You could make a Meyer lemon curd or a jam. You could make a salad with slices of Meyer lemon. You could make a Meyer lemon tart and top the tart with candied slices of the lemons. You could use the lemons in a salsa to go over grilled fish or in a ceviche.

Whenever you brown butter, some of it is lost - water evaporates, milk solids fall to the bottom of the pan, that kind of thing. It's possible that in browning the butter you ended up making the dough with too little butter.