wild violets

Homemade Violet Syrup–Made with Violets from Spring Gardens & Woods

April 15, 2015 By Nancy Baggett 8 Comments

Each spring I take a page from traditionalist European and some American cooks and herbalists and harvest native woodland violets for culinary use. The ones ...

Beautiful Violet-Herb Vinegars–Easy, Spectacular Gifts from the Kitchen (and Garden)

May 6, 2013 By Nancy Baggett 4 Comments

Time is running out! Well it is if you love woodland violets and live here in central Maryland. The vast purple-blue carpet where I harvested a whole basket of ...

Welcome to KitchenLane! It’s a comfortable place where I create, thoroughly test, and photograph recipes for my cookbooks and blog. All my recipes are original, not adaptations from others. I trained as a pastry chef, so many offerings are desserts and baked goods. Some are also healthful, savory dishes I contribute to healthy eating publications. My recipes are always free of artificial dyes, flavorings, and other iffy additives, which I won’t serve my family—or you! Instead, dishes feature naturally flavorful, colorful ingredients including fresh herbs, berries, edible flowers, and fruits, many from my own suburban garden or local farmers’ markets. Since lots of readers aspire to write cookbooks, I also blog on recipe writing and editing and other helpful publishing how-to info accumulated while authoring nearly 20 well-received cookbooks over many years.