Tom and I are celebrating out second wedding anniversary this coming Tuesday. I’m sitting writing those words, and I still cannot believe it’s been already two years since our wedding.

Tradition says that you should give something made out of cotton for your second anniversary, but seriously – whose husband would be excited about new pajamas or a bath robe or bed sheets? I know mine wouldn’t.

Instead of cotton, I knew that I needed to continue my trend and feed him – just like I been doing for the past seven years we been together.

Other than pie, Tom loves anything that has lemon in it. His favorite candies are lemon drops and when I got this book and was reading through it, this recipe just had his name all over it – I needed to make it happen.

So when Marie mentioned that if we have any special occasions coming up and we are interested in certain recipes to mark them and let her know so she would put them on the list.

I been very excited with these and I could not wait to make them for him

A while ago during one of my monthly visits to the bookstore to browse the cookbooks that I was told not to buy, I came across Savory Baking. This 168 page book from one of America’s top pastry chefs, Mary Cech is filled with recipes that focus entirely on savory baking.

The book has a clean, crisp layout and while you do need to have some knowledge of “baking/Cooking” Cech takes the time to explain how to bake successfully and her writing is easy and friendly giving you the necessary push to try her recipes even if they seem a bit complicated.

What really made me buy this book was the unique way she pairs the usual baking recipes like eclairs, tarts even shortbread with the savory ingredients. Enticing a baker/cook like me to dive in and try them out. And let me tell you I have already done 3 of the 75 mouth-watering recipes and so far, all of them have been a major hit around these parts.

One of the ones that truly blew everyone away was the Onion, Fennel and Orange Upside-Down Shortcake. This shortcake topped with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers cooked in an amazing reduction of dry sherry and balsamic vinegar is a delight. And the shortcake infused with orange zest is a combination that may sound a bit odd at first – until you take the first bite and realized that being daring and bold in the kitchen is what cooking is all about.

TBB - Lemon Posset Shortcakes

Onion, Fennel, and Orange Upside-Down Shortcake