I think everyone has a dish that evokes happiness the moment they see it. One of mine is cheesecake, and as soon as I spot a big beauty, my heart flutters. What is it about that creamy goodness that makes me want to stop everything and grab a spoon? I guess it’s comforting – something to…
Sweets & Desserts
Raisin Pie
It’s holiday time and that means baking lots of family favorites! For me, I look forward to meat pie (a French Canadian fave), homemade caramel with pecans, gingerbread cookies and raisin pie, to name a few. Raisin pie was always at Christmas gatherings when I grew up. It was easy to spot on the buffet…
Strawberry Banana Yogurt Popsicles
The first day of Fall is next week, but that doesn’t stop me from making one last ditch effort to highlight a treat that’s fruity, COLD and fun. Now, I’m not one to have lots of gadgets in my kitchen, but I recently bought a $10 popsicle mold. Just for fun. Because, well, the pandemic. I’ve…
Roasted Stone Fruit with Orange & Vanilla
Sigh. . .stone fruit season is coming to a close! We’ve had a good run, but Fall is fast approaching and we’ll soon be focused on apples and hard squash. If you still have a bunch of peaches, plums, nectarines or apricots, but aren’t sure what to do with them (other than making cobbler or…
No-Churn Coffee Ice Cream
There are some things that scream Summer, like dragging a cooler to the beach, lounging on a pool raft, eating watermelon on your back porch, buying roadside-stand tomatoes, and bellying up to an ice cream shop in your wet bathing suit. While I haven’t bellied up to an ice cream shop lately, I have fond memories of…
Fresh Peach Ice Cream
Summer offers so many delicious treats – grilled hot dogs (I like ‘em charred), piled-high burgers (with a tomato slab, of course), buttered corn, cold watermelon and, of course, stone fruits — I especially look forward to these (namely, peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries) because they’re in peak season, bursting with flavor. I’m sure at…
Vintage Seafoam Salad
Summer is on its way and we’re feeling the heat here in Florida. To cool things down, I decided to make a dish that’s not only refreshing, but easy. It even jiggles. Yes, it’s a Jello-O® salad! Jell-O has its origins in gelatin (around since the 15th century), but I recently learned that the sweet, dessert…
Forgotten Cookies
Craving something sweet? I’ve got you covered. This dessert is not only sweet, it’s a vintage recipe that’s easy to make, has no flour, and is gluten-free. What IS this magical dessert? Meringue cookies, of course! My grandmother made these for as long as I can remember. She didn’t invent them (there are tons of posts…
No-Crust Honeybell Pie
It’s my first post of 2020! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to start a new decade 🙂 For me, 2019 was marked by soul-warming visits with friends and family, countless hours and dollars refurbishing our ’74 VW bus, awesome rides in that bus we named “Luna,” learning how to play the bass…
Raisin Cake
I called my mom this week to confirm history and details of an old family cake recipe. I hadn’t realized my husband heard my conversation but when I hung up he said “I bet your mom loves it when you call her about recipes.” His comment got me to thinking how she and I have…
Fresh Peach Torte
I collect recipes, but I especially like to know the stories behind them, if possible. . . I’ve got newspaper clippings, scribbles on pieces of paper, bookmarked Google stories and notes written to me about recipes I should pursue. Some are meant to go together, others are one-offs. Periodically I go through this large cache and…
Papaya with Lime
If you need a tasty dish for a Cinco de Mayo party, look no further than the papaya in your backyard or at the farmers market. Papayas grow well in Florida and a mature tree can yield many, many pounds of fruit, so it’s common for neighbors and co-workers to share them with the “papaya-less” crowd. Just…