Overnight French Toast Casserole Say ‘oui’ to this yummy overnight breakfast casserole

When I began writing this column over 10 years ago, I had grand illusions of people sending me their favorite recipes and me trying them. What I found was that people are normally pretty guarded with their best dishes, and even more so, everyone wanted me to tell them something new to try instead of …

Mongolian Beef Make a great Asian dish like you’ve never had ‘beef’ore

I was so glad this week that the smoke detector in my kitchen isn’t particularly sensitive. As I sauteed thin slices of steak on my stovetop, the room filled with a fine smoke that my exhaust fan just couldn’t keep up with. I am normally really nervous about cooking anything on high heat. I think …

Quick Cherry Crumble Don’t crumble under hosting pressure; make a quick and easy dessert

I was remarking to some friends the other day about how Joey and I are complete opposites when it comes to socializing. As an extroverted social butterfly, Joey draws his energy from being around people and generally loves a crowd. For me, while I love to socialize, I tend to be reenergized by some alone …

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls Overcome your baking fears and give these rolls a ‘swirl’

I have had cinnamon rolls on the brain lately. Making them from scratch has always intimidated me a bit, and after making a particularly dry batch a couple years ago, I just haven’t had the bravery to try them again. I have two distinctly different recipes—one from my grandma and one from my great aunt—that …

Fresh Peach Muffins Fresh peaches are ‘muffin’ short of delicious for breakfast

I caught Joey eyeballing the bowl of peaches sitting in our fridge this week. “I’m going to use them this time,” I promised him. “They won’t end up in the freezer until next summer.” His facial expression betrayed a lack of confidence in my promises, so of course, I had to do some baking this …

Strawberry Rhubarb Galettes ‘Galette’ yourself enjoy some tasty, fruit-filled pastry

I had a great dinner night with my family over the weekend. After going out for some greasy food, topped off with ice cream and helping my niece extract every last quarter from my purse so she could eventually win a tiny stuffed turtle from a claw machine, I headed back to my parents’ house, …

Brown Sugar Peach Cake Stone fruit and brown sugar are truly made for ‘peach’ other

Last summer, we ended up with a large box of peaches, and when they started to get soft before we could finish them, I sliced them up, tossed them in a bag, and stored them away in the freezer. Well, rather than using them up sometime last fall…or winter…or spring…they’ve just been hanging out in …