Ratios and cherry almond cookies
I’m an improvisational cook. This means that I’ll take stock of what I have in the kitchen and then create dishes from what’s available. This method usually works if I’m…
Dessert recipes
Peach cobbler, banana pudding, pecan pie, chocolate sheet cake and cool ice creams are included in this category of beloved Texan desserts.
Pinto bean pie: sweet, not savory!
Vinegar pie, buttermilk pie, and corn meal pie—these are all desserts that were in vogue when my grandmothers were growing up in the Great Depression. Made with just a few…
Sweet cornmeal biscuits
A few weeks ago, I had a lovely lunch at Dovetail, an Upper West Side restaurant that serves what I would call creative comfort food. The meal was good but…
Uncle Richard’s sweet potato pie
In times like these, I’m in need of some serious comfort. I work in magazines and it’s very grim seeing your industry on a downhill slide. Not a day goes…
Apple wacky cake
Recently, I was perusing my photocopies of old family recipes in search of inspiration. I was hoping to find a casserole since it’s officially turn-on-the-oven weather, but instead I came…
Grandma’s chocolate pie
There are pies and then there is my grandma’s chocolate pie. It’s a luscious chocolate custard resting on a flaky, almost salty crust, topped with a springy meringue. For me,…
Buttermilk peach ice cream on a summer morning
I was talking to my grandmother the other day, and she mentioned that she had just eaten a peach from her tree. “It was a perfect peach,” she said. The…
Easy as blueberry fried pie
Cake or pie? That’s a question often posed, with much weight attached to the answer. For me, the choice is simple: I’ll take the pie. I don’t know what this…
Dr Pepper peanut brittle
A friend brought up an interesting point the other day. She said, “Why do Texans refer to all soft drinks as Coke?” And while it’s true, I don’t have an…
Long days, strawberry shortcake nights
During the strawberry’s brief yet vibrant season, I try to eat them every day. I eat them with balsamic vinegar. I eat them in pies. I eat them in salads….
