Pecan cranberry wedding cookies
When I think about the Dallas weddings I used to attend as a child in the 1970s, the one constant was a heaping plate of round white cookies. They were…
Pecans
Rosemary bacon spiced pecans
In a novel I was recently reading, a character had friends over for dinner. While she cooked she offered her guests bacon rosemary spiced pecans. Her guests loved the smoky,…
White Texas sheet cake
A couple of years ago, I was interviewed in the New York Times about Texas sheet cake. There’s a quote attributed to me, where the writer says I’m baffled by…
Sweet potato cheesecake
My uncle’s special Thanksgiving dessert is sweet potato pie. My brother’s special Thanksgiving dessert is pumpkin cheesecake. And since I’m going to see both of them on Thanksgiving, I decided…
Dr Pepper sheet cake
No one can resist a slice of Dr Pepper sheet cake, a tender chocolate cake coated in a fudgy frosting loaded with pecans.
Texas red ranch party mix
When it comes to holiday treats, the ones I look forward to the most are those on the salty and savory side. Whether it’s sausage balls, cheese balls, cheese straws,…
Spicy caramel corn
Popcorn has long been a family favorite. It was my grandfather’s go-to snack and he’d sit with a big bowl on his lap, happily eating handfuls. In fact, he loved…
Cheddar pecan biscuits
My uncle has said that if I feel joy when cooking then the food I make will always taste good. And whenever I think about my recipe failures, I sit…
Grandma’s pumpkin dessert
One holiday season when visiting my family, my grandma made us dessert. While usually she bakes us a pie, this time she had prepared a small square dish of something…
Peach streusel muffins
On a recent road trip, I took a break in Fairfield, a small town about halfway between Dallas and Houston. For years, this has been my favorite place to stop…
