Strawberry season is in full swing here in Baldwin County, Alabama. I've already made a couple of batches of Tiny Batch Strawberry Preserves, I’ve eaten a fair number of strawberry spinach salads, and I still can’t make myself pass up local strawberries at the...
Vegetarian
Strawberry Cream Cheese Baked French Toast
I know you’re planning your holiday menus by now, and that almost certainly means at least one breakfast/brunch if not more. As many of you know, the traditional Christmas brunch at my house is Grillades and Grits, which I continue to heartily recommend. But what if...
Baked Ziti
***Lazy Chef Edition*** I love you, dear reader, I really do, and because I love you so, I have a gift. Below is a Baked Ziti as good as any on The Sopranos, but in a crazy easy one-dish pasta version. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t rat me out. It’s a week before...
Apple Cranberry Salad
Hearty fall salads don’t get enough attention around here. I really enjoy getting to cook heavier, richer dishes after the summer heat breaks, but I don’t like to eat that way exclusively. Chilies, stews, braises, long-cooked cool weather vegetables--I love them, but...
The Best (and Easiest) Homemade Marinara Sauce
Does anybody else have those weeks where you’ve been as busy as the dickens, busier than a one-armed wallpaper hanger, certainly too busy to cram in one more thing (especially laundry), but you still don’t quite know what you’ve managed to accomplish? If anything?...
Really Good Pimento Cheese
Unlike foie gras, veal tartare, and the still-beating hearts of cobras, as delicacies go, there is nothing controversial about pimento cheese. The only question at all is whether it’s good or bad. Bad pimento cheese is, of course, an abomination, but good pimento...
The Best Ricotta Dip, Plus All-Purpose Ricotta Filling
Oooooh! Ooooooh! Have I ever got a dandy recipe for you! But first, let me explain: A while back I ran across a recipe I very much wanted to try. It was a whipped ricotta dip with rosemary for bread and vegetables. So quick and easy, I just knew it would be right up...
Couscous Salad
I’ve shared a version of this salad in my Lazy Cook classes for a while now--turns out I’m not the only lazy cook out there, who knew?--and I frequently run into somebody or another who tells me that they make this salad all the time. So do I! Couscous Salad is in...
Chilled Asparagus with Curry Dip
I know y’all are all starting to think about what to serve for Easter dinner. After a year of Covid-19 seriously cramping our holiday style, I am ready for a big Easter feast. And I’m willing to bet that we’ll see a fair amount of Easter/Spring/Renewal celebrating...
Roasted Artichokes with Creamy Lemon Dipping Sauce
Whole fresh artichokes are weird. I love them. They’re beautiful, but they’re weird. Artichokes are a member of the thistle family, and nothing about their appearance suggests how one might go about cooking--let alone eating--them. I know we’re all familiar with...
Black Bean Enchiladas with Salsa Fresca
Black Bean Enchiladas have been a staple at my house for my entire adult life. I learned to love freshly made Tex-Mex food at the original Winslow's Cafe in Fairhope, Alabama, when I was a kid and I've never looked back. It would be years before we got an actual...