I am a devotee of the transformative powers of buttermilk.  It makes chicken tender and biscuits light.  Cakes have a fine crumb and dressings a nice tang.  I use buttermilk whenever I can, and I go out of my way to buy the best, farm-fresh buttermilk available.  I make biscuits of all sorts, marinate chicken [...]

There was a pub I frequented when I was a graduate student in England.  I will admit I didn’t eat there as much as my friends and I took a study break for last call at the bar. But they did serve food.  It wasn’t gourmet, it wasn’t even all that great, but they did [...]

I like books about people who do things.  This summer I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie series, and boy do they do things.  Make their own clothes, their own food – even their own housee.  I have a list of books I have enjoyed that detail the work of women in [...]

Vichysquash, or Squashyssoise? Yep, this all started because of the name.  I saw a recipe for Vichysquash years ago, and loved the silly name, but it called for canned creamed soup, which has never appealed to me.  The idea stuck though, and when I see the glut of yellow crookneck squash piling up at the [...]

I love strawberry season.  Not only do I finally get my hands on delicious berries, but it really means the start of delicious farmers market produce.   I only buy strawberries in season.  I know you can get them all year round now, but I don’t like the watery,  hothouse types, or ones flown in from [...]

I set out to make a cookie reminiscent of good-old fashioned gingerbread cake.  When I managed to achieve this, it occurred to me that if I called them gingerbread cookies, it would bring to mind the crispy, crunchy type – like gingerbread men or tree ornaments.   That is not what these lovelies are at all.  [...]

A good corn muffin is a thing of beauty. The perfect accompaniment to a bowl of soup or a supper salad, and so comforting passed around the table in a basket while still warm. Slather on a little butter, and you’ve got a bite of heaven, my friend. These tender corn muffins have the added [...]

My love for biscuits has been well and truly established.  And though I will never turn away from a classic Southern buttermilk biscuit, piping hot, slathered with butter, I do occasionally like to veer off the path a bit – but not too far! But with summer blueberry bounty in full swing, I decided to [...]

  In the great and varied universe of classic Southern desserts, caramel cake is possibly the North Star.  A soft, white cake covered in thick, thick caramel frosting.  The center layer of frosting bleeds a little into the cake and the frosting on the top and sides takes on a slight crispiness – bite into the [...]

For some reason, I tend to think of pie as a summer or spring dessert.  Maybe I hold that image of picnics and outdoor parties where the loaded summer fruit pies come out, peach and strawberry and fresh, juicy fruit – with a pecan pie thrown in for good measure.  But pie is really an [...]