Milk Punch has roots in New Orleans, with a history as a hair-of-the-dog remedy.   In fact, my best milk punch memory is enjoying a bit too much at a wonderful wedding brunch in New Orleans.  And now, that bride makes milk punch for a Christmas party every year.  I have to admit though, I make [...]

Last year, for the big family Christmas Eve celebration, I was tasked with providing a dessert.  It’s a little tough to figure out the right dessert for a great big gathering, one that serves enough and pleases everyone.  In the past I’ve made cakes and pies, but you always need to make two or three, [...]

I was in a very fancy grocery store and saw a lovely, beautifully wrapped box of hot chocolate-on-a-stick.  My first thought was “I can do that.”  And those babies with their cellophane and ribbon and fancy label were selling for $10 apiece.  Yea, I can do much better than that. These pops are basically block [...]

Red Velvet Cake is a real childhood memory for me.  I have an aunt who makes a great one.  But it was definitely not trendy or cool or in.  Red Velvet was seriously down-home, real country food.  It wasn’t even a standard on diner menus.  But that all seems to have changed.  I am dubious [...]

Before molten lava cake or chocolate fondants or fallen chocolate cake there was Tunnel of Fudge Cake.  It’s a classic recipe, and I am sure many people have their own version. Tunnel of Fudge Cake is possibly the recipe that I have been making longer than any other, and more often.  My mother passed this recipe [...]

Just under a year ago, I put up the first post on The Runaway Spoon, my instructions for real Buttermilk Fried Chicken with a story about my encounter with Julia Child.  It took a couple of years of consideration and many months of planning and design to get the site started, but here I am, [...]

The iconic S’more.  That memory-provoking piece of gooey, melty childhood – summer camp, the Fourth of July, beach bonfires.  I am not the first to re-imagine the s’more in a slightly less drippy, sticky and potentially hazardous form, but perhaps I am the laziest.  The portable, storable S’more cookies need only six ingredients, one bowl [...]

St. Patrick’s Day is a silly holiday – in the best possible way.  Grown folks dressing in green fuzzy wigs and big hats.  Pinching co-workers and friends who forget to wear green.  Drinking green beer.  Singing Irish songs as if you just came over from the old country.  In fact, celebrating a holiday largely based [...]