All Recipes

Alright. I’ve gotta tell you, there’s something about a Southern fish fry that just feels like home—even if you didn’t grow up in the South. Growing up, we didn’t need much of a reason to fry fish. Maybe Uncle Harold showed up with a cooler full of fresh catfish from the creek. Maybe it was payday. Or maybe we just felt like gathering up folks and making a mess in the kitchen. Whatever the reason, once that skillet hit the stove and the cornmeal hit the oil, everyone magically appeared—cousins, neighbors, folks we hadn’t seen in months. It was always …

You know those days when you want to cook something special — not fancy, just cozy and impressive — but you’re also tired and your kitchen’s already a little chaotic? This recipe came from one of those nights. I had a pack of chicken breasts, a lonely block of cream cheese, and half a pack of bacon that needed love. And let me tell you, what started as a “clean out the fridge” dinner turned into something the whole family begged me to write down. (Yes, even my picky grandson who usually acts like cheese is poison.) This bacon-wrapped stuffed …

You know those recipes that just feel special, even if they don’t take all day to make? This is one of them.The first time I made bacon maple glazed pork tenderloin, I honestly wasn’t trying to be fancy. I just had a pork tenderloin in the fridge, a few slices of bacon that needed using up, and a bottle of good maple syrup my sister brought back from Vermont. Twenty-five minutes later, my kitchen smelled like a maple festival had moved in — sweet, smoky, and just the tiniest bit tangy from the mustard in the glaze. The best part? …

Chicken cacciatore has always felt like more than just a meal to me — it’s a little piece of family history ladled into a bowl. Back when I was a kid here in the Midwest, my grandma would pull out her biggest pot on days when the wind just wouldn’t quit howling through the trees. She’d call it hunter’s stew — no fancy name, no fuss — just good, honest food that filled the house with warmth when our toes were numb and the windows rattled like they might blow clear off the hinges. I swear I can still see …

Can I just tell you—there is nothing better than sitting on the back porch with a homemade margarita while the sunset does its thing. I mean, it’s practically my summer love language. Ever since I stumbled on a ridiculously easy homemade margarita mix recipe (straight from that amazing link over at Brazilian Kitchen Abroad), I’ve been obsessed. The bottled stuff? Left in the dust. Now I make a fresh, citrus-packed batch almost every barbecue. Kids running wild, dogs barking, grill smoking—that first icy sip? Sheer bliss. Party or not, I keep a jar ready just for those “me time” nights, …

Simple. Sticky. A little Southern. A whole lotta comfort. Let me tell you something real — I did not grow up with fancy desserts. No crème brûlée, no layered trifles, no tarts with delicate swirls. But what I did have? Banana pudding. Sometimes with vanilla wafers, sometimes without, always warm and sweet and made with love. The kind of dessert that gets plopped onto a plate with a big spoon, no measuring, no precision, just heart. Now, this Banana Foster Pudding isn’t exactly what my grandma made — but oh my goodness, it tastes like something she would’ve. It’s my …

You know, some recipes just sneak up on you. You’re standing in your kitchen, rummaging through the fridge at 5:37 p.m., half-hungry, half-grumpy — and suddenly, you realize you’ve got just enough of everything to pull something delicious together. That’s exactly how this Baked Onion Beef Fried Rice came about in my house. I had a bowl of leftover rice sitting all lonely in the back of the fridge, a pound of ground beef I’d forgotten to freeze (oops), and a stubborn onion that kept rolling off my counter all week. And because I can’t leave well enough alone, I …

A humble vegetable dressed to impress — no apron required. There are some recipes that just feel like home. You know the ones — they don’t come from a fancy cookbook or a viral video, but from memory. From watching someone you love stand in a warm kitchen with an apron covered in flour or butter (or both). This one takes me straight back to my grandma’s kitchen. She had this way of turning cabbage — plain ol’ cabbage — into something comforting and deeply satisfying. No frills. Just good food. Of course, she didn’t have a slow cooker. She …

I’ll be honest — I didn’t grow up eating haystacks. We were more of a boxed brownie mix kind of household. But one day, years ago, I was standing in the kitchen, craving something sweet with a little crunch and zero patience. I wasn’t about to preheat the oven or pull out a stand mixer. It was one of those days. That’s when I remembered something I saw in an old church cookbook — peanut butter haystacks.Only I didn’t have the exact ingredients. So I played around. Tossed in some chow mein noodles, stirred in peanuts, added a swirl of …