It's Not About Nutrition

When I was a girl, my parents would sometimes drive us to Tybee Island in the evenings just to watch the shrimp boats head out. You’d see the horizon dotted with tiny lights, like fireflies dancing on the dark water, and I always imagined my father knew each captain by name. The smell of salt and diesel wasn’t pretty, but it felt like part of home, and it’s one of those memories that never really leaves. Now, years later, whenever I make this dip, I think of those boats and that coast. It’s a simple recipe—no fussy extras, just shrimp …

The first time I tried to make real baklava, I cried. Not dramatic, sobbing tears—just the sort of frustrated, silent tears that come when you realize you’ve buttered yourself into a corner. Phyllo sheets tearing, sticky counters, butter pooling in places it shouldn’t. My youngest, bless him, wandered through the kitchen and asked if I was “making paper crafts or food.” That was enough to make me laugh through it, but the pan of baklava never did set right. We ate it anyway—too sweet, soggy bottom, like eating nuts wrapped in damp tissue paper. Now, my mother (who would’ve been …

The first time I heard the words Beaver Nuggets, I honestly thought my cousin in Dallas was pulling my leg. We were sitting at her kitchen table, back in the early 2000s, when she slid a plastic bag across the counter and said, “Try these.” I figured it was some kind of inside joke, or worse, jerky. But no—it was these sweet, golden, crunchy little clouds. One bite and I was sold. If you’ve ever driven through Texas, you already know about Buc-ee’s. That place is less of a gas station and more of an amusement park for road-weary families. …

It’s funny, the way certain foods just attach themselves to particular moods or seasons in your memory. For me, Apple Pan Dowdy doesn’t belong to Thanksgiving or Christmas, or even to the kinds of gatherings where people are bustling around with clipboards of what they’re bringing. It belongs to the in-between days—the gray, misty Tuesdays, the slightly lonely Fridays where you’re restless but not sure why. The first time I made it, it was one of those bone-chill damp days in late October, years back when the kids were still in high school. I had apples sitting too long on …

There’s something about September that always knocks me a little off balance. The mornings suddenly carry that faint bite in the air, even when the afternoons are still sweltering. The cicadas sound different, like they’re starting to fade out, and then, of course, there’s the business of school schedules again. I don’t have school-aged kids anymore—my youngest is nearly thirty, which I can hardly believe—but even now I can feel that familiar gear shift, the clatter of lunchboxes on the counter, backpacks dropped in the hallway, and me standing at the stove with something sweet baking away, trying to make …

I’ll confess right off: I love deviled eggs the way some people love Christmas morning. I can’t pass a plate of them at a church picnic or a graduation party without hovering a little too long, telling myself I’ll “just take one,” and then sneaking back for another. But the making of them? Lord have mercy. It’s like a punishment in patience. All the peeling, halving, scooping, mashing, piping. I’ve had yolk mixture burst out of those little plastic piping bags like a toothpaste accident, splattering across the counter. More than once I’ve thrown a tea towel over the whole …

Some dishes don’t just fill your belly — they fill your heart. This creamy seafood salad, made with good ol’ imitation crab, takes me straight back to Sunday potlucks at the church hall and lazy lake days with family when no one was in a rush to be anywhere. If you grew up in the Midwest like I did, you know we have our own way of bringing the coast inland. We may not have oceanfront views, but we sure know how to serve up a seafood salad that tastes like it came straight from the shore — even if …

You ever cook something by accident and then wonder why it took you so long to try it? That’s exactly how I stumbled into fried cabbage with bacon. One night, I had half a head of cabbage staring at me from the fridge (the kind of ingredient you buy with good intentions and then forget about). I also had a pack of bacon—because honestly, who doesn’t? I threw them together, not expecting much, and oh my word… it was love at first bite. It’s not fancy. It doesn’t need to be. It’s the sort of food that makes the kitchen …

You ever have one of those desserts that just shuts everyone up at the table? Like, people take a bite and suddenly the room goes silent — all you hear are little hums of approval and the scrape of forks against plates. Yeah, that’s these Caramel Cheesecake Bars. I made these the first time when my sister was visiting from out of town. She’s a cheesecake snob — I say that with love — and she said (quote), “These are better than Cheesecake Factory.” I just smiled and handed her another bar. We both knew it was true. These bars …

Let me tell you something—if there’s one dish that never, ever lets me down, it’s crab legs. Especially baked, dripping with garlic butter, and served to the people I love when the house smells like heaven and everyone’s a little sun-kissed from the day. Crab legs remind me of summers up at the lake—remember those? Long days that started with too much sunscreen and ended with someone accidentally dropping a hot dog into the fire. The evenings were the best, though. Grandma would holler that dinner was ready, and we’d all pile into the kitchen—barefoot, tanned, and starving. She always …