Dessert Recipes
Lemon Bars
I’ve mentioned my Cousin Patty before, that old Texas gal, bless-her-heart. This is her recipe for lemon bars. It’s different than any other recipe I’ve found in that the crust is put together more like a cookie than a pie crust, and the filling has baking powder in it. S’weird, I know. The end result…
Read MoreSummer Fruit Recipes: Plum Empanadas (and other things)
When I was around 8 years old, I had one of the most joyful and vivid dreams of my life. We grew up in the Texas hill country, out on Lake Travis, far from civilization, but fortunately with lots of land to run around on and play. Next to our house was a scrubby field…
Read MoreKey Lime Pie
Alright, I’mma be honest with you: I never did like key lime pie much. Back when I was a kiddo, I mean. It was too tart, too bitter, to lime-y. But (fortunately?) these past many years of drinking whiskey, chewing up entire raw ghost peppers, and siphoning gasoline (I kid. Mostly.) have left my tastebuds…
Read MoreHomemade Banana Pudding
Hey look! Homemade banana pudding recipe! It’s time for a creamy treat, kids! This was one of my favorite desserts when I was wee, perhaps tied with pistachio pudding out of a box which I just loved, and coming in a close second to bubblegum ice cream from Baskin Robbins which sounds absolutely appalling to…
Read MoreFried Apple Pies
My dad made fried pies pretty often when I was a kid, but I never paid attention to what he was doing until it was time to eat. Then last year, I was gifted with my great-grandmother’s recipe collection. Jesus Lord. It was a veritable treasure trove of good food maps. Most were written on…
Read MoreSweet Pickled Peaches (or Nectarines)
This is my great-grandmother Shaw’s recipe for sweet pickled peaches. I remember my mom making these from the tiny white peaches that grew around our house when I was growing up, even if she doesn’t remember that. So when my grandma (other side of the family) showed up with a 10-pound bag of not-quite-ripe nectarines…
Read MoreFlan
How to make Flan video (scroll down for flan recipe) Cinco de Mayo is this weekend and if you’re not familiar, it’s kind of a big deal around these parts. It’s a Mexican holiday that commemorates the Battle of Puebla, in which the Mexicans whooped the French even though they were outnumbered two-to-one. It’s always…
Read MoreMemorial Oatmeal Cookies
James’s memorial service is tonight. I’m making food for it today. He loved cookies; I think, because he himself was kind of like a cookie. Easily shared, day-brightening, and sweet – any or all of those descriptives could be ascribed to both cookies and James. Here is a cookie recipe I created for James. I…
Read MoreStrawberry Shortcake
It’s time to make actual, real strawberry shortcake now. You know those cellophane bags of “shortcakes” you can pick up in the produce section, usually right next to the plastic sacks of “strawberry” glaze? Well, I have some bad news. I destroyed all of those in several small arson jobs. And I infested the factories…
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