This banana bread recipe is so good. So good that you'll find you've finished half a loaf without noticing. No. Really. So good that it's totally worth waiting for those bananas to turn black and attract a swarm of fruit flies. (Well, maybe don't wait THAT long). So good that you might just find yourself talking to it while it's toasting up in your toaster oven the next day. "There's a good lass. Only a......

Following up on my last post, here are five favorites I return to time and time again. All are reliable sources for good eating! Home Cooking and More Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin The novelist Laurie Colwin wrote playful, funny novels (Goodbye without Leaving is my favorite) about complicated characters, and also wrote straightforwardly about everyday cooking, the kind that sustains body and soul. Home Cooking, the first collection of her pieces from Gourmet and......

Making these cookies is one of my fondest Christmas traditions. This would lead you to believe that I am a total sugar-holic (which I am), but I mostly enjoy flexing my artistic muscle to decorate these bad boys. We have about 50 different cookie cutters, 6 colors of icing, and decorations galore. It’s always fun to make the standard snowman, but after 2 hours of baking you start to get creative. Dinosaurs, shoes, cars…......

Almond Florentines are one of those holiday treats that I look forward to every Christmas. Light and crunchy, these decadent nibbles are super easy to bake and make a great holiday gift- but watch out, they're also highly addictive! 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup honey 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 4-5 cups sliced almonds 1 cup chocolate chips 5-6 aluminum pie plates Combine butter, sugar, honey, and whipping cream in a......

I think it started about a year ago, when the students in one the classes I was teaching found out that I was going to cooking school. "Will you make us something?" they begged. I pictured myself whipping up something in the French tradition from my growing pile of recipes and modifying it to serve thirty or so college freshmen. "No," I replied sensibly. "But if you're good, I'll make you cookies!" I love......

Sitting on my couch, enjoying my freshly baked Carrot Spice Muffin, I noticed the different textures and colors looking back at me from my first bite. This diversity seemed friendly. I was reminded of the first time black children and white children sat in a classroom together. Men hugging men and women hugging women for "one second too long," with people looking on only smiling. A shared tone was felt. "Isn't that just wonderful?"......