Discover the Secrets of Good health

Guest author Garrett McCord of Vanilla Garlic brought these blondies over the other day, a variation of the blondies he made a few months ago. They were outstanding. They lasted all of 20 minutes. My father is still waiting for Garrett to bring him another batch. ~Elise
This is a take on my favorite blondie recipe [...]

A little trivia here. What makes a bisque a bisque and not a chowder? Both bisques and chowders are made with seafood and vegetables, with a cream base. Chowders tend to be more stew-like or chunky, and bisques puréed. Bisques are traditionally made with shellfish, though these days a puréed tomato, [...]

The tomatillos in my garden are all ripening at once. Have you ever cooked with tomatillos? They look like little lanterns, with their green papery husks. Sometimes people mistake them for green tomatoes (doesn’t help that their Spanish name is “tomate verde”); they are related to tomatoes (same family, different genus), but [...]

Just hearing the words “sloppy joe” from my mother used to send us kids into a tizzy. There was something wonderfully fun about getting to eat a burger/sandwich that was messy by design. I’ve been waiting to make this when my nephew was in town because sloppy joes really are a quintessential kid [...]

Boxes filled with cucumbers from the farmers market, scores of mason jars, big pots, lots of activity in the kitchen, fresh homemade pickles. These are some of my memories from summers growing up. My grandmother (dad’s mother) and my parents used to pickle a lot when I was a kid. My dad’s favorite [...]

I don’t know about you, but summer around here has us making potato salads more often than in other seasons. This is the latest one my mother put together; my father has made her make it several times since, and my brothers have devoured it with raves for mom. No mayo, just a simple [...]

Please welcome guest author Jaden Hair of Steamy Kitchen who is doing a series of Chinese American food recipes for us here on Simply Recipes. ~Elise
The first time I attempted to cook fried rice on my own, I was 15 and my parents and little brother were in Europe on vacation. I stayed home to [...]

The first time I stumbled upon Jaden Hair’s Steamy Kitchen food blog I had major blog envy. Who was this hilarious and irreverent woman? And how was it that she could make food look that good? I was hooked, an early convert to Jaden’s humor, playfulness, and drop-dead delicious Asian food. [...]

Updated, from the recipe archive.
My friends know me well. They know if they invite me over and I see that they have bushels of fresh-picked peaches just waiting for a home that I will offer my own kitchen counter space to take some of those gorgeous peaches off their hands. Such sacrifice, yes, [...]

A dear friend of mine from Alabama called me recently and demanded to know, “why aren’t there any grits on your site?!” Uh, because I’m not Southern and I don’t know what the heck I’m talking about when it comes to grits and I can’t even try to fake it with our readers? [...]