Recipes

As a child, I started collecting recipes. I would store them in a pink plastic index box, carefully cutting out recipes from the Sunday paper and using my school stapler to secure them to index cards for filing. While I didn't grow up in a home where much cooking happened, I gravitated to those weekly recipe-collecting sessions at my mom's Formica kitchen table.

In my 20's I self-taught how to cook & bake almost entirely from scratch. For a long season, I made nearly everything in the most labor-intensive way. Whether it was cheese or bacon, sourdough, or marshmallows, it was a DIY process.

Many of the recipes below are from my early-day's blog, The Art of Homemaking started back in 2006. I have either developed these over the years or have found them in a cookbook and they have been in continual rotation in my family's kitchen. In that case, I have labeled each as such, for reference if you'd like to add the cookbook to your own collection.

Filter by

Roasted Tomato Tart
One of my favorite ways to bring summer to the dinner table is with a tart. Tarts make my world go round. I think I first fell in love after discovering Jerome Audureau's cookbook, Once Upon a Tart over a decade ago. We once visited the Greenwich Village bakery for....well tarts, of course. They were divine...but you know what? Tarts from my kitchen taste just as good. And the ones from your kitchen will as well. Because tarts are just that forgiving and rewarding.
- Read more
Best in Show Scones
Award Winning Recipe! Citrus zest, dried fruits, cheeses, meats, chocolate, and herbs really give you the sky's-the-limit access to this scone merrymaking!
- Read more
Summer Cake (Marillenkuchen)
A traditional European sponge cake is delicious but takes a more complicated approach than the one I’ve created here. I liken this recipe to a hybrid of my favorite Vienna memories and those of my beloved Appalachian skillet cake.
- baking
- Read more
A Traveler's Lentil Soup
This recipe for a rustic lentil soup is hugely forgiving. Serve it with local cheese, bread, butter, and a chilled glass of wine for a quick, hearty, delicious meal.
- Soup.
- Read more
Pie Crust 101
What makes it flaky? What makes it golden? Why does the bottom get soggy? Butter or shortening or both? More or less water? Air vents in the top crust or none? As mysterious as pie crust can be, it is also a fairly debunkable myth. Once you put in the practice, pie crust can actually be a crowning achievement in your baking endeavors.

This pie dough recipe has served me well over the years. It is straightforward and simple and produces a flaky crust time and again. The trick? Refrain from overworking the dough. You should still see small bits of butter even after rolling.
- baking
- crust
- pie
- Read more
Buttermilk Pancakes
As with most comfort foods, pancakes are eaten in some form or fashion in every culture. Cong You Bing in China. Raggmunk in Sweden. Dosa in India. Our American version is differentiated from most by the use of baking soda and baking powder to lighten, fluff, and brown those golden-hued silver dollars we’ve cherished since our first spin at the golden-arches drive-thru.
- Breakfast
- Pancakes
- Read more
Homemade Bagels for Beginners
This bagel recipe lends to delicious results with very little effort, error, or wait time.
- Read more
Ukrainian Paska
For generations, Paska has been the bread made in kitchens throughout the regions of Ukraine on Good Friday. The timing of Easter, the Christian holiday, more or less coincides with the pre-Christian ancient festival of spring called Velykden. For this reason, the celebration of Easter incorporates many ancient rituals, including the making of Paska.

Watch this video tutorial to learn how to make the Ukrainian Easter Bread commonly known as Paska.
- Read more
Transparent Pie
This rustic beauty falls into the category of a custard pie and there doesn't seem to be many differences between this and some of the others like Chess, Buttermilk, Sugar, or even the oddly named Jefferson Davis Pie.
- Read more
Bakery Pan de Mallorca (Puerto Rican Sweet Rolls)
Pan de Mallorca are billowy Puerto Rican bread rolls characterized by their soft, buttery, and fluffy texture. Perfect with a morning cup of coffee or a lunchtime ham & cheese sandwich.
- Read more
St. Anne the Tart Chocolate Chip Cookies
I'm sharing one of my favorite cookie recipes with you. It has been a recipe I have used for over 15 years now. Sometimes I tweak it -- like today's addition of hazelnuts & vanilla sugar -- but otherwise, it's stayed tried and true, year after year.
- Read more
Simple Banana Bread
Bananas, flour, sugar, eggs, butter…staple ingredients for a deliciously simple bread. Super-moist, deep flavors, and dense crumb.
- Read more