It's Not About Nutrition

You know how some desserts just feel like a hug? That’s this cake. Italian Love Cake has been floating around for decades — I first had it at my neighbor Teresa’s kitchen table back in the early ’90s. She served it with coffee after Sunday dinner, and I swear, nobody talked for a good minute. Just forks clinking and little sighs of joy. It’s got this magical thing going on where the layers flip as it bakes. You pour the chocolate cake batter in, then the ricotta cheese mixture — and somehow, mid-oven, they trade places. Like a little love …

The first time I made this sopapilla pie, I didn’t tell anyone what it was. I just set it on the counter, didn’t label it, didn’t say a word. And you know what happened? That dish was half gone before dinner even hit the table. I heard forks clinking and little murmurs like “What is this?” and “Did she buy this somewhere?” My husband took one bite, raised his eyebrows, and said, “Where’d you get this?” Like I had some secret bakery hookup or something. Nope. Just me, two tubes of crescent rolls, a block of cream cheese, and a …

There’s something about strawberries that takes me back to summers with my grandma, barefoot in her backyard, eating fresh berries out of a chipped enamel bowl. We’d sit on a creaky old porch swing while she told stories and I giggled at the juice running down my chin. So when I say this Easy Strawberry Slab Pie is special, I mean it tugs at the warmest corners of my heart. But here’s the kicker—it’s easy. Like, really easy. We’re talking pantry staples, store-bought pie crust, and no fussy techniques. This is the kind of recipe that shows up for potlucks, …

Okay. So, I wasn’t planning to bake a cake last Tuesday. I’d just finished lunch, the kitchen was still a mess, and there was laundry screaming at me from two rooms over. But I’d been staring at this little bag of shelled pistachios I bought “for snacking” (yeah right), and something in me whispered… cake. Not a frosted, layered, birthday-type cake. No piping bags. No sprinkles. Just something soft and nutty that makes your kitchen smell like you tried—without actually trying that hard. Enter this Pistachio Caprese Cake. I’d seen something like it once in a cookbook I can’t remember …

A little salty, a little tangy, and a whole lot of “pass me the crackers.” Okay, so let me start by saying this: if you’ve never had old-school ham salad, this might sound a little strange at first. Ham… in a salad? With mayo? And eggs?? But trust me—this is one of those retro recipes that should’ve never gone out of style. My grandma used to make a version of this with leftover holiday ham, usually the kind that had a crispy brown sugar crust and still smelled like cloves three days later. She’d just toss the leftover chunks into …

Okay, full honesty—when I first saw that Snoop Dogg had a cookbook, I thought it was just a fun novelty thing. You know, like, “Oh look, the rapper made a cookbook.” But then I actually made something from it, and… yeah. I was wrong. So wrong. These brownies? They’re not just good. They’re next-level chocolatey, like fudge and cake had a baby and that baby had zero chill. And the best part? You don’t need anything fancy. I made these in my old scratched-up saucepan with a wooden spoon that’s seen better days, and they still turned out like something …

You know those days when you just need a cookie that means it? Not some flat little crisp with a few chocolate chips scattered like afterthoughts. No, ma’am. I’m talking about the kind of cookie you break open with both hands — warm, molten in the center, pockets of melted chocolate oozing out like a dessert lava flow. Well, one rainy afternoon (the kind where your slippers stay on ‘til 3pm), I found myself craving that exact cookie. I wanted thick, I wanted chewy, and I wanted to bite into something that felt like a hug. After a few test …

I had strawberries that were starting to slump a little in the back of the fridge — you know that kind, soft in the middle but still too good to toss — and I’d already made jam the week before. So I just started throwing things in a bowl. I didn’t even get the mixer out. I was barefoot. It was a Sunday. The dog was snoring by the door. You get the picture. And somewhere between folding the strawberries in and brushing cream on top, I thought: Huh. These might actually turn out alright. They didn’t turn out alright.They …

A few weeks ago, I had one of those half-full bags of Hawaiian rolls on the counter. You know the kind — slightly squished, a few lonely ones clinging to the edge of the plastic tray. I was this close to tossing them (guilt included), but something in me whispered, “Don’t do it. Turn them into something good.” Well, sweet Lord, did I ever. What came out of that oven was like bread pudding and cinnamon rolls had a baby, and that baby was golden, soft in the middle, and had just the right crisp along the edges. My husband …

Let me just say this right off the bat: if you bring this dip to a gathering, bring the recipe too, because folks will be asking. No joke — I’ve scribbled this one on napkins, church bulletins, even the back of a receipt once at a baby shower. It’s just that good. I first made this Jarlsberg Cheese Dip on a whim before a Sunday potluck. You know how it is — you don’t want to show up empty-handed, but you’re also not trying to turn on the oven in August. I had a block of Jarlsberg, some mayo, and …