• The oatmeal that will change your life

    When someone who served as a judge for Iron Chef America’s Battle Oatmeal sends you a link to a recipe and says “This oatmeal will change your life,” you should believe him. This oatmeal is spicy, fruity and wondrous. The recipe is by Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville and comes from Esquire.com, which […]

  • Chocolate-peanut butter cake

    Imagine moist, chocolatey cake, enveloped in fluffy peanut butter-cream cheese frosting and topped with a layer of peanutty chocolate ganache. It’s like what would happen if a peanut butter cup accidentally wandered through some radioactive ooze. It’s a teenage mutant ninja peanut butter cup cake. You can use any kind of cocoa powder. I had […]

  • How to frost a cake

    So you bake a lovely, moist cake. And you whip up some fabulous frosting that is a different color. And then you realize — I have no idea how to combine these items without it becoming a big mess. Don’t worry. The secret is a crumb coat. If it’s a layer cake, the first thing […]

  • Rigatoni alla Norma

    This recipe came from Runner’s World magazine. Now that you’ve laughed so hard you fell out of your chair, please pick yourself up again so we can continue. (If you’re wondering why that’s funny… well, let’s just say I am not exactly a runner. I did actually complete a half marathon once, but that was […]

  • Thoughts on mise en place

    So, apparently I’m not a horrible person after all. I recently mentioned mise en place — the technique of prepping all your ingredients before you start cooking. It was only then that I realized that not only is that a thing with a name, I apparently was supposed to be doing it. Yikes. Yes, the […]

  • Peppermint brownies

    This is another tailgating favorite — and a go-to when I need to make something but don’t have much time. If you keep a few boxes of brownie mix and a bag of York peppermint patties (or a few Symphony bars) in the cupboard, you’ll be good to go. Assuming you can keep from eating […]

  • Peanut butter and jelly bars

    Yesterday was the Navy-Georgia Southern game, and I wanted to make something to bring for tailgating. So, get excited. It’s peanut butter jelly time. People LOVE these things. One adorable midshipman who ate one yesterday looked like he had died and gone to heaven. He also made a comment that is probably not appropriate for […]

  • How to butter a pan without buttering yourself

    This might be a “duh” one, but I used to butter a pan by just picking up the stick of butter and rubbing it around in the pan. Even if I tried to hold it by the wrapper, I’d still get butter all over my hands. Then I saw Isabel do the following: Put some […]

  • Croque monsieur

    I was going to make something that took more than 15 minutes yesterday… and then I didn’t get home until 9:30. So I decided to make croque monsieur (monsieurs? I don’t know French grammar) — a fancy way of saying grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. I got the idea to make these a few weeks […]

  • Chalupas – shredded pork and beans

    We here at ESS are big fans of baked goods, obviously. But we are also very fond of spicy foods, anything involving tortillas, and pork products. Add the fact that this is a slow-cooker recipe that requires limited effort and it’s close to perfect. These are called chalupas, but they have nothing to do with […]