Maraschino Cherry Muffins

These little cherry muffins are filled with chopped Maraschino cherries and topped with a sweet cherry glaze.  

These cherry muffins are definitely a sweet treat and will be a big hit with the little ones. 

The Ultimate Layered Salad

This layered salad with iceberg, baby spinach, bacon, and peas (and lots of other veggies) is a reminder of those potlucks and recipe books put together by church groups, babysitting co-ops, charity groups, and women's clubs. Not necessarily high brow, but definitely tasty.

This Ultimate Layered Salad has twelve layers if you count the dressing.

Summer Squash Succotash

This summer squash succotash is a great recipe for using all of the wonderful produce that your garden is producing right now. 

While I don't have room for a garden, I am just lucky enough to have a cousin who is a horticultural genius, and grows an amazing variety of fresh produce in her almost cantilevered hillside garden. 

Butterscotch Pecan Cake

This Butterscotch Pecan Cake is super buttery and rich. It's filled with butterscotch chips and pecans and is so easy to put together. 

 

This butterscotch cake is loaded with butterscotch chips and toasted pecans. It's super moist, and includes both butter and plain full fat yogurt, along with eggs, sugar, and flour. 

Air Fryer Crab Rangoon (Crab and Cream Cheese Filled Wontons)

Crab rangoon is a delicious mixture of crab meat, cream cheese, herbs, and other flavorings and spices wrapped in a wonton wrapper. 

 

Crab rangoon is an appetizer whose roots are traced back to Trader Vic's, one of the first "tiki style" or Polynesian-style restaurants, which was based in San Francisco in the 1950s. 

Naan Sangak (Persian Pebble Bread)

This Naan Sangak, made with a sourdough starter, was an amazing adventure to make. Plus, the resulting bread is crazy good. 

 

Naan sangak is baked with an unusual and adventurous method. You actually bake the bread on a tray full of hot rocks! It's pretty fun. 

Air Fryer Buffalo Chicken Wings

These air fryer Buffalo chicken wings are so crispy and flavorful. Be sure to give everyone extra napkins, because they are going to want seconds. 

Made in an air fryer, they are a delicious lightened up take on the the deep fried restaurant version. The skin is super crispy even after being tossed in the tasty Buffalo sauce. 

Lasagna Bolognese

This lasagna Bolognese goes all in with super meaty ragú and a Parmesan besciamella sauce that captures the flavors of northern Italy. 

 

This lasagna is different, in that there is no mozzarella, and the sauce, or ragú, as it is known in Bologna, is so meaty. Typically, the sauce is served with tagliatelle. When I first made it, I served it with linguini because I couldn't find the tagliatelle. 

Rum-Raisin Bread

This Rum Raisin Bread is perfect for Sunday brunch. It's filled with rum soaked raisins, and topped with a rum flavored glaze.

 This rum raisin bread is so easy to make, and is such a stunning presentation with the drizzled glaze.

Swedish Rye Bread (Limpa)

Swedish Rye Bread, or Limpa, is a faintly sweet rye scented with orange, anise, fennel, and cardamom. It's very different from deli and other rye breads. 

Abandon any preconceived ideas you have about rye flavor. I'm pretty sure it's the caraway seeds or other flavorings that we taste in deli breads. Not that the flavor is bad, it's just not the rye flour.

Breakfast Strata with Corn and Chiles

This strata, filled with sweet corn and roasted poblano chiles, is a wonderful make-ahead breakfast, perfect for Sunday brunch, holiday mornings, or breakfast potlucks. 

Strata is a layered casserole of bread, vegetables, cheese, all held together with milk and eggs. You assemble the ingredients the night before, and then bake the casserole the next morning. 

Pavlovas with Whipped Cream and Berry Compote

Pavlova, with its rustic yet gorgeous appearance, is quite the showstopper dessert. These individual Pavlovas, topped with sweet whipped cream, mixed berries, and a raspberry sauce, are the perfect way to show off the beauty of summer berries. 

Pavlova is supposedly named after the Russian ballerina and originated in either New Zealand or Australia. Pavlovas look like meringues, but inside the crisp outer shell is a soft marshmallowy interior.  

Chorizo Stuffed Hash Browns

These chorizo stuffed hash brown potatoes are a take on your favorite Sunday breakfast side dish. The potatoes are stuffed with a mixture of Mexican chorizo, onions, chiles, and lots of wilted spinach. Each serving is pretty much a complete meal. 

You can just see the spinach and chorizo peeking out from between the layers of super crispy hash browns but you will tasted them with every bite. 

Yogurt Panna Cotta with Fresh Raspberry Sauce

This panna cotta with fresh raspberry sauce tastes like heaven in a spoon. 

 

Panna cotta means "cooked cream" in Italian. It is an easy and elegant make-ahead dessert. Basic panna cotta consists of cream, sugar, and gelatin, and sometimes vanilla. This recipe also includes yogurt and Grand Marnier liqueur.