Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet

This watermelon lemonade sorbet has all of the flavors of a childhood summer... ripe and juicy watermelon, and sweet and tart lemonade.

This watermelon lemon sorbet is icy and tart/sweet, and totally refreshing. It's wonderful scooped into a bowl and eaten with abandon in this hot and humid weather.

El Diablo Cocktail

The El Diablo Cocktail, made with tequila, crème de cassis, lime, and ginger beer, is an easy and refreshing way to enjoy cocktail hour on a hot summer day.

You can control the strength of the el diablo cocktail by adding more or less of the ginger beer (or good ginger ale if you prefer), depending on the weather and how thirsty your guests are.

Rhubarb-Ginger Muffins with Rhubarb Streusel

These Rhubarb-Ginger Muffins with Rhubarb Streusel are a wonderful way to use rhubarb, a beautifully colored sweet/tart vegetable.

Buttermilk and sour cream add richness to these rhubarb muffins, and the ginger, nutmeg, and vanilla play so nicely with the rhubarb. The Rhubarb vanilla bean streusel adds a wonderful crust on top.

Greek-Style Watermelon and Tomato Salad

This Greek-Style Watermelon and Tomato Salad with cucumbers, red onions, kalamata olives, and feta cheese is the perfect salad for a summer evening.

This Greek-style watermelon and tomato salad is such refreshing summer dish. The sweetness of the watermelon and the saltiness of the kalamata olives are unexpectedly delicious together. This salad is also flavored with fresh parsley and mint, and drizzled with olive oil and good red wine vinegar.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup

This Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup tastes just like your favorite Italian layered casserole, but with less than half of the calories.

This Crock-Pot Lasagna Soup includes hot Italian sausage, marinara sauce, lasagne noodles broken into pieces, and a topping of ricotta mixed with parmesan and parsley.

Lemon Buttermilk Sheet Cake

This lemon buttermilk sheet cake is so soft and tender, and it's loaded with the sweet/tart flavor of lemon.

The cake itself contains three tablespoons of lemon zest and 1/4 cup of lemon juice, making it super lemony. You actually beat the lemon zest and the sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer to release the lemon flavor in the zest. Some of this sugary lemon zest is reserved to sprinkle over the delicious glaze on this cake, and the rest is beaten into the butter until the mixture is light and fluffy.

Thai-Style Catfish Burgers

Thai-Style Catfish Burgers with Shrimp and flavored with shallots, chiles, lime, ginger, and garlic served wrapped in tender lettuce and garnished with basil, mint, and cilantro.

I love the Thai flavors in these Catfish Burgers. They are so fresh and light. The burgers are held together by a mousse of shrimp, seasoning, and an egg white. No breading. The trick is to keep everything cold when preparing the patties so that they hold together while cooking.

New England Hot Dog Buns

I've always been curious about New England Style Hot Dog Buns. What makes them unique is that they stand up straight and are filled from the top, and the sides are buttered and grilled.

These New England hot dog buns are also famously used for lobster rolls and other seafood salad sandwiches.

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Kebabs

Grilled Teriyaki Pork Kebabs with pineapple, peppers, and red onions flavored with homemade teriyaki sauce and grilled to perfection.

The pork for these grilled teriyaki pork kebabs is marinated in a teriyaki sauce that is deeply flavored with nine ingredients, and then grilled, brushed with more reserved sauce, and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and scallions. They are totally delicious.

Olive Tapenade Deviled Eggs

These Olive Tapenade Deviled Eggs are one of my favorite ways to enjoy hard boiled eggs.

Deviled Eggs were probably my first official introduction to appetizers. In my family, someone always brought a tray for Christmas Eve dinner every year. The trouble with deviled eggs is that you could pretty much ruin your dinner because they are so delicious.

Singing Hinnies {Griddle Scones from Northern England}

Singing Hinnies are a traditional griddle cake from Northumberland in northern England. They are typically made with flour, butter, lard, salt, baking powder, milk, and dried currants.

How did Singing Hinnies get their name? 

Hinnie is supposed to be a term of endearment (like "honey") in the dialect of the region, and "singing" is supposed to represent the sound they make as they are cooking on the griddle.

Fougasse with Olives and Rosemary (Provençal Bread)

This fougasse with olives and rosemary is a chewy, crispy, and flavorful rustic bread with an open crumb. If your favorite part of artisan bread is the crust, you will love fougasse.

Fougasse is one of the breads of Provence, in the south of France. It's a crusty yeasted flatbread that is often shaped like a leaf, with cuts to create openings in the bread. The dough is similar to baguette dough, and the interior is airy like a baguette but just flatter and with more crust! It's also much easier and less stressful to shape.

Senbei - Japanese Rice Crackers with Furikake {Gluten Free}

Japanese rice crackers, or Senbei, are super crispy crackers that are both salty and sweet, and exceptionally crunchy.

These senbei, made with nori furikake, a seaweed rice seasoning, and glazed with soy and mirin (a sweet Japanese rice wine), are completely compelling. They have a flavor that kind of reminds you of sushi, because of the Nori Furikake incorporated into the dough.

Grilled Summer Vegetable Gazpacho

This grilled summer vegetable gazpacho is loaded with tomatoes, red onions, and zucchini, all grilled before creating this delicious cold soup. It's thickened with a little bit of bread, and flavored with red wine vinegar and garlic, and garnished with parsley.

This grilled summer vegetable gazpacho is wonderful for this time of year when all of your friends who are backyard farmers are trying to unload their extra vegetables. Plus, it's so delicious.

Air Fryer Cheesy Summer Vegetable Tart

This air fryer cheesy vegetable tart is wonderful with summer vegetables such as zucchini, pattypan squash, egg plant, tomatoes, and crook neck squash.

This cheesy vegetable tart, along with a salad, is a wonderful lunch for 3 to 4 people.

For the vegetables, I used a small trombetta squash from my cousin's garden along with a small tomato. The trombetta is so sweet and fresh tasting. My cousin's hobby is suburban farming, and she is incredible. I'm so fortunate to be a recipient of the bounty of her garden.

Chocolate Bread Ice Cream Sundaes

Chocolate Bread Ice Cream Sundaes made with layers of homemade yeasted chocolate bread, cookies and cream ice cream, and whipped cream, and topped with a maraschino cherry.

The chocolate bread in this chocolate bread ice cream sundae is different in that it is a yeasted bread. It's not like a cake or a quick bread, and it's much more firm and "bread-like."

Korean-Style Fried Chicken Wings

These Korean Fried Chicken Wings are double fried and then tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce. They are exceptionally crispy and jump-up-and-down delicious.

Korean Fried Chicken (or KFC) is hugely popular here where I live. It's a chicken that is double fried to ensure that it's totally crispy, and then tossed in a sauce of ketchup, brown rice syrup, gochujang, and vinegar.

Chipotle Lime Chicken Wings

These chipotle lime chicken wings make a hearty appetizer or a delicious main course. They are easy to make, and require very little hands on time.

These chipotle chicken wings are spicy and smoky, thanks to canned chopotle chiles in adobo sauce. Chipotles in adobo are actually dried chiles canned in a sweet-ish sauce, and they add so much flavor to lots of dishes. I like to puree the contents of the can and keep it in the fridge to add to scrambled eggs, bloody Marys, and quesadillas.