susan-cooks! (teaches, reads cookbooks)

Homely. Yummy. In November 2010, Salon's Francis Lam wrote a glorious essay praising the Biscoff© that Delta serves to grateful p...

Goldilock's Spicy Cheddar Shortbread Cheddar Shortbread is the lazy cook's substitute for Cheese Straws. They are a snap to make ...

Francis Lam gets it right... How to sear and saute mushrooms

Although I respectfully revised it in a 2007 blog post , I stand second to none in my admiration for Laurie Colwin's  version of Kathryn...

Had my first SweeTango apple this morning. It was very good -- crisp, bright, and with a clearly identifiable and sweet flavor. It is not, h...

Tasteless Black Pepper Dust is one of the lesser miseries of a frequent traveler.  On a room service breakfast before the caffeine kicks in...

If you do not already own Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking and More Home Cooking , stop now and run to a bookstore, or do a quick-as-a-win...

One of the many wonderful aspects of Lynne Rossetto Kasper's Splendid Table universe (the radio show, the books, the store) is her unaba...

Pinch a foodie, a food lover, a gourmet, a gourmand, epicurean, connoisseur, or any sentient being during high summer and you are likely to ...

July 4th Weekend wasn't just a nanoscapes Painting Marathon for me, but an opportunity to revisit Scallion Pancakes . My recipes from 2...

Hot and Sour Soup makes or breaks a satisfying Chinese restaurant meal for me. (Kudos to Schuang Cheng in Minneapolis and Szechuan in Ros...

Recently, my pal Nancy McCormick was lamenting the loss of her Mother's chili recipe, which she recalled as belonging to former Presiden...

I love hot pepper jams, but never found them to be hot enough. Why? Traditional recipes call for 4 cups of peppers and 5 cups of sugar. ...

The March and April 2010 issue of Cooks Illustrated has changed my life, or at least changed my fridge. It turns out that if you store lem...

Finding Facebook Friends of the Mighty Mo and Hot Shoppes brings back memories from early childhood to high school. Brain-freeze from th...

I heard the Siren Song of Meatloaf this week, and remembered “State Fair Ham Loaf” from the estimable Minnesota State Fair: An illustrated ...

It’s the New Year, and time to look around at “stuff.” I have 70 spoons, spatulas, spoonulas, ladles, canning magnets, strainers, whis...

Thanksgiving is coming. Really soon. If you are going to cook any part of the meal you ought to be shopping today or very very soon. Two ...

I have loved this thick-without-dairy tomato soup since 1972 when a colleague introduced it to me as the sophisticated Tomato Soup Parmenti...

It snowed last night in St. Paul -- October 10 is early even for Minnesota. It's odd that I connect the first snow and the first pot of...