Dessert Recipes

My husband swore he hated chocolate chip cookies. For five years of marriage, he’d politely decline every batch I made, claiming they were “too sweet” … Read more

The neighborhood cookie swap was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing those elaborate, multi-day preparations—you know the type. Hand-piped … Read more

My niece asked why I couldn’t just use black cocoa powder instead of regular cocoa and then add food coloring. I started to explain why … Read more

This was supposed to be banana bread. I had three sad, spotty bananas sitting on my counter last October, and I was determined to finally … Read more

There used to be a tiny bakery tucked between a dry cleaner and a nail salon on the corner of Elm and 4th that made … Read more

My neighbor Carol asked me last Tuesday why I couldn’t just skip the cream cheese step and mix it all into one bowl. I started … Read more

It was the third week of September, and my kitchen counter was completely buried under a mountain of pears. My neighbor, a lovely older woman … Read more

My neighbor, a retired schoolteacher named June, asked me why I couldn’t just dump the peaches in the skillet and pour the batter right over … Read more

Introduction I had been avoiding peach cobbler for years. A whole decade, actually. It wasn’t the peaches themselves—I love a good, ripe peach more than … Read more

My neighbor, Carol, wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a ladder—our fence had taken a beating in a storm—and the smell … Read more