Cinnamon Rolls

Summer is the time when old friends begin to find each other again. We drive over in our old cars with high school bumper stickers and meet on the front porch, swatting at mosquitoes and snacking. Except if it’s at my house, it isn’t exactly snacking. It is a much more involved affair. And there has always been an old standby, whether we were meeting at our house for an elementary school project or a college teammate and I had finished our run at my place: Cinnamon rolls. Icing on top, obviously.

This recipe uses the sweet dough recipe that I’ve used before, but it makes something much more decadent than your standard turtle bread. Maybe not as cute but definitely just as appreciated. When these things come out of the oven, icing is added and suddenly the pan is empty. Scientists have yet to discover what causes this immediate disappearance, but I’m fairly sure it has something do to with the smell wafting through the house. Or maybe it’s my mom’s notion that these rolls are best the day they are made. Obviously they all need to be eaten right away, or you might miss some of the magic.

Bagels

I was once asked what one thing I could not go a week without. Most people would answer “a shower,” or “the Internet,” but I decided to be a little more honest. In my heart of hearts, I know that I could never to a week without carbs. My parents once tried the Atkins diet… I would make it one hour. And the tragic irony is that I cannot bake. I just cannot handle the yeast and the raising and the temperature and the patience. Thank goodness for my fiancé. He tries not to buy bread and instead bakes it himself. Without a bread machine. What is this sorcery?
My fiancé and I make this recipe together whenever we can and play with the additional ingredients. (TRANSLATION: I gave this recipe to my fiancé and he makes them while I suggest delicious flavors.) This cheese came from the magazine where I work, and it made these bagels as good as they’ve ever been. I would like to say, though, that a nice black-pepper or rosemary-parmesan bagel is often just as amazing.

Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Everyone has grown up with mac ‘n’ cheese. The blue box with the orange dinosaur, or maybe your family was fancy and used that yellow block of self-proclaimed “processed cheese product.” Either way, there comes a moment when you realize that there is so much more to this dish. It’s like a rite of passage into adulthood—when you are finally able to serve your favorite childhood meal to your adult friends with no sense of shame.

I recently started working at a cheese magazine. Yeah, there is such a thing. And it’s exactly what you would think: boxes of cheese arriving at our door daily, cheese tastings as a required part of your job, extra cheese being handed out to everyone. And now with more cheese than I know what to do with (just kidding, I know exactly what to do with it), I have been perfecting my family’s mac ‘n’ cheese recipe. Seriously, this recipe is the culmination of years of family tradition, hours of free-time, and over $200 of cheese in my refrigerator.

Strawberry Shortcake

When you’re walking through the grocery store, the shortcake that you see, wrapped in plastic, closely resembles a sponge. At least that’s what I’ve always thought.

I suppose it does make sense that these shortcakes are portioned for you. After all, I have a tendency to take tiny servings of things… until I have eaten much more than one portion. My family only indulges in this habit; in my dad’s family, the shortcake has always been made in one giant piece that is cut to your chosen size. So if you make one small slice, you can easily make another. And another.

Cut-Out Cookies

This morning, I woke up feeling a little homesick. Articles need to be edited, laundry needs to be washed, and run needs to be run. Instead I was drinking tea and flipping through my grandma’s handwritten recipes. I was on the last page when I found the perfect Sunday-morning recipe. Cut-out cookies. Trust me, it is the breakfast of champions. And the lunch of champions. And probably the dinner too, but I’ll let you know.My younger brother loves these cookies. He asks for them every few weeks and my mother (most of the time) begrudgingly humors him. They take a little more time than regular cookies since they need to be rolled out. And you have to keep a careful eye on the baking time. Things can go from buttery and soft to burnt and crispy in a matter of 30 seconds.