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Technical problems with email

If you’re signed up for the newsletter or the cooking class, you may not be getting what I’m sending. Someone who uses the same web host as I do is sending spam, and the whole server has been blacklisted by several ISPs.

What that means is not only is this jerk one of the people filling your inbox with ads for junk you don’t want, now thanks to him none of my email is getting through to anyone who uses Comcast, Juno, NetZero, RoadRunner, BellSouth, Cox and a few others, and Yahoo (sometimes) delivers it to your spam folder instead of your inbox. And that’s just the ones I know about.

If that’s you, if you’ve signed up but you’re not getting anything, it’s not because I don’t like you. I just can’t get anything to you. I’m working with my web host to get this fixed, but in the meantime you could try whitelisting my email address.

Here are whitelisting directions for Comcast, BellSouth, Cox.net and Yahoo.

[sigh] Time to go check out my inbox and see how many messages bounced since last night.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Asiago Cheese Crisps

This came from a sandwich my wife had when she went for tea with our daughters and her mother. She described it to me — and by the way, yes she tells me how great the food was when she comes back from tea … and no I still don’t want to go to tea — and told me how amazing it was. I though I could figure it out, and here it is: Baked Asiago crisps for your sandwich.
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Posted in Dairy, Technique | Tagged | 8 Comments

How To Make Kaiser Rolls

Depending on who you ask, kaiser rolls have to have poppy seeds, or sesame seeds, or be dusted with cornmeal. You need a special stamp just for making the cuts in the top, or you need to do the cuts with scissors and twist the dough just so.

Well if you ask me, the way I did them here looks just fine, and tastes even better. (And by the way, poppy seeds? Doesn’t that make them poppy seed rolls? I’m just sayin’.)
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Posted in Bread | Tagged | 2 Comments

How To Make Gnocchi

Gnocchi is a tough one. Starting with how to pronounce it: NYO-kee, like the “ny” sound from “canyon” but with a long “o” sound after.

Then is the texture: light and fluffy in the mouth, but settles really heavy in the stomach if you eat too much. (My father-in-law — both parents Italian immigrants — said when he was growing up they called gnocchi “sinkers”.)
The secret, I’ve decided, is to remember that they are, after all, mostly potatoes. Would you eat a plate full of mashed potatoes as the main dish? Not likely. But as a side dish, with a little pesto and parmigiano-reggiano … yes, I’m talking about the gnocchi again … these are quick and easy and really delicious. Read More »

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , | 27 Comments

Deconstructed Cannoli for Valentine’s Day

I’ve gone to a few Valentine’s dinner parties, where each couple brought a dish with a Valentine’s theme. After eating, we’d vote for best taste and best in theme. These deconstructed connoli won for best in theme the year I brought them.

They’re dead simple to make — as long as you don’t try to make your own pizzelles. And that one’s not on my agenda for a while now. Though really, it’s just like doing waffles but with a smaller press. (I just don’t have one.) Okay, enough rambling, here’s the recipe.
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Posted in Dessert, Holiday | Tagged , | 6 Comments
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    Cooking used to be all about making food that tasted good. But somewhere along the way, we seem to have decided the diet-of-the-week was more important. How to Cook Like Your Grandmother is a return to recipes and techniques that are based on what tastes good, not on junk science and fad diets. You won't find the words lite, low, lean, free or skim anywhere. This is all real food, cooked the way Grandma would have done it.
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