How To Make Cultured Butter (and Buttermilk)

Why on earth would you make your own butter? The stuff at the grocery store is already made from nothing but cream, isn't it? Okay, and salt if you buy salted butter. But that's pretty good isn't it? Because this butter is better. You read that right: better than ordinary butter. Hard to believe, but there you have it. Okay, it's not so much better that I won't use store-bought butter in my cooking and baking. But when I want something to spread on crusty French bread, or on top of warm … [Read more...]

How To Make German Potato Salad

I always thought of this more as a cold-weather kind of dish. But someone suggested it to go along with kielbasi, and it sounded like a great idea. It's actually easier to make than "regular" potato salad, and is also pretty good cold. … [Read more...]

How To Make Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are the Rodney Dangerfield of party foods: they get no respect. But bring a plate of them and they’ll all disappear. You can add all kinds of extras to them, make them look fancy if you want. As long as you get the basics right you’ll have a winner.

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Frozen Chocolate Truffle Pie

If you don't like chocolate, stop reading right now. If you like "a little chocolate now and then," go away. This recipe is for serious chocolate fiends only. Imagine the darkest, richest truffle you've ever had. Now imagine taking more than a pound of the centers and pouring it into a pie shell. 'Cause that's about what this recipe is. This fall when it's cooler, I'll do my chocolate truffles and you'll see how close the recipes are. Until then, trust me that this will be the most … [Read more...]

How To Make Pre-baked Pie Crust

When it comes to summer, everyone thinks about apple or rhubarb pie. But chilled pies are good, too. So it's handy to be able to do a pre-baked crust. … [Read more...]