My grandfather ordered steak tips at IHOP every Sunday for twelve years straight. He always sat in the same booth by the window and ordered the same thing. After he moved into assisted living last spring, I wanted to bring a little bit of that familiar Sunday meal back to him, so I made my…

My kitchen smelled like a diner every Saturday morning last winter, thanks to one recipe my husband kept requesting. That recipe was my version of Longhorn Steakhouse Chicken Tenders Recipe, and it quickly became a small tradition in our house. My son used to order the real thing every time we drove past the restaurant…

This California Chicken Cafe Broccoli Pasta Salad Recipe is the dish I bring to every block party on my street. My neighbor Denise asked for this green recipe twice before I finally wrote it down. She stood by my stove both times, tapping her foot and waiting for me to finish. I first had something…

My uncle Ray used to drive two towns over just to get a box of Bojangles on a Sunday afternoon. He always ordered the pintos on the side, no matter what else sat on his tray. He ate them before anything else. That habit is where I first got curious about copying this dish at…

Last July 4th, my uncle set up a turkey fryer in his driveway. He always started by frying corn before cooking the turkey in the afternoon. He would sit in a lawn chair, with a spice jar on the armrest, and toss out the fried corn pieces as they finished cooking. I asked him why…

I love going to the gym, but I don’t like store-bought protein bars. For the past three months, I’ve been making a homemade oatmeal bar to eat before my workouts. It fits nicely into my morning routine, especially before tough 6 a.m. sessions when I need something simple and satisfying. I got the idea for…

My college roommate had a jar of cheese sauce in the fridge that she said was better than any fast-food version. She told me it came from a recipe her sister sent her on an index card, inspired by Wendy’s Swiss Cheese Sauce Recipe. After a tough week of exams, she would heat some in…

My dad made breakfast for the family on Saturday mornings. He always started with the potatoes before adding the eggs or bacon. He would stand at the stove in his robe, half-listening to the news on the radio while stirring the potatoes without really looking at them. I thought he had a special trick for…

My sister got a Ninja slushie machine for her birthday. She used it all summer to make a copycat of Wendy’s Ninja Slushie Frosty Recipe. She would bring it to my house from her old job, giving it to me before we even said hello. It tasted just like the original. Eventually, I asked her…

Every August, my neighbor Frank gives me a jar of Grillo’s Pickles Brine Recipe over the fence. Each year, I ask him what’s in the brine, but he never writes it down. He adds a splash of this and a pinch of that until it tastes right to him. Two summers ago, I finally sat…