Retro Recipes and Traditional Fare

One of my favorites cakes to make is my mom's Upside-Down Pineapple Cake, which was her mother's original recipe that is close to 70 years old! However, today I wanted something that celebrated the beginning of summer.

With a gorgeous bowl of tart cherries and some sweet fresh peaches smiling at me, I found my inspiration. I added some freshly squeezed orange juice and zest which compliments the fruit and adds another dimension of flavor.

This is an amazingly light, moist cake that is only made more irresistible by a thick, sugary crust that holds the plump cherries and peaches firmly in place. After one mouthful, you'll wish you could eat it every day.

Some nights I just can’t decide what to make for dinner - especially when time is short, and I’m not in the mood for recipes that require lots of prep (and therefore lots of cleanup).

This lemon chicken recipe adapted from Ina Garten’s cookbook – How Easy is That? – is perfect when you’re looking for “fast and delicious”.

Lemon, garlic and thyme is a classic combination for chicken – I usually buy chicken breasts with rib bones and skin, I think it adds a lot more flavor to the dish.

When I was growing up in England in the fifties and sixties, there was a snack called a flapjack that could be occasionally bought at bakeries but was more often found in homes, served up by diligent housewives. It was never found at my home: the only time my mother turned on the stove was to light a cigarette. But some of my friends’ mothers did make them, and the sweet, buttery smell of freshly baked flapjacks is one of those childhood aromas that still haunt me today.

Now, for the American reader a point of clarification is required. British flapjacks bear absolutely no resemblance to American ‘flapjacks’, which seems to be just another word for pancakes. The British flapjack is a unique item unto itself, but if a comparison is required, I suppose a granola bar would come closest in look and texture. But it is simpler, more elemental, only requiring four ingredients (long before Michael Pollan came up with his five ingredient mantra): oats, sugar, butter and golden syrup.

Easy and impressive food...I love it. Another quick and easy appetizer to make your dinner party go as smooth as possible.

This is the perfect finger-food. It is a breeze to make and serves lots of hungry mouths. You can even make them up the day before and bake them off right before guests arrive. Since it makes enough for a couple sheet trays, you can either bake them all together, if all guests arrive at the same time. Or bake one sheet tray at a time, having some available for guests who arrive late.

Either way, these buttery-tasting puffs will have everyone grabbing for more...make sure you grab a couple when they get passed the first time. They will disappear!