Winter is soup season: Cozy bowls at lunch, hearty crocks at dinner, and steaming mugs mid-afternoon to pick up the spirits. And when it comes to soup, who knows better than Grandma? We’ve curated a collection of our best “Grandma” soup recipes to add to your repertoire and keep you in delicious bowls all winter long. The best part? All of these freeze well, so don’t hesitate to make double batches and make a stash for later.
When you’re looking forward to a family reunion, there’s no shame in looking forward to being reunited with certain dishes as much as with your kin. Family recipes surely strike a note of nostalgia, but it’s never too late to start new food traditions. If you’re looking for a dish or two to bring to your next family reunion, take a cue from our community’s favorites, from potato salad to buttermilk pie. Save these dishes for your next family get-together or whenever you’re craving home-style cooking.
This handy countertop appliance creates the ideal cooking environment for juicy fruit cobblers, tender upside-down cakes, creamy cheesecakes—and even more.
Desserts can be finicky; if you don’t have the temperature and moisture content perfectly correct the texture will suffer. That’s why we love making desserts in the slow cooker. The low, moist heat of a slow cooker helps create tender desserts that are creamy and not too dense. Whether you’re craving fruit cobbler or a creamy cheesecake, your slow cooker is the key to making easy desserts. It offers hands-off convenience that’s not typically associated with making desserts, which normally get cooked up in the oven or stovetop.
One of our favorites? This simple cake that’s sweet and fruity with hints of toasty cinnamon flavor. Be sure to line inner pot with two layers of foil to prevent any burning around the edges.
Here at Allrecipes, we love a good tried-and-true recipe passed down through the generations. And what better place to find good, old-fashioned recipes than in a retro cookbook? From church and junior league treasures to classics tucked away on grandma’s bookshelf, we’ve compiled 15 of the very best recipes that community members found in vintage cookbooks.
If there’s one hard rule for grocery shopping that I believe in with all my heart and uphold without exception, it is this: NEVER buy “spring mix” salad greens. I don’t care what grocery store I’m at or how much it costs, experience has taught me that spring mix is an outstandingly poor investment. Whether you buy the bag or the plastic clamshell, it’s not uncommon for a portion of the container’s contents to already be wilted—or worse, slimy—upon opening the package. And even if your greens are in decent shape, how long do they realistically retain quality? Maybe 48 hours?
My household goes through a significant amount of salad greens each week—in part, because we are big on salads, but we also like to have greens on hand to toss into pasta dishes or grain bowls, to top sandwiches, etc. So if I open a container of greens, a mere day after purchase, to find a load of slimy leaves oozing that smelly salad sludge all over the leaves that are still clinging to life, it’s a real bummer.
Granted, no variety of salad green is entirely immune from this fate. Occasionally buying a “bad bag” of greens happens, regardless of what variety you opt for. But with spring mix, a frustratingly short lifespan feels like a near guarantee. Do I have data to support my [arguably harsh] assertion that spring mix is the worst? No, I do not. Anecdotal experience is the only justification I have to offer.
If you love spring mix, I say—more power to you. Keep buying it. However, for those who can relate to my utter disdain for this ubiquitous blend of fragile lettuces, I hope this article can provide you with both validation and some useful information.
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree 