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Sweet and Tangy Southern Style Coleslaw is nicely balanced with just enough tang from the vinegar and a sprinkling of sweetness from the sugar. The dressing is so simple, so sweet and tangy, this is a classic coleslaw perfect for any occasion.
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Tender, caramelized meat that clings to the bone and requires just a gentle tug to pull it off makes for the perfect grilled spare rib. Would you believe that a week ago I had never cooked bone-in ribs? I assumed that they would be more difficult and complicated than the country style boneless ribs I've always purchased. I was wrong. These were so easy; I made them twice just to make sure it would work the same.

Technically, I made three batches, because I mistakenly thought that I could get away with using the crockpot. Let's just say they were not the same. (In all fairness, the ribs that started in the crockpot were edible and the flavor was great, but the texture was off and there was just no comparison to the grill or oven versions.)

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Fresh corn and tomatoes are tossed together with bacon and guacamole to make this irresistible dip. I made this for a family movie night and the three avocado lovers in my family managed to eat almost the whole batch. This is an awesome appetizer for any summer party; scoop it up with chips or eat it off the spoon. However you serve it, it's going to disappear fast.

You know those recipes that you want to make as soon as you see them? My friend Sandy shared this recipe on Facebook a few days ago and as soon as I saw it, I crossed the corn dish I had planned to make off of my menu and wrote this one in it's place. I'm glad I did, because I couldn't get enough of this dip.

I love everything about fresh corn, I've been know to eat it straight off the cob, roasted or grilled, skillet fried, sautéed or stir fried. I'll take corn just about any way you might think to serve it and I'm thrilled to have a new corn recipe in my hands for the summer.

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Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Cookies are the ultimate cookie for any coconut lover. These cookies are so chewy, so irresistible, I actually burned my mouth eating a second one while they were still piping hot from the oven. If you have a coconut lover in your life, you need these cookies. This is the chewiest, most coconut filled cookie I have ever tasted.

With just a handful of ingredients, a bowl and a spoon, you can stir these cookies together in about three minutes. They are beyond easy to make! If you truly love coconut, if you would happily eat shredded coconut by the spoonful, if you think there is no such thing as too much coconut, you'll probably love these as much as I do. True confession: I wound up eating these cookies for my lunch, dinner, and breakfast the following morning.

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Have you ever tasted strawberries with basil? There is something truly spectacular about that combination. (and I probably never would have tried them together before I started blogging!) When I started hearing about the strawberry/basil combination a few years ago, I couldn't resist trying it. That basil sugar changed the whole strawberry game for me. One of my favorite aspects of blogging is all of the different foods I am exposed to in the blogging community!

This salad is almost ridiculously simple to make, but the basil syrup takes it way out of the reach of ordinary. Fresh basil brightens all the fruit flavors and really turns this salad into something special.

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Roasted sweet potatoes, browned and slightly caramelized on the edges, are tossed with spicy hot sausage and handfuls of baby spinach or baby beet greens to create a deliciously simple dinner. The potatoes roasted while I napped on the couch and when the timer beeped, I pulled together the rest of the meal in less than 20 minutes. I love quick and simple meals on a lazy Sunday night.

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Bacon, avocados, tomatoes, and pasta are drizzled with a creamy avocado ranch dressing to make a light and cool summer meal for the nights when you don't feel much like cooking. I made this in the morning and then tucked it into the refrigerator for dinner. I love easy meals like this all summer long!

I ran across this recipe on my friend Kristen's website a while back and I couldn't get it out of my mind. This is such a simple recipe, and yet the flavors work well together to create a salad that tastes like much more than the few ingredients required.

My husband is not a big fan of pasta in general, so I was planning to have this just for my kids and myself. However, he tasted the salad when we were serving the plates and he wound up eating a full serving. That's a serious thumbs up from him!

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These baked beans are chock-full of bacon and beef, sweetened with molasses and then slowly cooked until thick and sweet. If you've been reading this blog for long at all, you might notice that I very rarely name anything "the best." There are many foods that we love and that we make over and over, but for something to be labeled the best, I feel like it needs to be a "wow" food. You might be thinking that these are just baked beans, how amazing can they be, right? Well, they are pretty darn amazing as it turns out.

Our friend, Tony, brought these beans to a barbecue at our house a few weeks ago and they blew me away. These beans are so tasty, so full of meat, so sweet and hearty, I  might have "accidentally" tucked a container of Tony's leftovers deep into my fridge and then forgotten to give them to him at the end of the night. Later, I asked him if he'd please send me the recipe and lucky for all of us, he was happy to share it.

We made these beans last night for dinner and served them with country ribs and coleslaw. The whole meal was fantastic, but honestly, I could have happily just eaten the beans. This recipe really is outstanding. Thanks again, Tony!

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I served this salad to several people who didn't even realize that the creamy dressing was simply sour cream. Years ago, we made versions of this salad with cool whip or pudding and I'm happy to say that this salad trumps those hands down. I would happily eat this salad for breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert.

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With a flavor like cinnamon rolls and a topping that is the ultimate cinnamon toast crunch, this cake is an awesome surprise. If you love cinnamon toast, this is the cake for you! The sides of the cake form a phenomenal buttery cinnamon crunch layer that is irresistible. I've served this cake for breakfast, for an afternoon snack, for a late night dessert; it is irresistible at any time of the day!

I made this cake for the first time when I was a little girl. While flipping through my cake recipe binder the other day, I saw this recipe and couldn't resist making it right then. I fell in love with it all over again. Lucky for me, my boys fell in love with it too and they have already requested it again for the next birthday.

This is a cake that has never failed to impress our guests. It might look simple and unimpressive at first glance, but one bite is all it takes to win a person over. With just a few ingredients that are likely to already be in the pantry, this has been one of my favorite desserts for over twenty years.

Rebecca at Foodie with Family made this cake in both traditional and vegan versions and her family and friends loved them. Her post eventually led to this community thread over at King Arthur Flour. The comments made me laugh as they proclaimed their love for the Cinnamon Toast Bars and the Cinnamon Toast Cake.
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This potato salad is loaded with great flavor from fresh parsley and a tart crunch from dill pickles. We had company with us for dinner the first time I made this salad and everyone raved about it. Our guest declared this the best potato salad ever, and I promised to share the recipe very soon.

I don't think I could ever have too many salad recipes! Pasta Salads, Taco Salads, Potato Salads, Garden Salads, and Fruit Salads are all I have been craving this month. I served this with pan fried chicken, but it will also work with your favorite burgers, steaks, or porkchops. This potato salad is going to be made several more times throughout the summer!

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I made Cinnamon Ice Cream this past weekend and it blew me away. The flavors were incredible and my whole family loved it. However, that is a french style, custard based ice cream and I knew that I would not be willing to make the custard base every time I want cinnamon ice cream. (and let me tell you now, cinnamon ice cream will be appearing frequently in my kitchen! I already have visions of peach cobbler, apple tarts and berry crunches topped with cinnamon ice cream.)

Philadelphia-Style (a.k.a New York or American style) ice cream is my go-to ice cream. I am rarely motivated enough to haul out a sauce pan, separate eggs and make custard for an ice cream base. I'm reminded how amazing custard-style ice cream is, every time I take the time to make it, but then I remember how awesome it is to not stand by the stove and stir or wait for the custard to chill. So, I typically grab my whisk and simplify the heck out of another ice cream recipe.

I played with my basic vanilla ice cream recipe and kicked up the cinnamon enough that you get the hint of spice with the first taste and the lingering flavor afterwards. This ice cream comes together in less than 5 minutes; giving you plenty of time to make a Southern Peach Cobbler or Strawberry Rhubarb Crunch while you wait for the ice cream! I served this with Mexican Spice Fudge Brownies and it was absolutely perfect.

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Oatmeal has been a favorite breakfast in our house for years. On the stove, in the oven, in the crockpot or turned into granola, there really isn't a way in which we don't enjoy oatmeal. My kids can stir together a baked oatmeal recipe and get it in the oven all by themselves now. They typically ask if they can make it at least once a week.

This baked oatmeal is loaded with peanut butter and bananas and lightly sweetened with honey. I had the idea for it a while back and I'd scribbled out the recipe already, so I handed my notes to my 10 year old and went to relax with my morning coffee while he made breakfast for all of us. (Side note: I thought I'd miss having little ones in the house, but having older kids has turned out to be pretty awesome!)

My youngest declared this one of his best breakfasts ever and begged for the leftovers the next day. Another great thing about baked oatmeal is that most of the time, we get two meals out of it. It freezes great and keeps nicely in the refrigerator for a few days as well.

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Rich, fudge brownies filled with gooey chocolate and spiced with just enough chile to leave lingering heat in your mouth, these are something extra special. Have you tried a spiced dessert? The flavor is intense and the hint of heat left behind is unforgettable. As soon as I tasted the Cinnamon Ice Cream a few days ago, I started thinking about different desserts to pair with it.

This is an easy as can be one bowl brownie recipe that never lets me down. You can stir the whole recipe together in about five minutes. If you're leery of adding spices or heat to dessert, this recipe is awesome without the chile and/or cinnamon as well. Feel free to make it either way. Just don't forget to make the ice cream to serve on top!

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Cinnamon Ice Cream is a sweet vanilla custard style ice cream spiced with enough cinnamon to linger after each bite. I'm already imagining serving this with my favorite fruit desserts. I can hardly wait to try it with Southern Peach Cobbler this fall! Until about a week ago, I'd never even heard of cinnamon ice cream, but once a friend mentioned it, it was stuck in my mind and I had to try making it the very next morning.

This is a custard style ice cream requiring a few minutes at the stove and the patience to let the ice cream base chill before freezing. That said, it is worth it. Let me reiterate that just in case you missed it. This ice cream is completely and totally worth the effort. Simmering the cinnamon and vanilla bean with the cream brings out so much more of their flavor and the eggs provide a richer, creamier vanilla ice cream base than cream and sugar on their own. For any special occasion, this ice cream can not be beat!

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Lightly caramelized bites of beer and brown sugar marinated chicken are grilled and ready to eat in just a few minutes. This chicken was so tasty, I made it two nights in a row. My family was sad that there weren't any leftovers the first night; so as soon as we were done eating dinner, I started a second batch of chicken marinating.

My husband's beer of choice is almost always an IPA and his favorite IPA these days is a beer called Grumpy Monk. When I saw the label, I cracked up laughing and knew that I'd be playing with that beer in a new recipe soon. My husband suggested Grumpy Monk Chicken and one thing led to another. The whole family loved this chicken and it disappeared in minutes.

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Inspired by the Pineapple Mojitos we made last year, this simple fruit salad takes those flavors and turns them into the perfect side dish for almost any meal. I've heard from several people over the past few days, requesting new summer side dish ideas and fruit salad recipes. As I was falling asleep last night, I remembered those mojitos and started thinking about a way to turn them into a fruit salad.

Like many other recipes, one idea led to another and this morning I found myself in the kitchen making this salad. To call it a success doesn't even cut it. I LOVE this salad. It's a mojito you can eat with a fork and you can eat it for breakfast.

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Bleu Cheese Salad Dressing is one of the most frequent recipe requests I've received over the past couple years and I'm thrilled to finally have an awesome recipe to share with you! Stinky cheeses and I have had a rocky relationship for a long time. Never my favorite, I always avoided them given the choice.

My husband came home from a trip last month and mentioned that he had enjoyed several salads topped with feta and Gorgonzola while he was out of town. He asked if I'd try making a bleu cheese dressing one of these days. With no real point of reference for the dressing, I was at a loss. So, I found help from the ever so reliable Alton Brown. My husband loved the dressing and our friends that tried it voted it a success as well!

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Warm roasted potatoes are seasoned well and then combined with fresh tomatoes and scallions before being tossed in a honey dijon vinaigrette. This is a deliciously unique potato salad that our whole family enjoys.

When you aren't in the mood for a traditional heavy potato salad, this is an excellent alternative.  I served this with grilled zucchini and bratwurst and it was delicious. This is a great dish to pull together in the morning and then simply reheat before serving.

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