This oven baked 3-ingredient chicken Wellington casserole is the sort of church-supper dish that earned its place on many a Midwestern table because it looks special without asking much of the cook. With tender chicken tucked under a creamy filling and finished with a golden pastry top, it brings that old-fashioned luncheon charm my generation … Read more
When you need a simple National Cheesecake Day dessert without fussing over a water bath or a long list of ingredients, this old-fashioned baked cottage cheese treat is a mighty fine thing to pull together. It has the gentle tang and creamy comfort of a homestyle cheesecake, and using raw large curd cottage cheese gives … Read more
We’ve all been there: you open the fridge to pour yourself a refreshing glass of milk, only to find that the gallon jug is unexpectedly swollen. In such a scenario, a range of questions and concerns might flood your mind. Is the milk still safe to consume? Should you be worried about bacterial contamination? In … Read more
This oven baked 4-ingredient cowboy butter pasta is one of those small-town secrets that everyone kind of knows about, but no one really has the exact recipe for—except my neighbor, Carol. She’s been making this for 30 years, bringing it to church potlucks, funeral lunches, and Friday game nights. The noodles bake up tender and … Read more
Every July, I end up fiddling with at least one thing in the house to see whether I can make our air conditioning work a little less hard without making the place feel like a greenhouse. This year, the experiment was simple: I switched our ceiling fans to run counterclockwise, left them on the lowest … Read more
These oven baked 4-ingredient cheese puff squares are the definition of office potluck legend. My dad’s coworker used to bring a foil-lined tray of these to every work event, and people would literally hover by the table waiting for them to come out of the break room. They’re salty, cheesy, soft in the middle with … Read more
In the quiet corners of old barns, treasures often lie hidden, waiting to be rediscovered. These relics of the past, while often covered in dust and rust, hold stories of the bygone days when they were essential tools for daily life. One such find, discovered during a routine barn cleanup, presents itself as a perplexing … Read more
In a world where dining out has evolved to include a mix of dining in, delivery, and takeaway, the norms around tipping have become more complex than ever. Recently, a situation arose when my dad, accustomed to traditional dine-in tipping etiquette, was taken aback by a tip request on a takeout order he picked up … Read more
This slow cooker 5-ingredient Amish meatball stew is the kind of comforting, no-fuss supper that fits right into a busy farm day or a chilly weeknight. It reminds me of the hearty, humble stews the Amish women around here put together before heading out to chores—simple ingredients, long slow cooking, and a table that goes … Read more
This little pineapple cream cheese dip is the sort of thing that shows up on every church buffet table around here, right between the deviled eggs and the ham salad. It’s only three ingredients, comes together in minutes, and somehow disappears even faster. I first carried a glass bowl of this to a summer church … Read more
