Recipe Flash

BAR COOKIES: Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares; Best Brownies; M&M Blondies; Coconut & Brown Sugar Shortbread

There is something so classic about these crumb squares. Perhaps it’s that they are made entirely of “crumble,” that buttery mix so sought over in slices of coffee cake or apple crisp. See, unlike in those confections, in these the crumble takes over all parts of the sweet. Not only is the top–which looks like crumble–made of crumble, but the base is too, just it’s pressed in a little more tightly there, providing a fine foundation…

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Other Homemade Drinks: Lemonade, Spiked or Sober; Iced Chai Tea Latte

I didn’t grow up with many processed foods. My mother rarely brought me to the actual supermarket, and, when she did, it was one big tease. Head down, I would walk by the Gushers and the Oreos and the Dunkeroos–the staples of my friends’ houses–and follow my mother to the frozen vegetable section. But later on, outside her supervision, when I came into contact with these junk food items, especially at my friend Anna’s house, I would Go.…

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OTHER GREAT RECIPES TO MAKE WITH AUGUST TOMATOES: Creamy Gazpacho, Tomato Jam, Cacik, Summer Scallops with Sweet Corn and Tomato Succotash, Grandpa Potato Salad, Tomato and Dinner Roll Panzanella

I talk a lot about my fruit phobia. Probably too much. But I’m going to indulge again right now.

The thing is, I used to be terrified of cherry tomatoes. Long after I started eating regular tomatoes, cherries, unless diced like regular tomatoes, were off the table. And that’s not…

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Other BGSK Potato Salads: Warm Blue Potato and Green Onion Salad; Sarah’s Herbed Potato Salad; Grandpa Potato Salad

Last Labor Day, I shared the recipe for my mother’s herbed potato salad. If you’re looking for a classic BBQ side, it doesn’t get any better. But it’s also a lot of work.

Since I think about potatoes more than the average person, and my pasta cravings have now been shifted onto other carbs, this summer involved a lot of quick potato side dishes. One of the best thus far is…

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Other Great Taco Condiments: Peach Salsa; Guacamole; Vegetable-Mint Salsa; Cooked Tomato Salsa; Chipotle Mango Salsa.

I think that as the summer wears on, we all become corn snobs. Around here, we start to see the first local ears just after July 4th, and it’s pretty exciting to make the switch from frozen corn–which we find useful in our small kitchens–to fresh. Though the ears are, well, a little small, and the kernels aren’t exactly oozing sweet corn flavor, they’re satisfying and we’re happy.

But by the middle of August, we’d totally…

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OTHER BBQ MAINS: Cheddar Cheese Burgers with Charred Red Onions; Carne Asada; Chermoula Lamb Chops

Though ribs would seem to sit squarely in the domain of the Grill Master, not the Small Kitchen Dweller, they make a great dish to bring to a barbecue. Here’s why. Ninety-five percent of the work is done completely in advance. The ribs are seasoned and cooked, and the mop is made. Once at the grill, they simply have to be plopped on, browned, and covered with said mop–this can even be done by whoever’s grilling at…

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You know that feeling when you have shelves of cookbooks, piles of food mags, and oodles of bookmarks to blogs, and you remember a recipe and then, for the life of you, you cannot find it, no matter how many times you scroll through your masses of cookbooks, mags, and bookmarks? Welcome to the Blueberry Cornmeal Cake from Sheila Lukins’ magnificent USA Cookbook. It’s a great cake, but it has this way of running for the hills when you explicitly go to look for it. Every few summers, my mom and I have stumbled on the recipe and made…

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Check out some of these other BGSK tacos: Chicken and Chorizo Tacos, Seared Salmon Tacos, and Mini Pulled Pork Tacos

When we were out in LA, Cara and I spent a lot of time trolling the food truck scene. Probably too much time. But with so many choices, how can you eat it all in one day? While Cara was adventurous and tried the new-fangled Nacho Truck, I pretty much stuck to what LA food trucks are known for: around-the-world tacos. (For the record, our…

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Trust me, after nearly three years of doing this, we know how to win your heart. Whether it’s pancakes, beer and beef, or lotus blondies, we’ve found a way to appeal to the people in our lives with the creations of our kitchens.

But if you want to win my heart, here is what you do: drive up to Ipswich, Mass, buy me the largest basket of fried clams they sell, and instantaneously transport them back to Brooklyn, where they’ll arrive briny and still crunchy and perfect. Fried seafood,…

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Don’t forget to enter the Small Kitchen College Brown Bag Challenge for a chance to win some great BuiltNY prizes!

In honor of the SKC Brown Bag Week, we’ll be featuring our favorite portable lunch items all week long!

Since becoming officially gluten-free, I’ve been pretty much living on quinoa. I keep a tub of it pre-cooked in my fridge, and am now trying to find ways of disguising it for lunch so that I don’t go crazy from boredom. Luckily, it’s a very versatile…

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