Recipe Sifter

Spells & Bells are festive Christmas cookies cut into holiday shapes and deep fried until golden and puffed, then served plain, sugared or glazed. A cream-rich fried dough that's crisp outside and tender within.

Spicy shrimp and fish patties with ginger, cilantro, mint, and cayenne, coated in breadcrumbs and dipped in a chickpea flour batter before frying golden. South Asian-style seafood kebabs.

Spaghetti with turkey sausage in a quick tomato sauce made from paste and seasoning mix. A lighter, leaner take on sausage pasta ready in about 30 minutes.

Flowerpot banana bread: classic banana walnut bread baked in a clay flowerpot in a slow cooker for an unusual conversation-piece presentation. Rustic gift idea with a 1970s charm.

Soft drop cookies made with mashed fresh strawberries, chopped walnuts, and almond extract, finished with a rosy pink strawberry glaze. Three dozen cookies that taste like summer.

Oatmeal orange cookies with rolled oats, cinnamon, and chopped orange pamelas (pomelo) mixed into brown sugar cookie dough. Chewy citrus-spiced drop cookies.

Southern chicken and okra gumbo with salt pork, fresh tomatoes, and hot pepper, served over fluffy white rice. A slow-simmered Plains-style gumbo with deep, smoky flavor.

Apple-cherry pie with a flaky shortening crust, quick tapioca thickener, and a nutmeg-sugar finish. The tart cherries brighten up classic apple pie in a way plain apples never do.

Grilled lamb kabobs marinated overnight in lemon, oregano, and garlic with skewered bell peppers, eggplant, summer squash, and cherry tomatoes.

Arroz con pollo simmered in beer with chicken, long-grain rice, tomatoes, turmeric and saffron, finished with green olives, peas and pimentos. Cuban-style one-pot dinner.

A scrumptious dish that gets its amazing flavor from plain yogurt, red pepper flakes and a pinch of turmeric.

Tuna salad sandwich with Swiss cheese, sour cream, and crunchy celery on rye bread. Ready in 5 minutes with a creamy tang that sets it apart from basic mayo-only tuna.

Applesauce friendship cake made with sourdough starter, warm spices, brown sugar, and chopped nuts. A nostalgic Amish-style starter cake that's moist, spiced, and meant to be shared.

Homemade canned fruit cocktail with fresh peaches, pears, seedless grapes, and maraschino cherries in sugar syrup. A from-scratch preserving recipe that beats store-bought.

Kentucky Apple Festival Pie with Shortening Crust recipe

Rivel soup is a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch egg dumpling soup with tiny flour-and-egg crumbles cooked in broth with corn. Three ingredients, ready in 20 minutes.