Recipe Sifter

Lima bean soup simmered low and slow with smoky ham hocks, ham bone, celery, and green onions. Classic Southern bean soup served with Mexican cornbread.

Caprese salad: fresh mozzarella and ripe summer tomatoes layered with torn basil, dressed with red wine vinegar and good olive oil. The Italian classic that proves three ingredients are sometimes enough.

Hammin di Pesach is a traditional Passover lamb stew with chicken meatballs, spinach, and matzo served as a two-course meal. Braised lamb chops and tiny seasoned chicken dumplings simmer together, then split into a main dish and a matzo soup.

Chocolate silk pie with a no-bake filling whipped silky-smooth by beating eggs into creamed butter, sugar, and unsweetened chocolate. Chilled in a flaky shell and crowned with billowy whipped cream.

Homemade egg pasta layered with ricotta-spinach filling, fresh tomato-red wine sauce, mozzarella, and silky bechamel. A from-scratch vegetarian lasagna worth every minute.

Old-school broccoli rice casserole with Cheez Whiz, cream of mushroom soup, sauteed onions, and celery. Baked uncovered until bubbly and golden. Feeds 6 hungry folks with zero fuss.

Baked apple halves stuffed with brandy-soaked dried cherries and drizzled with a maple caramel sauce. Served warm with vanilla frozen yogurt for an elegant fall dessert.

Simple zucchini bread recipe that mixes in one bowl and bakes into three moist loaves. Adapt the base for pumpkin or applesauce variations with warming ginger spice.

Kitty litter cake made with crumbled spice and white cake, vanilla pudding, crushed white sandwich cookies, and shaped Tootsie Rolls. The ultimate gross-out Halloween party dessert.

Nutella ice cream cups layered with chocolate ice cream, coffee ice cream, and swirls of Nutella topped with a toasted hazelnut. A no-cook frozen dessert that makes ahead beautifully for up to 2 weeks.

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Vanilla-limeade ice cream pie: a chocolate wafer crust ringed with cookies, layered with vanilla ice cream and ribbons of tart green limeade, then frozen firm. A no-bake, make-ahead summer dessert.

Grilled butterflied leg of lamb marinated in Burgundy wine, fresh ginger, soy sauce, honey, and lemon. Bold, savory, and charred over medium coals.

Lemon pepper steak and potato wedges broiled together on one pan. Round steak marinated in lemon juice, garlic, and oregano with seasoned potato wedges cooked alongside.

Halloween popcorn crunch: popped corn, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries and banana chips coated in hard-crack vanilla caramel. The fall snack mix that puts caramel corn to shame.