60 school recipes

Old-school chopped chicken liver with caramelized onions, garlic, hard-boiled eggs, and butter. Kept chunky, not smooth, for the real deli-style texture. A classic Jewish appetizer.

Peanut fudge is old-school stovetop chocolate fudge made with milk, corn syrup, and unsweetened chocolate, beaten to the classic soft-ball stage and loaded with salted peanuts.

Old-school Italian tomato sauce simmered with onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and basil, then strained smooth through a food mill. The Sunday-gravy base every cook should know.

Lamb chops Creole: shoulder lamb chops braised under a tomato, green pepper, and onion sauce with cayenne and chili powder. Old-school Louisiana home cooking at its best.

Old-school navy bean and ham soup simmered low and slow with carrots, celery, potato, and a splash of tomato juice. Stick-to-your-ribs comfort from one pot.

Rich chocolate bundt cake studded with nuts and crowned with a velvety mocha cream cheese frosting. Inspired by the legendary Waldorf Astoria, this showstopper is pure old-school elegance.

Puerto Rican-style larded pot roast studded with garlic-rubbed ham strips, browned and braised in tomato puree with onion and red pepper. Bold, old-school Latin comfort food.

Peanut butter cup muffins with chocolate cocoa batter and pockets of melty peanut butter chips. A bakery-style breakfast or after-school muffin that tastes like a candy bar.

Slow-braised pork belly and kidneys with orange zest, celery, garlic, and rosemary, made a day ahead so the surface fat lifts off cleanly. Old-school British casserole craft.

Holly Cluster cookies: chewy brown-sugar chocolate chip cookies topped with green marzipan holly leaves and red cinnamon candy berries. Holiday cookie tray showpiece with old-school decorating charm.

Old-school salt brine fermented dill pickles with fresh cucumbers, dill stems, garlic, and bay. The crunchy deli-style pickle that ferments in a week on your counter, no vinegar needed.

Italian pastry puffs with lemon-scented biscotti dough wrapped around silky vanilla-almond pastry cream. Baked in a cupcake pan until golden, these old-school treats are worth every minute.

Great northern bean soup simmers white beans with smoked sausage, onions, and garlic for two hours, then mashes to a creamy, hearty bowl. Old-school Southern soup that pairs beautifully with warm cornbread.

Slow-simmered pinto beans with salt pork, red chili pepper, tomato paste, cumin, and chili powder. An old-school chuck wagon recipe that cooks all day and feeds eight hungry hands.

Wellesley Fudge Cake is the classic two-layer chocolate cake from the Wellesley College era, topped with a deep fudge frosting and chopped walnuts around the edge. Old-school, properly rich.

Savory bacon cheddar muffins with oats, a pinch of chili powder, and skim milk. A hearty, grab-and-go breakfast muffin for the brunch crowd or a make-ahead school morning.