47 school recipes

Cajun red beans and rice slow-simmered with salt pork, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and a whole hot pepper. Old-school Louisiana comfort food with a thick, creamy bean gravy.

A heirloom three-layer chocolate cake with bloomed cocoa, brown sugar for caramel depth, and tangy buttermilk. Old-school Sunday dinner cake, tender enough to live up to grandma's reputation.

Boiled cocoa cookies: no-bake oatmeal drop cookies made on the stovetop with cocoa, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Old-school fudgy bites that set on waxed paper in minutes.

Old-school chili with coarsely ground beef, dried pinto beans soaked overnight, tomato paste, cumin, and red pepper flakes. Slow simmered for hours into deep, rich Texas-style chili.

Old-school corn rye bread with an overnight onion-steeped rye sour, chewy bread-flour body, caraway seed crust, and a glossy egg-washed finish. Classic Jewish deli style.

Old-school cooked fudge with semi-sweet chocolate, butter, evaporated milk, and chopped nuts. The 14-minute boil and 10-minute beat method produces dense, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth fudge.

Gramma's chocolate cookies are old-school cake-style cookies: soft, pillowy, brown sugar deep, then topped with a glossy chocolate icing. Walnuts add crunch to a tender, milk-and-cocoa crumb.

Drink garnish guide covering frosted glasses, sugar and salt rims, plus garnish ideas for fruit, vegetable and coffee drinks. Old-school bartender finishing touches that turn ordinary drinks into something proper.

Spiced date drop cookies with chopped dates, toasted walnuts, cinnamon, and cloves baked into a soft, chewy drop cookie. An old-school holiday tin classic that bakes in just 10 minutes.

Aunt May's pickled green tomatoes is a heritage four-day sweet pickle recipe that turns 15 pounds of unripe tomatoes into translucent, cinnamon-and-clove spiced jewels in cider vinegar syrup. Old-school canning that fills the pantry.

Slow-baked beans sweetened with molasses and brown sugar, spiked with tangy apple cider and white vinegar. This old-school recipe bakes low and slow for 6 hours until creamy and rich.

Crispy-edged oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with pecans, made with shortening for that old-school chew. Three cups of oats, loads of brown sugar, and five dozen reasons to preheat your oven.

Old-school big-batch chili with whole beef roast, soup bone, cooked pinto beans, and a hit of Mexene chili powder and cumin. Slow-simmered for deep beefy stock and tender chunks.

Old-school cocoa drop cookies made with buttermilk and whole wheat flour, topped with a glossy homemade chocolate frosting. Quick to mix, quick to bake, and yields a big batch of 4 dozen.

Old-school Italian-American spaghetti sauce simmered for hours with whole plum tomatoes, garlic, oregano, and bay leaf. Drop your meatballs in during the last hour and let Sunday dinner take care of itself.