9 mary recipes

Mary's most loved brownies are a one-bowl, melted-butter-style fudgy brownie recipe with cocoa powder, four eggs for chewy lift, and optional walnuts or peanut butter chips. Mix, pour, bake. No mixer, no chopping chocolate.

Creamy blended soup combining white and sweet potatoes with curry, turmeric and fresh mint, sautéed with leeks for a vibrant, high-fiber vegetarian soup.

Cinnamon coffee cake baked in a tube pan with a buttery crumb topping made from the same base mixture. Buttermilk keeps it moist, and a full tablespoon of cinnamon gives it bold, warm flavor.

Sweet potato pie with warm brandy, fresh lemon zest, and a sprinkle of chopped citron over the top. The brandy-citrus brightness lifts the spiced filling into something more sophisticated than typical sweet potato pie.

Bloody Mary bread uses V8 juice and a splash of vodka in a bread machine dough for a savory, tomato-tinged loaf with a soft crumb. A conversation starter at any brunch table.

Sourdough starter from scratch in two days using water, active dry yeast, sugar, and flour. The fast-start version that skips the wild-yeast wait, refresh with flour and water as you use it.

A Bloody Mary in a bowl: smooth tomato soup with celery, horseradish, Worcestershire, and lime, spiked with vodka stirred in off the heat. The savory, boozy New Year's Day hair-of-the-dog, served warm in mugs.

Old-fashioned poppy seed cake with the seeds soaked in milk for hours to release their flavor, then topped with a pecan custard frosting. Tender, nutty, and heirloom-worthy.

Slow-simmered beef stroganoff with red wine, mushrooms, and fresh dill, finished with sour cream and served over buttered noodles or rice. Hearty Sunday-supper take on a Russian classic.