Dessert Recipes

My neighbor Brenda had been a pumpkin bread purist for forty-three years. She told me this the first week I moved in, holding her annual … Read more

Last Tuesday, I was standing in my kitchen staring at a can of pumpkin puree that had been hiding in the back of my pantry … Read more

I was halfway through packing a box of old books for a donation drop-off when my accountant, Mr. Henderson—a man I’d only ever seen in … Read more

My neighbor, Carol, knocked on my door at 4:30 PM last Tuesday. Her daughter’s third-grade class was having a “Fall Festival” the next morning, and … Read more

My neighbor wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a ladder on a crisp Saturday morning, and the smell hit me before … Read more

My roommate asked why I couldn’t just bake the whole thing in one pan. I was mid-lecture about cookie science—chilling the dough, spacing the balls, … Read more

My husband had sworn off banana bread for years. I mean, he’d politely eat a slice if someone served it to him, but he’d always … Read more

I wasn’t expecting baking advice from a plumber, but there I was, standing in my kitchen with a leaky pipe and a half-baked idea for … Read more

I was standing in my kitchen last November, staring at a half-empty bottle of bourbon that had been sitting on my counter since my brother’s … Read more

My roommate Jenna asked me last October why I couldn’t just shape the cookies right on the baking sheet instead of chilling them first. I … Read more