Lump crab meat, the kind often called for in recipes, can be expensive when you’re land-locked in Southwest Virginia as winter sets in. At the local grocery store I’ve seen lump meat at $12 for a half-pound and even higher. But there is a comparable and cheaper alternative: backfin. Read more of the essay…

Yields 4 [...]

More than a decade after the last disaster, it was time to face the cookies.
Scottish shortbread, that’s what defeated me all those years ago. The melting, burnt-edged goo spreading across the pan sent me screaming from the stove and the ruined pastry within. I vowed never again to bake sweets. Read more….
Try out this recipe, [...]