Appetizers

That first whiff of melted cream cheese mingling with hot sauce and shredded chicken — the kind that hits you before you even step through … Read more

The crunch of a bacon bit between your teeth, followed immediately by the cool creaminess of the potato and the sharp bite of cheddar — … Read more

I burned the first batch of corn elote skewers I ever made for a tailgate. Not a little charred — I mean blackened, smoky, sad … Read more

You know how some appetizers just disappear before you even get a chance to grab one? That was the story of every gathering I brought … Read more

Third time this week I’d made those Easy Cheese Quesadilla Dippers, and this time I finally figured out the trick to keeping the cheese from … Read more

My kid did not trust cream cheese in a sushi roll. Let me rephrase that—my kid did not trust anything that looked like sushi, period. … Read more

Introduction “Three Octobers ago, I swung by my neighbor’s place just to drop off a book I’d borrowed, and before I even stepped through the … Read more

“I don’t do spicy,” my friend Mark declared every time we planned a tailgate. For years, jalapeños were his sworn enemy—too fiery, too aggressive. Then … Read more

Introduction My neighbor watched me juggling chicken wings and a blender, trying to whip up something for our impromptu game day gathering, and didn’t say … Read more

Introduction The neighborhood block party was in less than two hours and I’d just remembered I promised to bring the appetizer. Everyone else was going … Read more