I know that’s been the case for me ever since I discovered the sauce back in my twenties. Now, decades of cooking experience later, I still use this technique for simple summer pasta dishes. How to Make this Easy Tomato Sauce The approach for this pasta is about as basic as it gets. If you have beginner cooks or kids at home, this is a terrific recipe for them to gain confidence in the kitchen....

Cauliflower: Boiled then Smoked Cauliflower is a super dense vegetable that takes, perhaps surprisingly, a long time to cook, especially when kept whole. This recipe leans on parboiling the cauliflower to help jumpstart the cooking. Simply bring a big pot of lightly salted water to a boil and plunge the cauliflower in for 5 minutes or so before draining and carrying on with the recipe. This cuts down the time on the grill and makes the surface more permeable for soaking up smoke and the flavors of the marinade....

My oh my this one really is good, and easy to make too. In this recipe you toss apple slices with a mixture of sour cream, sugar, and egg, then pack it in a pie shell. About half way through baking you top with a brown sugar flour butter streusel topping. The brown sugar helps make a crunchy crust on the top, balancing the creamy tart apples below! Big thanks to our friends Jean and George for sharing this one with us....

Though it certainly satisfied me and my friends after a couple rounds of drinks, I found myself wanting a more classic, homemade—and dare I say better?—version of this beloved dip. I went back to my kitchen and got to work making what I personally crave when I think of spinach artichoke dip. Better-Than-Restaurant Spinach Artichoke Dip The restaurant’s dip was a little soupy, as if it were held together only by a thin cheese sauce, so I knew I’d need to tinker with that part....

They’re so easy! You just roughly chop them and sauté them with onions and garlic. The flavor is lovely, like zucchini but more delicate, and perfect in a quesadilla with cheese and corn tortillas. Finding squash blossoms for sale is another thing. They are used in Mexican and Italian cuisine, so if you have farmers markets that cater to those populations, you’ll have more luck finding them. Here they are very inexpensive....

When I asked Chef Bitsoie for his favorite recipe from his book, he said it was the stewed chicken with golden tomatoes. It’s a dish that’s near and dear to his heart because he grew up eating it at his Navajo grandmother’s home in southern Colorado. It was only after attending culinary school many years later that he realized that this recipe was his family’s version of chicken cacciatore—an Italian dish made of chicken, braised with tomatoes and aromatics....

Traditionally, an Italian strawberry soda is a non-caffeinated iced drink. Strawberry syrup is poured over ice and topped with club soda. Then milk or cream is added before topping it all off with homemade whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. It’s fizzy, fruity, creamy, and delicious! My son and I tried different flavors, but none compared to strawberry. It was perfectly balanced—tart and fruity—and went dreamily with the cream poured over the top....

Many food processors also have attachments, which can grate cheese, knead bread, and julienne vegetables. These make them some of the best multi-taskers on the market, but you definitely need a processor that works for you and your needs. There are many variables to consider between size, power, use, and price, all of which we took into account for this list. From the smallest mini processor to the ones professionals use, here are the best food processors to buy....

The most important thing to look for when buying a double oven is size, especially if you are replacing something older. If you don’t measure properly, you may need to do additional construction in your kitchen, which is time-consuming and costly. Once you’ve checked with a professional on what size your kitchen can handle, then it’s important to consider what additional features you want such as convection cooking and smart technology....

Whether you are looking for a large capacity style to feed the masses, a delicate porcelain model that also serves a decorative function, or an heirloom you can pass generation to generation, there is a gravy boat to fit the bill. Be sure to consider whether whatever is inside needs to maintain temperature, if ease of cleanup is important, and what details make the most sense for you. “Look for insulated gravy boats—they keep sauce hot while on the table....

You don’t have to visit a bar or restaurant to enjoy one of these tropical cocktails, however. With just a few simple ingredients and a fun countertop machine, you can impress your friends (and yourself) with restaurant-quality frozen margaritas. A margarita machine takes homemade cocktails made with a shaker or blender to the next level, yielding the perfect slush consistency and icy temperature. “If you love frozen drinks, and you also love to entertain, you need a margarita machine,” says Amy Traynor of Moody Mixologist....

Traditionally, agrodolce is made by simmering sugar, vinegar, pine nuts, and dried fruit until a caramelly sauce forms. It is used as a glaze for meat or charred vegetables and as a condiment on panini and salumi boards. Based on the sheer versatility of this condiment, and my weakness for subtle and beautiful neutral-toned packaging, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon the Agrodolce White Wine Vinegar at my local Trader Joe’s....

A gin fizz, sparkling sour, or a simple spiked lemonade—the Tom Collins goes by many names, but it’s a classic no matter how you shake it. Old Tom gin, lemon juice, cold seltzer, and some sweetener over ice in a tall glass and you have a drink that is, somehow, both a simple pleasure and a well-crafted work of art. How to Make a Tom Collins A Tom Collins calls for gin as its only base spirit, typically a London Dry like Beefeater....

The culprit? My own greedy hands! The hands that pick them when I’m out in the garden and pop them in my mouth like candy. My father admits to the same. Some actually do make it into the kitchen, but then they are snacked away before anything resembling a dish can be made with them. We’ve had a resurgence of hot weather the last few days, which is good news for ripening tomatoes, and finally we’ve had a day when I picked more than I ate....

Turnips aren’t one of those happy-go-lucky neutral vegetables, like green beans for example, that seem to get along with everyone. No, turnips have a bit more “I dare you to eat me” attitude, that unfortunately ends up keeping too many people away from them. Well, if you are a turnip lover, you should be drooling right now, just with the very concept of this turnip gratin, a casserole layered with thinly sliced, tender turnips, onions, bread, and bubbly browned Gruyere cheese....

Now our pantries contain bottles from all over the globe: olive oil from Spain, canola oil from Canada, coconut oil from the Philippines. We’re savvier about fats and health, yes, but with more choices come more questions. But you don’t need to have an existential crisis every time you sauté mushrooms! Just check out this guide to which cooking oils are the best for different cooking methods. What Is a Smoke Point?...

How to Serve Tinned Seafood Tinned seafood can be preserved in a variety of different ingredients, which will affect how you want to serve it—so here are some general tips. Olive Oil–Packed: For most of this category, such as salmon, tuna, sardines, etc., you can simply open up the tin and let people enjoy it, because the oil will taste good, too. Water-packed tins are also fine, but just know that they won’t have quite as much flavor as oil-packed, so you will have to work harder to add flavor (a little bit of acid, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and fresh herbs will do the trick most times—this also works for oil-packed ones, if you want to brighten them up)....

Grilling is so great because it’s so versatile. You can make anything from grilled burgers to vegetables…even seafood. Yes seafood! I also have strong opinions about shellfish and fish being the unsung heroes of live-fire cooking, but I digress. All you need to know is that you have to make these grilled seafood recipes before summer ends. If grilled seafood is out of your wheelhouse and you’re feeling a little anxious, don’t worry!...