Oct 30 2025
A homemade cheese ball may be one of the easiest appetizers to bring to a party, yet it always manages to look like you planned ahead. Start with soft cream cheese or goat cheese, add a few flavorful ingredients, chill the mixture until firm, and finish it with a crunchy or colorful coating. Add crackers …
Oct 03 2025
Golden and crisp around the edges with a tender, herb-filled center, zucchini fritters are one of the easiest ways to turn an abundance of summer squash into something everyone wants to eat. Fresh zucchini is grated, salted, and squeezed thoroughly before being mixed with Parmesan, egg, garlic, herbs, and just enough flour to hold everything …
Sep 21 2025
Hot, creamy, cheesy, and bubbling around the edges, baked spinach artichoke dip is one of those appetizers that rarely lasts long once it reaches the table. Tender spinach and chopped artichoke hearts are folded into cream cheese, sour cream, mozzarella, Parmesan, garlic, and a touch of lemon, then baked until the center is hot and …
Sep 18 2025
With their scalloped edges and flying-saucer shape, patty pan squash may look unusual, but they are one of the easiest summer vegetables to cook. Their tender flesh has a mild flavor similar to zucchini and yellow summer squash, which means they can be grilled, roasted, sautéed, stuffed, tossed with pasta, or tucked into tacos without …
Aug 11 2025
Artichokes can look intimidating at first glance. Their tightly layered leaves, pointed tips, sturdy stems, and hidden fuzzy chokes make them seem more complicated than many other vegetables. Once the basic preparation is familiar, however, artichokes become surprisingly versatile and rewarding to cook. Fresh whole artichokes can be steamed until tender, par-cooked and finished on …
Aug 10 2025
Few ingredients feel as naturally suited to hot weather as crisp cucumber and bright fresh lemon. Cucumbers bring cool crunch and plenty of moisture, while lemon adds acidity and fragrance that make simple summer dishes taste especially lively. This collection uses that pairing in five different ways. There is a sparkling cucumber-mint drink, a juicy …
Aug 03 2025
Juicy watermelon is hard to beat on a hot summer afternoon, but slicing it into wedges is only the beginning. Its mild sweetness and crisp texture make it surprisingly versatile in drinks, salads, chilled soups, frozen desserts, and even savory appetizers. National Watermelon Day is a perfect excuse to try something different with a favorite …
Aug 02 2025
Ripe tomatoes, fragrant basil, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, and crisp toasted bread are all that is needed to make one of Italy’s simplest and most satisfying appetizers. Tomato bruschetta is especially good in summer, when tomatoes are juicy, sweet, and flavorful enough to carry the dish almost entirely on their own. The tomato mixture needs …
Jul 25 2025
Golden and crisp on the outside with a tender, flaky center, salmon croquettes turn a few simple pantry ingredients into an easy lunch, appetizer, or weeknight dinner. Canned salmon is especially convenient for this recipe because it is already cooked and ready to flake into the mixture. Leftover baked, poached, or grilled salmon works just …
Jul 12 2025
Few things capture the flavor of summer quite like an heirloom tomato picked at the height of ripeness. They can be rosy pink, golden yellow, deep burgundy, striped green, nearly purple, or a combination of colors that looks almost too beautiful to slice. Unlike the uniformly round red tomatoes we are accustomed to seeing at …
