Irish Spiced Fruitcake is definitely NOT your grandma's fruitcake. It's packed with dried fruit and warm spices, I like it simple and plain or with a smear of Brown Sugar Lemon Curd . ~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~ I Just Knew I’d Love This Fruitcake. It conjures memories of my English-born grandfather’s cousins Lyla and Vic who after six decades of marriage, still giggled about their wedding day. “Poor pensioners” they called themselves. And yes, their home was a small flat on the outskirts of London with a miniature rose garden and a front room with two chairs, a sofa and the telly. Just that, no more. Morning ablutions were simple, aided by a slip of soap, toothbrushes and a travel-size tube of paste. Vic’s well-worn shaving brush and tarnished razor sat nearby. Just that, no more. But Vic and Lyla were savers and scrimpers and managed long visits to Canada and the U.S. at least twice and made their way to southern Europe too, seeking out holiday sun. When ...

Simple & Sugar-Free Southern-style buttermilk cornbread with a coveted chewy crust and zero added sugar. Make a large batch, make a small batch, either way, this savory cornbread mixes up and bakes in a hot-hot-hot skillet quick-quick-quick, mere minutes. Plus a bonus: Six Tips for Perfect Cornbread, my latest "Kitchen Lesson" column – a series of occasional recipes with extra insider tips and ideas gained from long experience in a home kitchen. Homemade Cornbread, Made from Scratch. Real Food, Fast & Flexible. A Southern Classic. Great Choice for Impromptu Homestyle Hot Bread for Dinner. Bake In the Oven or Over a Campfire.

Who else has been thinking that homemade chicken stock is just too big a production? Not me, not anymore. For a long while now, I've been making chicken stock one small batch at a time because, well, making stock should be No Big Deal. Until you taste it, that is – rich but delicate, thick as jelly, tasting like the real chicken it’s made with – that’s when you know for sure that homemade chicken stock is One Very Big Deal. ~ Skip Straight to the Recipe ~ COMPLIMENTS! "The broth is very good, and easy as you say." ~moo BEST RECIPES! No-Big-Deal Chicken Stock Was 2013's Single-Most "Useful Recipe"! Kitchen Parade’s Best-Ever “Most Useful” Recipes , just one per year since 2002 Good Intentions vs Reality So really, am I alone? Who else keeps a big stockpot in a cupboard in the kitchen? Who else knows how to make a big batch of chicken stock but just doesn’t get around to it? These days, in my kitchen, the big stockpot stays put eve...