Summer Recipes

We love to celebrate summer with all its garden-fresh possibilities! Here you’ll find endless varieties of fresh salads, light meals, and bbq dishes to enjoy all summer long. Everything from our picnic favorites like southern fried chicken, deviled eggs, and potato salad to Scallops au Gratin. And it wouldn’t be summer without our favorite frozen treats and no-bake desserts to get carry us through the dog days of summer.


Chinese baozi pork and chicken bun after breaking it open (green and grey tie dyed bun dough wrapped around a pork and chicken filling)

BBQ Chicken and Pork Bao Buns (Chinese Steamed Pork Buns) Bāozi 包子

This steamed chicken and pork buns recipe uses a featherlight tangzhong bao bun dough filled with a slightly sweet and savory Chinese BBQ pork and chicken thigh filling. Homemade Chinese pork buns are truly like the ones you’ll find being sold steaming hot from street trolleys in Chengdu, Chinatown, NYC, […]

An oval serving platter with Yangzhou House special fried rice filled with shrimp, chicken, ham, egg, and vegetables.

Chinese Special Fried Rice 扬州炒饭 (Yangzhou Fried Rice)

This easy house fried rice recipe is what you’ll find at your favorite Chinese restaurant also known as, “Cantonese Fried Rice”, “Special Fried Rice”, “Chicken Fried Rice”, or even “Pork Fried Rice” — and you can make it at home in just 30 minutes. Leftover rice crisped to golden brown […]

Golden brown dark chocolate covered banana bread after just baking in a loaf pan

How to Make the Best Ever Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

This super easy homemade chocolate chip banana bread recipe is so tender it almost eats like cake. One of my most requested recipes on the blog, this is the best of both worlds — high-quality Lindt dark chocolate and my (most tender ever) classic banana bread.  If you’re looking for […]

pizza fritte with burrata, black olives, sun dried tomatoes, and prosciutto di Parma on top

How to Make Italian Pizza Fritte (Pizzonte Frittelle Abruzzese aka Fried Pizza)

Abruzzo Frittella (or pizz’onta as it’s called in dialect) is the best fried pizza you’ve likely never had. This sneaky good crispy-on-the-outside, super soft, and puffy-on-the-inside fried pizza is delicious. In fact, I can say it’s one of the best breads I’ve probably ever eaten. Golden brown shallow-fried dough sprinkled with […]

beautifully golden brown toasted coconut cream pie with large pieces of hand shaved coconut on meringue topping

Best Ever Triple Coconut Cream Pie with Mile-High Meringue Topping

This homemade diner-style coconut cream pie recipe with mile-high meringue is 100% made from scratch with triple the coconut flavor! A super flaky homemade pie crust filled with perfectly thickened coconut cream custard made with milk and coconut milk, topped with pillowy meringue and freshly shaved coconut that toasts up […]

a pitcher half full milky-looking bright yellow homemade Italian limoncello next to a bottle of homemade limoncello and a fresh lemon on a red and white striped pot holder

How to Make Homemade Limoncello (The Italian Way)

This homemade limoncello recipe is the best of Italian summer in a bottle — it’s smooth and sweet with an intense lemon flavor without a hint of sour or bitter notes. And with just 3 simple ingredients (and a little time and patience), it couldn’t be easier to make at […]

closeup Pecan tassie cheesecake after cooling (with large pecans and crackly brown sugar tassie filling baked right on top.

Pecan Tassie Cheesecake with Biscoff Cookie Crust (w/Mini Cheesecake Option)

Creamy vanilla bean cheesecake and pecan tassies come together to create a one-of-a-kind pecan pie cheesecake that any pecan-lover will appreciate. Inspired by my Great Aunt Betty’s pecan tassies I recently posted, this fluffy cheesecake with sweet crunchy crackly pecan topping is baked into a 2-Ingredient Biscoff Cookie Crust. And, […]

A Japanese Pork Bun BLT on a vintage Italian plate with gold trim.

BLT Bao Buns (Japanese-Style BLTs on Homemade Buns)

If you love BLTs and Japanese pork buns as much as we do, I think you’ll love this ultimate and very delicious BLT. One part American classic and two parts Asian deliciousness makes one of the best BLTs ever. Super-soft homemade bao buns, slathered with a quick sesame-soy spicy mayo, […]

traditional homemade egg noodles being dried (some are traditional egg noodle shape for chicken soup and others are curly and look like ramen noodlees)

Easy Homemade Egg Noodles (For Chicken Noodle Soup & More)

This homemade egg noodle recipe is super easy and what I use to make classic homemade chicken noodle soup. In fact, these noodles are made with just 2 ingredients (four, if you count salt and water). So, if you’ve ever wondered how to make your own homemade noodles, this is […]