Grilled corn with Parmesan breadcrumbs.

Last summer, I shared a house favorite recipe: Corn and Parmesan gratin, also known as “West Chop Corn” from Susan Branch’s “Summer” cookbook of recipes inspired by Martha’s Vineyard. Now that sweet corn is in season, …

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Summer fruit shortcakes.

Where is it written that a girl can’t bake her own birthday cake? And who says it has to be a quote-unquote cake at all, really? Why not shortcakes, topped with luscious summer fruit? Absolutely. And …

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Easy chickpea, tomato and spinach stir-fry.

I recently finished up a writing assignment for SparkPeople.com about the stir-fry cooking technique. In a nutshell: stir-frying is similar to sautéeing, but it typically involves higher heat and less oil. Heat a round-bottomed wok or …

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Refreshing blueberry limeade.

I’ve been seeing lots of recipes this summer for iced drinks made with fruit and green tea, variations on lemonade, and different kinds of agua fresca (water flavored with fruit or even cucumber). They all look …

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Summer cocktail: The blueberry muddle.

I grossly overshot when I purchased the fruit to make homemade blueberry jam last weekend. Pauvre moi. (Poor me.) So I asked Rob to come up with a blueberry-infused summer cocktail suitable for the July Fourth …

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Grilling summer vegetables in foil.

It’s just after the Fourth of July, and summer is in full swing here in the Midwest. After a long, cool, record-breakingly rainy spring, I’m ready for the sun and heat. Bring it on. These long, …

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Great marinade for summer grilling.

I’m a Leo, which means that I thrive in the warm sunshine. I love spending as much time outdoors as I can. So on gorgeous summer days, I move my cooking outside. Ahead of the holiday …

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Fun ingredient of the week: Burrata.

While visiting my brother, Bill, in Chicago last summer, I had occasion to try something new: burrata cheese. It rocked my world. What’s burrata? Imagine that fresh mozzarella, fresh ricotta and cream all partied together. Burrata …

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