All recipes

Old-fashioned hamburger steaks with homemade onion gravy: thick seasoned beef patties seared in cast iron, onions cooked slow in the same skillet to lift the brown bits, a little flour, beef broth, then the patties simmered back in the gravy under a lid. No packet. Exact amounts and times.

How to hard-boil eggs so the shell slides off: eggs lowered into water that is already boiling, 12 minutes at a gentle boil, 15 minutes in ice water, peeled from the fat end. With the deviled egg filling: mayonnaise, yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish.

Fluffy homemade pancakes from scratch: flour, sugar, baking powder, milk, one egg and melted butter, stirred ten strokes and left lumpy, rested 10 minutes, flipped once when the bubbles pop and stay open. Cups and grams, griddle heat and timing.

The old-fashioned hot fudge pudding cake: a chocolate batter spread in a 9 inch pan, brown sugar and cocoa sprinkled over, 1 3/4 cups very hot water poured on top and never stirred, baked at 350 degrees for 40 minutes into cake on top and fudge sauce underneath.

Old-fashioned lemon meringue pie with a tall meringue that does not weep or slide: a cooked lemon filling poured hot into a baked crust, the meringue spread on right away and sealed to the edge, baked at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Cups and grams and the timing that matters.

Plain old-fashioned double crust apple pie: 6 cups of sliced apples, 3/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, baked at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then 375 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until the juice bubbles thick. Served warm, with or without a slice of sharp cheddar.

A tender, flaky all-butter pie crust the old way: cold butter worked in until pea-size, ice water with a tablespoon of vinegar, stopped while the dough is still shaggy. Makes two crusts, plus how to blind bake a shell at 425 degrees.

Old-fashioned oven cinnamon toast for a whole family: soft butter mashed with sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of salt into a paste, spread to every edge, baked at 350 degrees, then finished under the broiler until the top crackles.

The old Southern batter peach cobbler: butter melted in a 9 by 13 dish, a simple batter poured over it, canned or fresh peaches spooned on top, cinnamon sugar, and nobody stirs. Baked at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until the crust rises through the fruit.

Old-fashioned pumpkin bars baked in a 15 by 10 inch jelly roll pan at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, then covered in thick cream cheese frosting. Cups and grams, the cooling rule, and how to cut them for a crowd.

Saltine cracker toffee in a 10 by 15 sheet pan: a single layer of saltine crackers under a butter and brown sugar toffee boiled for 3 minutes, baked 5 minutes at 400 degrees, topped with melted chocolate chips, chopped pecans and flaky salt, chilled and broken into pieces. Exact amounts and times.

Old-fashioned Southern fried apples in a cast iron skillet: thick tart apple wedges with the skins on, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and a squeeze of lemon, steamed under a lid then cooked down to a dark syrup and turned gently so they stay whole. Exact amounts and times.