All recipes

Old-fashioned chocolate gravy made in a skillet with cocoa, sugar, flour and milk, ladled over hot buttermilk biscuits made with butter. The dry-whisk rule that prevents lumps, with cups and grams.

The old-fashioned chocolate mayonnaise cake: one bowl, no eggs and no butter in the batter, a cup of real mayonnaise and a cup of cold water, baked in a 9 by 13 pan and finished with a simple chocolate frosting. Dark, soft and moist for four days.

friendship bread from the very beginning: how to make the starter from nothing, the 10 day schedule for the bag on the counter, and the two soft cinnamon sugar loaves you bake on day ten.

Old-fashioned stuffed green bell peppers with ground beef, rice and tomato sauce, finished with melted cheese. With the three minute parboil that makes the pepper tender instead of raw.

An old-fashioned cream cheese pound cake that starts in a cold oven: three sticks of butter, a block of cream cheese, no baking powder, and a thin sugary crust on top. Cups and grams, and the rules that make it work.

Old-fashioned fried apple pies the mountain way: a thick dried apple and cinnamon filling, a simple shortening dough, half moons crimped twice with a fork and fried in a skillet until gold and blistered. Cups and grams.

Southern fried catfish the fish fry way: a 30 minute buttermilk soak, a seasoned cornmeal crust, an inch of oil at 350 degrees in a cast iron skillet, and hushpuppies with grated onion fried right after in the same oil.

The ground beef lasagna the middle of the country grew up on, with a cottage cheese and egg layer instead of ricotta, a full pound of mozzarella and the 15 minute rest that makes the squares stand up. Cups and grams.

The famous old-fashioned mock apple pie: a double crust filled with round butter crackers, a lemon and cream of tartar syrup, butter and cinnamon. It looks, slices and tastes like apple pie, with no apples in it.

A dark, soft, old-fashioned applesauce cake baked in a 9 by 13 pan, with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, plumped raisins and walnuts, one egg and no frosting. Cups and grams, and the raisin trick that keeps it moist for days.

Real old-fashioned banana pudding: a custard cooked on the stove, poured hot over vanilla wafers and sliced bananas, and topped with a meringue baked at 350°F until the peaks are gold. No box, no tub.

Dark, soft old-fashioned molasses gingerbread baked in a 9 inch square pan and served the way it used to be, with a thin, sharp, warm lemon sauce poured over each square. Cups and grams, and the hot water step that makes the crumb.