George Rabasa’s Catalan Tomato Bread (Pa Amb Tomàquet) THE WONDER SINGER I had Catalan Tomato Bread before I ever tasted peanut butter and jelly on crustless white bread. My parents had emigrated from Catalonia, Spain to Maine where I was born and had brought the flavors of the home country with them. By the time […]

Barbara Delinsky’s SoMa Stickies (Sticky Buns)  Sweet sticky buns, topped with cinnamon, pecans and brown sugar from Big Sur’s Ventana Inn & Spa  THE SECRET BETWEEN US  I’m a lousy cook. Well, maybe lousy is too strong a word. I am a competent cook who can perform in the kitchen when necessary. But I have […]

Erin Healy’s Potato Rosemary Bread THE BAKER’S WIFE In The Baker’s Wife, heroine Audrey gives away homemade rosemary-potato bread as a gift of compassion. The story opens and closes with a loaf of this bread, which I chose first because it’s a flavor I find comforting, and second because while researching the novel, Peter Reinhart’s books on […]

Kate Jacobs’s Nanny Buns COMFORT FOOD It took much negotiation within my family to share this recipe with you, and I repeatedly went over the details with my mother. Because what’s below isn’t just a list of ingredients and directions. I am sharing the essence of happiness, the taste of love. You see, this is […]

Kate Jacobs’s Maple Apple Muffins  KNIT TWO I have a whole theory about muffins: They are sometimes nutritious  (raisin bran!) and other times pure indulgence (chocolate chip!) but they are always perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. And tea or coffee goes hand-in-hand with good conversation. There’s nothing like a heartfelt chat with […]

Min Jin Lee: Ella’s Cherry Scones  Traditional buttermilk scones with dried cherries – or your favorite dried fruit – that are easy to make and perfect for tea FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES Casey Han, the main character of Free Food for Millionaires is not much of a cook, but her friend Ella Shim loves to cook, read […]

Kat Martin Cheddar-Chive Biscuits Cheddar Cheese and chives add wonderful flavor to these savory biscuits — perfect for any meal.  A SONG FOR MY MOTHER  A Song for My Mother, the second book in my Dreyerville series, is a gift-sized hardcover out for Mother’s Day. A Song for My Mother and The Christmas Clock are very different from my other books; […]

Jael McHenry’s Biscuits with Sausage Gravy THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER Of all the recipes in The Kitchen Daughter, this one is my favorite. Each of the recipes in the book belongs to a character – when my narrator Ginny cooks from family recipes, the ghosts of those family members return to her kitchen, for as long as […]

Paullina Simons’s Banana Bread  THE SUMMER GARDEN When Tatiana, the main character in The Summer Garden, first came to America, the bananas never ripened. They never ripened because she would eat them before they did. She bought them barely yellow and ate them barely yellow. She had never eaten bananas in the Soviet Union and now feasted […]