Are your kids back to school this week? Here's a way to give a after-school 'hug' – with homemade gum drop cookies, just the way like my mom did for my sister and me. They are sweet and chewy with jewel-colored chunks of spicy gum drops. The year my sister started kindergarten, my mom wrote here in Kitchen Parade, “It sure is quiet around the house these mornings. Even the dog looks forlorn now that the big orange monster has carried off both her children.” In her own childhood, Mom and her siblings often arrived home from school to a warm kitchen and fresh cookies. For her, after-school aromas of butter and sugar and spice were a sort of cookie hug that asked, “How was your day?" and made known "I’m glad you’re home!” Even as a working mom, she often baked cookies while waiting for that "big orange monster” school bus to spit us out at the end of the driveway. With flat, gummy rounds tucked like jewel surprises inside the dough, this old recipe f

A sweet 'n' savory summer fruit salad, the sweet from a juicy-ripe muskmelon, the savory from chunks of feta cheese and ribbons of fresh basil. This salad almost makes itself, it's that easy! Fresh & Seasonal. Summer Easy. Weight Watchers Friendly. Low Carb. Great for Meal Prep.

Sorbet made from unusual fruit juices from Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt and other spots. With just three ingredients and a few minutes, dip a spoon into an icy, refreshing sorbet, experiencing the taste of summer from across the world. This Easy Fruit Sorbet recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes . With a free e-mail subscription , you'll never miss a one! What a discovery, like walking into a global orchard of fruit juices imported from across the world. Think exotic, think tropical, think rainbow colors. Mango. Red grape. Lychee. Sea Buckthorn. Pear. Apricot. Sour Cherry. Rambutan. Mangosteen. Kiwi. Guava. The international grocery near my home (for St. Louisans, that’s the wonderful Global Foods Market in Kirkwood) keeps shelves of unusual juices imported from Russia, Bulgaria, Egypt and other spots. For a year now, I’ve turned one fruit juice after another into sorbet just by adding sweetness and a splas

One of the easiest (and tastiest) weeknight suppers in a long while, just two ingredients and about ten minutes of hands-on time. This flank steak recipe is so quick and easy that I'm adding it to a special collection of easy summer recipes published throughout the summer of 2009. With a free e-mail subscription , you'll never miss a one! Summer cooking’s never ever ever’s been so relaxed, thanks to collecting easy summer recipes all summer long in 2009. But I’m learning something. Mostly, summer cooking starts with throwing a piece of meat onto the grill for the main course. This means I’ve got a whole backlog of great recipes for summer starters and sides and sweets to share. But main courses? not so many. Good news, they may be few but they’re good. And this recipe? It's a keeper. The recipe for marinated flank steak comes from my friend Mary who got it from her grandmother, who got it from a Japanese friend. That’s why Japanese soy sauce is speci