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For a delicious change of pace at dinnertime in the spring, I tried this Barbecued Salmon from Taste of Home's Country Woman magazine. The salty, meaty salmon is dressed with a barbecue sauce flavored by lime, garlic and chili. If you have most of the ingredients in your pantry (rice wine vinegar, chili sauce), this can be an economical dish -- especially if you buy frozen salmon fillets. BARBECUED SALMON 2/3 cup barbecue sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons garlic chili sauce (or add a minced garlic clove to regular chili sauce) 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar 1 tablespoon lime juice 1 teaspoon soy sauce 4 salmon fillets 1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro (can omit) In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside 1/4 cup for serving. To grill: Moisten a paper towel with cooking oil; using long-handled tongs, lightly coat the grill rack. Grill salmon, covered, over hot heat -- or broil 3-4 in. from the heat, as I di...

If you're baking and you run out of brown sugar, or you find you don't have quite enough, or if you find you need a little and you don't want to buy a 1-pound package because the rest will just harden in your cabinet, try this: Measure 1 cup of granulated white sugar and add 2 teaspoons molasses. Mix with a fork or an electric mixer. I learned this trick from author Joanne Fluke who writes the Hannah Swensen series of culinary mysteries.

I abhor Hardee's fast-food restaurants. The grease in their food -- even the salads -- is not the only thing that makes me queasy. They concoct the most unhealthful sandwiches -- huge slabs of meat with more meat as toppings. Disgusting. However, every now and then, I crave their cinnamon-raisin biscuits. That happened early one morning back when I was helping on my mom's paper route. I went through the drive-thru. Some employees smoking outside told me that they don't open till 6. It was 5:55 -- you have got to be kidding me. I laid rubber to get home and look up a comparable recipe to do it myself. Who needs Hardee's? I found this online and this morning I finally made it after saving it all that time. The craving had apparently passed. I have been trying to make myself an easy little comfort food homemade treat on Friday mornings just because. This was today's. I think if I make it again I would cut back on the sugar a little. And instead of making drop biscuits,...

My fabulous foodie friend Katie e-mailed me a recipe for roasted peaches that she concocted. It sounded yummy, but I had no whole vanilla beans and I worried extract just wouldn't do it justice. I made it with a cinnamon stick instead. It was warm and spicy and quite good. Here's my way and her way: Cinnamon Roasted Peaches 6 peaches, sliced in half, stones removed 3-4 tablespoons melted butter 3-4 tablespoons cinnamon-infused honey 3-4 tablespoons brown sugar cinnamon stick vanilla ice cream Whisk together the butter, honey and brown sugar in a 13-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Add the cinnamon stick. Place peach halves in the mixture, turning to coat thoroughly, and resting cut side down. Bake at about 375 degrees for 25 minutes or so, checking for doneness. About every 8-10 minutes or so, remove the peaches from the oven and use a spoon to baste the peaches in the honey mixture. Roast until the peaches yield easily to a knife, but aren’t mushy, and the honey mixture is bubbly ...

Among my fondest memories of growing up in an Appalachian holler is the food, specifically the sweets. Late last year, foodie trend watchers predicted old-fashioned candy is going to be hot this year. I have yet to see Google return this recipe in response to my request for "old-fashioned candy." Trust me, it's a goodie. As a kid, I never gave much thought to why January Thaw was called that -- we sometimes made it in months other than January -- but a Web site that printed a recipe similar to my mom's says it’s because it looks like muddy slush. I assure you it's much tastier. And as the foot or so of snow outside my house has melted this week, the candy doesn't much resemble what's in my yard. Nor does the batch I made tonight exactly match what I remember from 25 years ago. I chalk that up to ingredients and technique and I'll throw in different elevation for good measure. While not "perfect", it's still pretty good -- who could find f...