To me the best lemon bar must consist of a tender, buttery crust and a soft, intensely lemony filling. One other thing…it must be simple to make. In this week’s USA Weekend video, we demonstrate our perfect recipe for these irresistible sweet treats. With Easter, Mother’s Day, picnics and parties coming up, keep this recipe

I woke up—somewhat reluctantly—at 5:45 this morning. The smell of freshly brewed coffee (thank God for the automated coffeemaker!) wafting through the air and the first rays of sunshine finding their way through the bedroom curtains quickly soothed my wrong-side-of-the-bed attitude. After days and days of hazy low-hanging clouds and a constant chilly drizzle, this

There is much to love about being a blogger. It keeps me in touch with Mom and Sharon, it keeps me writing and cooking every day and it keeps me engaged with a community of like-minded people. It has also connected our family to wonderful people from our past and present in a new way.

A scant two weeks of serious touring in Israel and Palestine, we have a free day. How to spend it? Some of us head for the desert. We arrive early morning just in time to climb a sand dune and watch the sun slowly rise above the thick, low clouds on the eastern horizon. We

I’m in Israel for two weeks. At first I considered myself a tourist. Turns out I’m a pilgrim. Until now I thought pilgrimages were Bucket List top ten for the superstitious hyper-religious. It’s way too early to say how this trip will impact my life, but having spent a week here now, I know one

When we arrived in New York, we had one small book case filled with the treasured reads that we loved enough to pay to ship from England to America. There were about ten cookbooks and forty novels. But after a year as a food blogger with a growing passion for food, the bookcase was heaving. 

Tony and I are on a much-needed vacation this week. Poor grad students that we are, we couldn’t afford much, so we’re at Mom and Dad’s Pennsylvania house for the week doing what we love: cooking, eating, and drinking. We’re also doing a little homework, taking long walks, and reading for pleasure. But mostly, we’re

When we were living in England, my husband and I had a wonderful tradition of going to his grandparent’s house for a Sunday roast. Now that we live back in America, I want to continue the Sunday roast dinner tradition with my own family, but it takes more time and effort than I can afford

Whether you have a 5-bedroom house or a 1-bedroom apartment, moving sucks.  I would say I have a particular aversion to moving, and yet I keep doing it. It started in college, that back and forth to Gambier, Ohio each year. It carried on in England when I arrived with just two duffel bags and

This Slow Cooker Chicken Curry is just as delicious as it looks. Allaya of Salt and Paprika said it would be: easy to prepare, delicious and “mild but complex with deep flavors.” She wasn’t wrong! For the full recipe, step-by-step photos, and the story head over to the Tasty Kitchen Blog where I’m guest posting today!

I’m not sure what prompted me to run a recipe for pastitsio, the Greek baked pasta dish, in our USA Weekend column a couple of months ago. Maybe I was looking for an alternative to lasagna. Maybe I was drawn to the dish’s warm spices, but since then I’ve gotten scores of e-mails from readers

I consider myself a relatively healthy person. I get 7 or 8 hours of good sleep a night. I eat consciously—by that I mean I’m not a strict dieter, but I generally make good choices. No doubt, I enjoy a good night out and a nice meal, but everything in moderation. Most weeks, I’m a

Because Mom had a flexible schedule, she would always be around when we got home from school to take us apple picking or out for ice cream. We would hang with her in the kitchen while she made dinner and we’d all go shopping on weekends. Dad, on the other hand, had to work a

It’s curious that I grew up in the South and went to college in South Carolina but never visited Charleston until a few years ago when our family spent one short touristy day there book-ending our visit with breakfast at Hominy Grill (we still have the tee-shirt and good memories to prove it) and dinner