Appetizer Recipes

This was supposed to be a batch of perfectly respectable chocolate-dipped pretzel rods. I had the melting chocolate ready, the sprinkles lined up like little … Read more

Rachel wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to drop off a library book she’d lent me—one of those things you mean to return … Read more

I was at the hardware store—of all places—buying a new mop head when the guy in line behind me started talking about Halloween. He was … Read more

The PTA Halloween party was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. My son had reminded me twice that morning, and I’d nodded along while … Read more

My daughter looked up from the cookbook she was flipping through—the one with the creepy-crawly spiders on the cover—and asked why I couldn’t just dump … Read more

I was standing in line at the hardware store, holding a bag of mulch I didn’t really need, when the woman behind me—a retired schoolteacher … Read more

Introduction My husband claimed he hated deviled eggs for thirty-seven years. Thirty-seven years of passing the platter at every family gathering, every church potluck, every … Read more

“These are the best things I’ve ever put in my mouth,” my sister said, reaching for a fourth skewer off the platter. She wasn’t being … Read more

My neighbor Greta watched me struggling with a pretzel recipe one rainy October afternoon. I’d been at it for an hour, trying to get that … Read more

The neighborhood Oktoberfest party was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing slow-braised pork shoulders, homemade sauerkraut from family recipes, … Read more