Perfectly ripe and juicy nectarines, peaches, and other stone fruit practically beg to be eaten by the bushel out of hand. But when a bowl of still-firm fruit sits in my kitchen, the wait for them to hit their sweet spot can be agonizing. Enter What Katie Ate, an inspiring Australian food blog and now a gorgeous cookbook by the same name — with an elegant (and easy) solution.
Nectarines transform from tough and overly toothsome to sweet and succulent when halved, drizzled with honey, and baked in a hot oven until tender. This brief turn in the oven is truly all that's needed to boost their flavor, but a sprinkling of almond praline and vanilla crème fraiche makes for an extraspecial touch. Serve them as dessert, for brunch, or at any time of day really; just make sure you try them while these glorious gifts of nature are in season. Once you're done devouring your fill, take a gander at what else lies between the pages of Katie Quinn Davies's What Katie Ate — it'll be worth your while.
Today I realized that essentially I am in the midst of a common-law marriage to a bowl of oatmeal; we're going on seven years strong. Some might view this as sad, that one of the most significant relationships in my life is with an inanimate, even (cover your ears, oatmeal!) boring food. But I truly love the warming morning porridge, and thanks to a little ingenuity and know-how, we've managed to 
That is, until one morning not long ago, when a seemingly innocent flirtation with a new treat in town turned my world upside-down. It might not be conventionally attractive — in fact, it's pale, short, and frankly a little bit gloppy — but, boy, does it know how to make a woman's taste buds light up. The stranger I speak of is, of course, this creamy, velvety-smooth banana shake-smoothie hybrid. It's not much to look at, but with one sip, the depths of its complex but comforting nature become apparent. As a somewhat sneaky bonus, it even comes together in a flash, and is perfect for weekday mornings, a problem oatmeal and I have been attempting to reconcile for years. And while I can't say for sure what my future holds in this bizarre love triangle, I have an inkling that it'll involve both of these charming suitors.
Living with a caffeine junkie means that much of our counter space is devoted to its consumption. 
Coffee has long been the star "secret" ingredient in chocolate desserts, adding depth and bitterness to 
Believe it or not, tomorrow marks what would have been 
While the grand dame of French cookery mostly stuck to classic French sponge cakes in her iconic tomes, it was still a challenge to narrow down the variety of options. I was tempted left and right by promises of cakes perfumed with orange zest, studded with glacéed fruit, and topped with glossy apricot glaze, but ultimately, only one cake was deemed fitting for the task. Named for the Queen of Sheba, the reine de Saba is quite literally a cake fit for a queen, and while we may have expressed 
Two words: Nutella pizza. To put it mildly, I was smitten at first sight and in a full-blown love affair with the epic treat at first bite. It's life-changing, to say the least, so I'm shocked that it had never crossed my mind to slather gobs of Nutella on toast's most delicious kissing cousin.
I'm an unabashed lover of all meaty treats. Succulent duck confit, planks of unctuous bone marrow, quivering pork belly: I greedily devour them all. That said, I think of these deeply savory foods as the punctuation to my everyday diet rather than the staples. An average day finds me spooning up oatmeal, munching on nuts, and supping on salads of zesty tomatoes and burrata cheese. 
Some might describe my predilection to limit my meat consumption as flexitarianism; I prefer to think of it as practical, because, as tempting as it is, a diet based on meat is far from environmentally sound (or nutritionally balanced for that matter). It came as no surprise that I was drawn to Arthur Potts Dawson's new cookbook, 
, a beautifully photographed tome bolstering the movement to eat less meat.
While many of the recipes contained within its pages are vegetarian-friendly, others are liberally garnished with beef, bacon, or salty anchovies. Dawson may be an outspoken ambassador for the oft-forgotten fruits of the garden, but is quick to mention that he too enjoys the occasional steak. Rather than focus on the asceticism of a vegetable-based diet, his cookbook celebrates the vast variety of foods spouting forth from the garden, and many dishes would appeal to all but the most staunch carnivore. 
Time for 
