May I interest you in a cookie? These vegan lavender cookies are the perfect sweet treat with a subtle hint of lavender!

Nothing can breathe new life into a Southerner like a scoop of ice cream on a hot summer evening. For this recipe, I’ve chosen to use what I think is one of the most refreshing flavors–mint. And I have so much of it growing in the garden, it was time for me to come up with a new way to use it.

Sprinkle some dark chocolate shaving on top of this ice cream, and you’ve got yourself a delicious little treat!

This is a favorite recipe of Chef Faith Anaya with the program Kid’s Cook! Arkansas and two of her students. This is a great recipe for kids to help out with!

This cake is included in my book, Seasonal Recipes from the Garden. It’s a modified version of my grandmother Margie Hanes Smith’s recipe. I believe this recipe came to her from her mother, my great-grandmother Hanes, who used blackberry jam as a way to sweeten the cake. Back then sugar was scarce, so jam and sorghum molasses were often used as sweeteners.

This cake can be served with or without Ma Smith’s caramel sauce.

Do you end up with leftover wine after a party? Our friend and modern pioneer Georgia Pellegrini shows us how to make tasty popsicles with red wine. You can watch the recipe in action here.

With Easter approaching, we see the grocery store shelves fill with some of the most delightful candy creations of the year. If you have a hard time choosing between malted milk eggs, pastel M&M’s, chocolate rabbits and more, well, you don’t have to. This recipe for Easter Bunny Bark brings together your favorite candies in one simple, sugar-filled, easy-to-make recipe.

Make it with the kids and leave it out to entice a visit from the Easter Bunny, or serve it up at Easter brunch.  Anyway you dish it up, you can’t go wrong with this candy-coated pastel confection.

There are many great breweries from Ireland, some of them centuries old. Irish beers are known for their rich, robust flavor and dark, thick display. As hops are not native to Ireland, historically the country produced ale without them, encouraging the production of their most popular products even still today—lagers, stouts and Irish red ales. Here are a few great ones from excellent Irish breweries to locate for your St. Patrick’s Day celebrations.

7 Irish Beers for St. Patrick’s Day

Guinness Extra Stout
O’Hara’s Irish Red
Smithwick’s Premium Irish Ale
Harp Lager
Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale
Beamish Irish Stout
Murphy’s Irish Red

Many breweries in the states also pay homage to the Irish flag with their own versions of Irish ales. Diamond Bear brewery in my home state of Arkansas, makes delicious Irish Red ale. Don’t forget to explore what some of your local crafters may be brewing up!

Guinness may be the most well known Irish brewery, and for good reason. Their stout recipe is robust and complex, and can sometimes even feel like a dessert beer—so why not indulge all the way? We did some experimenting, and discovered the perfect St. Patrick’s Day dessert, the Chocolate Guinness Float!

Are you celebrating Chinese New Year? Take the delicious Chinese New Year citrus symbol of luck and wealth from your centerpiece to your menu! This recipe for Chocolate-dipped Orange Sections is the perfect post-feast confection for your good luck celebration.