A home-cooking notebook
Good food,
tried and kept.
The recipes I make, the changes that worked, and the details I want to remember next time.
The collection
Recipes to come back to
8 recipes
Chocolate Crunch Cluster Granola
Extra-crispy chocolate granola with dense oat clusters, walnuts, seeds, and puffed rice, inspired by a salty-sweet packaged granola.
Open recipeGiant Bakery-Style Oatmeal Cookies
Large, thick oatmeal cookies with crisp golden edges, soft centers, warm spices, dark chocolate, toasted pecans, and dried fruit.
Open recipeJake's Whole-Wheat Sandwich Bread
A soft, honey-sweetened, Dave's Killer Bread-inspired sandwich loaf made with freshly milled whole wheat, an overnight flour soak, olive oil, butter, vital wheat gluten, and soy lecithin. Designed for fluffy, kid-friendly sandwiches and improved storage.
Open recipePumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
A rich vanilla cheesecake made with two pounds of cream cheese and swirled with a lightly spiced pumpkin cheesecake mixture. The pumpkin is blended with a portion of the cream cheese filling before being dolloped and marbled throughout, rather than added as a separate pumpkin layer.
Open recipeSous Vide Texas-Style Spare Ribs
Pork spare ribs cooked sous vide at 160°F for 18 hours for tender, structured meat, then dried, seasoned again, smoked, and optionally grilled for caramelization. Features a simple Texas-style salt, pepper, and paprika rub with a buttery brown sugar and apple cider vinegar bag mixture.
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After second proof · process photoUltra-Fluffy Giant Cinnamon Rolls
Very soft, oversized cinnamon rolls with a tangzhong dough, milk-and-butter drizzle, and two optional finishes: vanilla cream cheese frosting or brown-butter caramel walnut glaze.
Open recipeWhole Wheat Banana Peanut Butter Waffles
Whole wheat waffles with mashed bananas, creamy peanut butter, cinnamon, and olive oil. Naturally sweeter from the bananas, with reduced added sugar and oil compared with the pumpkin version.
Open recipeZuppa Toscana
A hearty, creamy Italian-inspired soup with sweet Italian sausage, crispy bacon, red onions, buttery Honey Gold potatoes, Russet potatoes, and plenty of kale. This family-friendly version uses milk and sour cream instead of heavy cream and is designed for an Instant Pot using its sauté and slow-cooker functions.
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A note from Jake
These are working recipes from my own kitchen. Family feedback, test notes, and proposed next-batch changes stay with the recipe, so I can remember what actually happened.