Scones always sounded a bit intimidating to me. But surprise surprise, they’re so easy! They don’t even have to rise, and scones can be made in so many different flavor combinations. I have some fresh mint I’ve been dying to use, so I decided to …

Happy (almost) 4th of July! There are so many foods that scream summer, but to me, classic cheeseburgers are at the top of the list. Cam was explaining to me the other day that there are actually three kinds of cheeseburgers. There’s the classic type, …

I love vinegar so much. Balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar. . . . Each of them are so good. I even almost named this blog after vinegar. Vinegar is amazing, but somehow this balsamic reduction is even better. Reducing vinegar takes what …

Y’all, buttermilk fried chicken is the BOMB. Crispy golden skin and moist insides are nothing to say no to. The colonel is right; fried chicken is finger-lickin’ good. Especially buttermilk fried chicken. But what’s the difference? Buttermilk fried chicken is soaked in buttermilk prior to …

Crispy, crunchy, salty steak fries. Yum. And the best part is, you can have homemade steak fries made from pantry staples in under an hour. What a wonderfully dangerous thing. (Especially with some Watermelon Agua Fresca on the side. It’s the perfect snack! So what …

Yay, it’s strawberry season! I can’t help but buy boxes and boxes of strawberries when they’re so cheap, and I always need some way to use them up. This strawberry chocolate pie is the perfect dessert to do so. This pie is made up of …

So what is ragu? When I’m talking about ragu, I don’t mean the pasta sauce brand. I mean the real thing; a rich sauce from Italy, full of meat and vegetables that have been cooked down into pure fat and flavor. When you taste this …

Have you ever had a gyro? If so, you’ve probably tried tzatziki sauce. This sauce (pronounced with a silent first t) is a gorgeously fresh combination of yogurt, cucumbers, and dill. It’s creamy and cool, but with a little zip from the lemon juice and …

Roasting a chicken can be intimidating, but I believe it’s an important cooking skill to have. It’s perfect for a long weekend, or for a dinner party, and it makes great leftovers. And this roast chicken with garlicky potatoes is a great place to start! …

Salted caramel cheesecake. I almost feel like I don’t have to write anything else….if you need to be talked into eating cheesecake, you’re someone who needs cheesecake the very most. Especially this gorgeously rich salted caramel cheesecake. Each bite is perfection. Sweet, salty, and outrageously …

Caramel is delicious, but salted caramel is something else. Especially this salted caramel sauce. Whether you drizzle it on ice cream, use it to soak a chocolate cake, or dip apple slices in it….you’re in for a good time. A few notes: if you’d like …

A quick bread that takes an hour tops, and is impressively buttery and craggy? I’m in! This Irish soda bread is easy and sweet, with a hint of tang. Eat it with your corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, or slather it with …

I wasn’t originally a fan of beets. Let’s just say they’ve grown on me. Especially since eating this gorgeous roasted beet salad. Beet salad might not seem like something you’d love to eat, but this roasted beet salad with honey lemon dressing is. The leafy …

I do love this potato leek soup. This is the perfect soup for when you feel that winter has been SO long that spring must be right around the corner. It’s rich and easy, as a winter soup should be, but the leeks always remind …

Happy Valentine’s Day! These lemon strawberry entremets would be perfect for any time of year, but they’re ideal for Valentine’s Day. The lemon and strawberry keep it light and fruity, but the ganache adds a silky richness that makes it perfect for the holiday. A …

Boeuf bourgignon is one of Julia Child’s signature dishes, and for good reason. It may look like beef stew, but it is gorgeously complex. Thick chunks of beef melt in your mouth as the steamy scent of herbs wafts up from your bowl. Boeuf bourgignon …

Most salad ingredients may not be in season, but citrus fruits are bountiful and extra sweet at this time of year. This winter citrus salad is the perfect plate to chase away any blues. I call it a winter salad, but a basil-mint citrus salad …

Winter means staying inside and being cozy, so braising is the perfect wintertime cooking method. If you’re not familiar with braising, it’s a cooking method where you lightly fry the food and then let it cook, low and slow, in a bit of liquid. Braising …

I love butternut squash, but sometimes plain butternut squash gets a little boring. Let’s jazz it up with this sweet n spicy butternut squash! It’s gorgeous and crispy, with a little kick of heat and a sweet finish. If you like sweet potato fries, you’ll …

Have you ever wondered what a rose tastes like? I have. Roses are one of my favorite smells, no matter how old-ladyish my husband thinks they smell. As for the taste, it is exquisite. And this fragrant rose cake is the perfect introduction. Rose doesn’t …

For as long as I can remember, my mom has made this breakfast casserole every Christmas morning. It’s perfect because you can make it the night before, pop it in the oven right before the kids come downstairs, and then it will be ready by …

Sorry for the lack of blog posts lately! I adore the holidays, but they are a terribly busy time. So busy, in fact, that you might desperately need this recipe for chocolate peanut butter pie. You can whip it up in about an hour for …

Happy Hanukkah! I personally don’t celebrate Hanukkah, but I will take any excuse I can get to eat latkes. Especially these crisp, golden butternut latkes. Latkes are pancakes traditionally made from potatoes, but you can make them from zucchini, squash, and pretty much any hard …

I am not great at making Chinese or Japanese food, but I would like to be. (Mainly because Chinese food is a favorite of my husband and my sister.) This Asian meatball soup is one of those recipes that makes me feel like I am …

I love macaroni and cheese. I would eat the normal Kraft macaroni and cheese as a meal regularly, but I feel that’s frowned upon. So with that, I bring you my mom’s full-meal macaroni and cheese. With this dish comes the concept of making a …

After making pie dough, you need something to put in it! Continuing with our pre-Thanksgiving pie theme, let’s talk about this classic apple pie. Not every apple pie is created equal. This classic apple pie is simple, but lovely in its simplicity. The crust is …

Whenever it starts getting cold and gross outside, I always want to stay in and bake. Unfortunately, watching the Great British Bake-off only fuels this obsession. Luckily, pie is the perfect thing to bake for max coziness. Need to whip something up for a party? …

I’m not as fanatical about pumpkin spice as some people are, but there’s something irresistible about this pumpkin swirl bread. It’s rich and moist, but the pumpkin spice gives it a little frisson of excitement. Whether you eat this for breakfast, lunch, or dessert, you …

I’m back! Sorry for the break, but it’s amazing what a trip to Disneyland and a work-intensive Halloween costume can do to derail a blog. Luckily, we ate well enough that I didn’t miss Buttery Basics too much! But after that Disneyland trip, I could …

Sometimes, delectable finger foods are born out of necessity. These bacon wrapped apples were born out of the necessity to clean out the fridge before going on vacation. Yet, now that I’ve made these, they might be my go-to party food. They’re perfect served hot …

Shrimp and grits is kind of the quintessential Southern dish. You have your fresh seafood, your grits, and everything is cooked in bacon fat and slathered with butter (YUM). It’s a gorgeous mix between rich flavors of all kinds. I usually associate those kinds of …

It’s only after having this blog for a few months that I’ve realized what a ridiculous sweet tooth I have. I keep wanting to make desserts, and not veggies at all. But, even for me, these savory honey glazed carrots hit the spot. They’re still …

It was my birthday last week! So of course I had to make a decadent, scrumptious explosion of a cake. It might sound sad to make your own birthday cake, but I really wanted to go all out. Hence this chocolate raspberry explosion cake. It’s …

Dried herbs are a major part of my cooking. I’ve been growing herbs all summer, because they smell good and I needed some plant babies. Now that it’s growing cooler outside, it’s time to dry herbs and put them away for the winter. Don’t worry, …

This chunky tomato basil soup is the perfect fall soup. It’s kind of the epitome of cozy. Cam was sick this week, so we ate this soup for dinner pretty much all week, curled up in blankets and watching old movies. This chunky tomato basil …

These chocolate chunk bars are an ideal snack. You can tell yourself they’re healthy, because they have fiber and fruit and aren’t some processed junk you got from a vending machine. Yet, at the same time, there’s CHOCOLATE. . . and peanut butter and honey …

You’re probably wondering how this sheet pan chicken and veggies is different. We’ve all seen a million sheet pan dinners online. I get it: you get home, and you don’t want to chop more veggies or wash more dishes than you have to. I support …

When life gives you apples, you make homemade applesauce. It’s fall, y’all! And Mother Nature is giving us a lot of apples. I don’t know about you, but I can’t resist it when I’m walking through the grocery store, and heaps of red and pink …

This honey glazed challah is the best thing I have ever made. And I don’t say that lightly. Something about this combination of good fresh honey, tender inner dough, and the burnished outer crust of the challah makes my heart skip a beat. I was …

Okay, so you’re probably wondering what lemon icebox pie is. Traditionally, icebox pies are remnants of hot Southern summers when, with no air-conditioning to cool off, you would want a pie that can do it instead. Icebox pies may still be baked, but they require …

It’s okay, summer’s not quite over yet! If you’re not ready for pumpkin spice, whip up a watermelon agua fresca. Agua fresca is pretty much just fruit, lime juice, and sweetener, blended into a icy, frothy concoction. It’s cool and sweet, exotic and easy. You …

Is there anything more Southern than fried green tomatoes? If you’re wondering why you would bother frying them in the first place, the answer is because they’re dang good. The second answer is because they don’t fall apart as easily as ripe tomatoes, and most …

You guys, chocolate is amazing. There’s a reason why people used to consider it the food of the gods. If you’re not convinced yet, these triple chocolate cookies should do the job! There’s cocoa, melted chocolate, and chocolate chips. It might seem extravagant, but I …

Okay, so there are two kinds of ratatouille. There’s the pretty kind, as seen is Disney’s Ratatouille, and then there’s the sloppy kind, where you just throw everything in all together. This is the pretty kind: Remy’s ratatouille. Surprisingly, Remy’s ratatouille isn’t that hard. You just …

In case you’ve never heard of baklava, it’s a yummy Greek dessert that’s made by layering dough, butter, and nuts into a wondrous flaky thing, before drenching it all in honey. If you’ve never tasted baklava before, you’re in for a treat. Baklava is a …

Before you balk at this bok choy salad, you should know that I am not a salad person, and I don’t really trust the people who say they are. Most salads are kind of sad; a handful of wilted lettuce covering a few limp slices …

I looooove peaches. And it’s peach season here in Utah. People are literally just giving them away, so I’m happy as can be. The one problem is what to do with them. Hence this recipe for peach cake. I started looking for peach cake recipes …

Chicken stock is kind of the unsung hero of cooking, especially homemade chicken stock. It is the base for risotto, many sauces, and most soups. Chicken stock is also used to give extra body and flavor to rice, vegetables, gravy, and chicken pot pie. Chicken …

Sticky lemon rolls are stupid good. I’d only ever had cinnamon rolls, and they just weren’t doing it for me. But then I found Faith Durand’s recipe for sticky lemon rolls, and I made them for brunch, and I fell in love. I adapted the …

Summer means peach season! I like smelling peaches so much that I always end up buying too many, and need to find new ways to eat them. Baked peaches are especially tasty, and a dessert where you can still feel virtuous for being so healthy. …

I really do love making this strawberry chicken salad. I remember my mom picking the first (ugly, but delicious) strawberries from our garden, and assembling this salad. Assembling, because it doesn’t even really count as cooking; this salad takes some tasty things, and makes something …

Announcement! I’m going to start doing cookbook reviews! I love books and food, so I wanted to combine my two favorite things. I was also inspired by just how many cookbooks are available. How can you know, out of so many, which are the good …

Granola is not something I usually make, especially not honey thyme granola. But I have Daphne Oz’s The Happy Cook from the library this week (see the other recipe I tried from her cookbook here), and this was a recipe that seemed within my comfort zone. Around …

There’s nothing like a grilled cheese sandwich for the perfect weekend lunch; but it sometimes needs to be livened up a bit. Enter the elevated grilled cheese: in this case, a gorgeous balsamic onion and pear grilled cheese. It’s not much more work than a …

Cafe Rio pork is the only thing I ever order there, because it’s the best. It is the most succulent, savory pork you’ve ever had. It’s sweet and tangy, with a hint of spice. Cafe Rio pork can be served in quesadillas, burritos, salads, and …

Scrambled eggs are obviously a kitchen basic: even children can make them. But Gordon Ramsay’s scrambled eggs are on a totally different level. They are rich and creamy while remaining light and fluffy; unlike normal scrambled eggs, they never turn out rubbery and flavorless. It …

Jambalaya should be everyone’s go-to comfort food. Hear me out: it’s quick, easy, not unhealthy, and pretty impressive to people who have never had it before. This sausage and rice dish is relatively cheap to make (especially if you don’t add shrimp, which I usually …

An icy mojito mocktail is the perfect solution to a hot summer day. And I don’t know where you live, but it has been HOT in Utah. This drink really hits the spot! Although I don’t drink alcohol, I am definitely a fancy drink person …

This moist, jammy plum cake is what first made me want to start this blog. I first found the recipe on Smitten Kitchen. Deb Perelman’s recipe is a famous one that she found in the New York Times, and then modified to one she liked better. …

Let’s put the basics into Buttery Basics, starting with this lovely whipped cream recipe! I remember that I was watching Masterchef recently, and Gordon Ramsay was SHOCKED that a contestant had never made whipped cream. His reaction is especially surprising when you realize how crazy easy …

I never really feel like summer’s arrived until I make this tangy summer salad. It’s fresh and sweet, with a little tang of vinegar. I understand that not everyone loves vinegar, but the great thing about this salad is that it can be reeking with …

Cafe Zupas’ Orange Berry Infusion is a light, delicate orange drink with a tinge of strawberry. This drink is somehow both the perfect beverage for when you’re sick, and the ideal drink for a summer garden party. This is what my favorite celebrities and I …