Italian Ricotta and Cream Cheese Pie

Traditional for Easter, you can skip the crust for a gluten-free sweet

Should we call this a pie, a tart, or a custard? It has elements of all three.

Ricotta pie is an Italian favorite, especially at Easter time. With the addition of cream cheese, it becomes something halfway between pie and cheesecake. So we guess you could call this cheesecake, too.

But what’s in a name? We just call it delicious

Welsh Rarebit

An open-face toasted cheese sandwich, extra savory

Welsh Rarebit – a/k/a Welsh Rabbit – is comfort food with savor. It’s quick and easy to make too, so it’s perfect for a weeknight dinner. Or maybe a midnight snack.

Fast and flavorful, this dish will put a twitch in any bunny’s nose.

Wine-Braised Beef Short Ribs

Served over mashed potatoes, comfort food at its finest

Spring may be coming, but it’s still plenty chilly in our part of the world. So we’re not putting away our braising pot just yet. And what better than braised beef short ribs to chase away the last days of winter?

After a few hours luxuriating in a rich wine sauce over low heat, the meat becomes soft, yet retains its toothsome character. And the rich flavor is succulent beyond belief.

Best of all, this dish tastes better cooked a day or two ahead, then reheated. So it makes perfect party food.

It’s so good your guests will applaud. Or even better, request seconds.

The Paddy Cocktail

This Prohibition-era classic is an Irish whiskey Manhattan

OK, we’re not wild about the name of this drink. Back in the day, “paddy” was pretty much an ethnic slur against Irish immigrants. Fortunately, these days the insult has lost most of its sting.

That is the name of the cocktail, though, and has been since the drink was invented (probably in the 1920s). And since the drink tastes really good, we’ll just have to live with it.

Because once you taste this, you won’t want to live without it.