Lately it seems like every time I stop by a specialty food store, Ina Garten has debuted a new baking mix based on one of her popular recipes. In fact, according to her website, she now has more than twenty breakfast and dessert mixes. At this rate, she's poised to take on King Arthur Four and Betty Crocker. This week I tried out her new coconut madeleines. Dainty and delicate, they seemed perfect for spring. More

I decided to try this Easy Cranberry Apple Cake from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That? for two reasons. First, it had the word "easy" in the title and second, apples and cranberries add up to a fantastic fall dessert. As far as cakes go, this one is a breeze. The batter, which is almost coffee cake-like, layers apples and cranberries that have been tossed in brown sugar, cinnamon, orange juice, and zest. More

When cooking for a crowd I tend to go for the wow factor—big, labor intensive dishes that have me holed up in the kitchen for hours, if not days, and always exhausted by the time my guests arrive. And of course, it was the wow factor that attracted me to this recipe for Easy Provençal Lamb from Ina Garten's How Easy Is That?, which began with a leg of lamb that was bigger than one of my own legs. Was there anyway that cooking a piece of meat this giant would be as easy as its name implies? There was only one way to find out. More

By swapping out Yukon Golds for plain old Russets, and adding vibrant green blanched basil, basic mashed potatoes are taken from humble and homey to exciting and dinner party-worthy. More

Celery, lemons, Parmesan, and anchovies are ingredients that I pretty much always have on hand, but I'd never thought of them as the base for a salad until I tried this one for myself. And now that I have, this refreshing dish will certainly be working its way into my weekly rotation. More

Ina Garten's How Easy Is That? begins like every great dinner party does, with cocktails. The first chapter is a predinner spread of cocktails and little bites that get the meal started on the right note, keeping your guests entertained and giving you a little leeway to finish up the rest of the meal. All of these hors d'oeuvres have Garten's simple and elegant touches all over them—popcorn is drizzled with truffle butter, mixed nuts are roasted with chipotle and rosemary, and instead of cheese and crackers, Garten offers these Stilton and Walnut Crackers. More

Since it's July, and scorching hot, I couldn't resist the Barefoot Contessa's Outrageous Mint Chocolate Brownie Mix ($10.95). There was something so temping about the promise of cool, refreshing mint—especially when paired with dense fudgy chocolate. I've made Ina's brownies from scratch before, and was impressed with how gooey and moist they were. I hoped the mix would yield similar results. More

I have always thought of marshmallows as a sort of "magic" food, like Pop Rocks or bubble tea. How, exactly, are they made? Sugar is obviously a major ingredient, but what else goes into them? More