A kitchen knife resting on a wooden cutting board with chopped green herbs and purple flowers nearby.

Cook With Us

Good food starts with good ingredients — and the courage to step into the kitchen with an open heart. Cook With Us is where we share seasonal recipes, kitchen stories, and the techniques that help us create meaningful meals at home.

Whether you’re cooking for a crowd or making something simple on a weeknight, we hope these posts and videos inspire you to slow down, cook with intention, and fall in love with the seasons.

Resources for Learning Seasonal Cooking Techniques

These posts and videos help home cooks understand ingredients, build skills, and learn how to cook seasonally.

Seasonal Recipes & Kitchen Stories

Baking, Fruit, Dessert Lisa Balcom Baking, Fruit, Dessert Lisa Balcom

Peach and Blackberry Cobbler with Fluffy Ricotta Biscuits

This is the sort of dessert I find myself making on repeat once peaches are ripe and berry bushes are overflowing. The beauty of a cobbler is that it doesn't ask for perfection—just good fruit and a buttery topping to soak up all of those bubbling juices.

Here, sweet peaches and juicy blackberries are paired with lemon zest and just a splash of rose water. It's a subtle ingredient, but it gently enhances the natural floral notes of both the peaches and berries without tasting perfumey. If you don't have rose water on hand, simply leave it out. The cobbler will still be delicious.

One of my favorite things about this recipe is how adaptable it is. Swap the peaches for nectarines, use raspberries or blueberries instead of blackberries, or make it with whatever summer fruit happens to be overflowing at the farmers market. As with all of our fruit desserts, we'll whisk together the sugar and tapioca starch before adding the fruit to ensure an evenly thickened filling.

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Fruit, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom Fruit, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom

Peach & Blackberry Galette with Buttermilk Spelt Crust

Galettes are one of my favorite ways to celebrate summer fruit. They have all the buttery, flaky goodness of pie but none of the stress. There's no pie plate, no crimping, and no worrying about perfection—the rustic folds are part of the charm.

Sweet peaches and juicy blackberries are tossed with ginger, nutmeg, lemon zest, and just a touch of rose water (if you have it) before being tucked into a buttery spelt crust. A thin layer of cream cheese underneath the fruit adds richness while helping keep the crust crisp.

As with all of our fruit pies and galettes, whisk the sugar, tapioca starch, salt, and spices together before adding the fruit. This evenly coats every piece and creates a beautifully thickened filling.

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Dessert Lisa Balcom Dessert Lisa Balcom

Butterscotch Budino

This butterscotch budino is a luxurious Italian-style pudding, deeply caramelized with brown sugar and finished with just enough Scotch to round out its warmth. Whisked egg yolks and a touch of cornstarch give it that signature budino texture—silky, glossy, and rich. The moment the sugar starts to smoke and turn spotty is when the magic happens: a smoky edge that gives this comforting dessert a grown-up twist.

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Cake, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom Cake, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake

A simple, elegant classic with rich vanilla flavor. This vanilla bean pound cake is tender and deeply aromatic, thanks to real vanilla paste and rich cream. The method keeps the crumb light and fine—whipping the eggs and sugar to a ribbon stage before folding in flour and emulsified butter. It’s the kind of cake that’s perfect with a cup of tea, layered with fruit and cream, or simply dusted with powdered sugar.

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Dessert, Pie Lisa Balcom Dessert, Pie Lisa Balcom

Chocolate Pecan Pie

This chocolate pecan pie is made with Guanaja 70% chocolate, toasted pecans, and dark corn syrup in a buttery blind-baked crust. A rich, indulgent twist on the Southern classic.

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Cook With Us — Live & In the Kitchen

We host relaxed, seasonal cook-alongs on YouTube so you can cook right beside us — asking questions, learning techniques, and having some fun in the kitchen along the way.

We’ve taken a little break on creating new videos but feel free to explore past episodes below anytime the cooking mood strikes. We link our shopping lists in the show notes so you can shop for the video in advance.