Cooking with Ease: Holiday Treat Boxes & DIY Party

Cooking with Ease: Holiday Treat Boxes & DIY Party

(ROCKWALL, TX – Nov. 12, 2019) Growing up, I remember my mom making holiday treat boxes for all of our friends and family. Every year between Thanksgiving and Christmas she would spend days working on them. All surfaces of our kitchen would be covered in little red and green plastic boxes, colored tissue paper, chocolate covered […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: One Pot Lasagna Soup

(ROCKWALL, TX – Oct. 9, 2019) October is probably my favorite month of the year. It’s my birthday month, it’s the opening of the State Fair of Texas, the beginning of fall, cool weather and the start of soup season. I’m not really sure if soup season is a “thing”…But we can make it one. I […]

Cooking with Ease: Lime Tea

Cooking with Ease: Lime Tea

(ROCKWALL, TX – Aug. 8, 2019) A couple of weeks ago, Evan and I stopped at a farmers markets to pick up some fresh produce and on our way out, I picked up a free magazine called “Edible.” I had seen the magazine around Dallas but never stopped to pick one up. Now, you know […]

Cooking with Ease: No Bake Eclair Cake

Cooking with Ease: No Bake Eclair Cake

(ROCKWALL, TX — July 8, 2019) Every month I am blown away by how “magically” these recipes and stories come together. I rarely have a plan of what I am going to write about. Then, I will make a dish or I will open a cookbook or someone will say something and, instantly, I know, […]

Cooking with Ease: The Perfect Sausage Ball

Cooking with Ease: The Perfect Sausage Ball

(ROCKWALL, TX — June 4, 2019) Most people think of sausage balls as a holiday treat. I am here to shift your perspective. Sausage balls are sausage, cheese and biscuit mix. They are basically a sausage breakfast biscuit. You see where I am going here? Sausage balls are truly an ideal breakfast. Even more so, […]

Cooking with Ease: Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad

Cooking with Ease: Sun-dried Tomato Pasta Salad

(ROCKWALL, TX — May 10, 2019) The second Sunday of every month, I host supper at Tate Farms. Women only, no theme, no RSVP… just bring a dish, yourself, and any petitions or praises you may want to share with a friend. You don’t have to bring a certain item or check a sign up […]

Cooking with Ease: Simple Easter Side Dishes

Cooking with Ease: Simple Easter Side Dishes

(ROCKWALL, TX — April 14, 2019) Spring has recently become my favorite season. In the past, I adored fall. The pumpkins, the warm spiced drinks, the heavy foods – but as of late, I love the spring. I noticed the shift in my fondness when I began gardening. The pleasure I find in tilling the […]

Cooking with Ease: Bacon-Tomato Tartlets

Cooking with Ease: Bacon-Tomato Tartlets

(ROCKWALL, TX — March 6, 2019) A longtime dream of mine is to one day write a cookbook. And not just any cookbook. A cookbook filled with more words than pictures and more feelings than ingredients. A paperback book overflowing with short stories about food, family, fun, and then ending each story with a recipe […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Mimi’s Strawberry Cake

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Mimi’s Strawberry Cake

(ROCKWALL, TX — February 1, 2019) Mimi’s Strawberry Cake is that strawberry cake. The one you see on a good old fashioned pot luck dessert table. The one you ate when you were a kid at a church function. It is not the strawberry cake you find on the menu at a restaurant. Nor in […]

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Gammy’s Mini Pecan Muffins

Cooking with Ease by Melissa Tate: Gammy’s Mini Pecan Muffins

(ROCKWALL, TX — December 6, 2018) I wanted to share with you a story of inspiration this holiday season. Recently I bought some mini pecan muffins from one of my favorite local vendors at the Farmers Market. You don’t see them around much anymore so I try to grab them anytime I do. My mom […]