Friends hello,

Last week, one of you (hi Lauri 👋) emailed me sharing a solution to the overdone-at-the-edges-but-needs-more-time-in-the-middle problem that arises when baking crackers, specifically these sourdough discard crackers:

Just-baked sourdough crackers on a sheet pan.

Crediting a Cooking Light cracker recipe from years ago, Lauri wrote: "After rolling, scoring, and seasoning, I’ve been sliding the parchment onto upside-down sheet pans and baking them at 325. It works fabulously!!"

I tried the method immediately as I had a vat of discard in my fridge...

... and it indeed worked fabulously! No overcooked edges!

Why does this work? Lauri's thought is that the edges of the pan perhaps reflect too much heat on the edges of the crackers, which makes sense to me.

Cool, right? I've updated the recipe.

Last night, for a pre-dinner snack, I piled the crackers on a plate and served them alongside a ball of burrata topped with tomato confit (pictured up top). The tomato recipe comes from Rosie Kellett's recently released In For Dinner, and it's simple: Place 14 ounces of tomatoes in a pot, cover with 3/4 cup olive oil (the tomatoes will not be submerged) and a pinch of sea salt...

... then set over a burner at the lowest heat possible for at least 1 hour. In In For Dinner, Rosie spoons the tomatoes over toast spread with labneh, which looks and sounds divine, and I think homemade ricotta would be an equally delicious base. Perhaps over toasted slices of Lahey bread?

Any extra oil can be saved and used as a cooking oil or to add flavor to dressings, sauces, etc. I will be making the tomatoes again for sure.

Friends, below you will find all of the recipes I found myself panic-making this week in preparation for the chaos of the school year starting. It was a mostly smooth start... honestly, the kids handle the transition back to school better than I do! Hope you all have a great weekend 👋

Sourdough Crackers, IMPROVED

PS: I'm excited to explore more of In For Dinner:

Review of the Week

Just-baked soft pretzels on a cooling rack.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Super Easy Soft Pretzels

"I have been wanting to make soft pretzels for a while, and I just dread the boiling business. This takes the unpleasant part of pretzel making away and you end up with a delicious soft tasty delight. Additionally, it is a simple recipe and I was amazed at how nice the dough was to work with. Thanks for sharing this. I’m a fan!"

— Nina

8 Back-To-School Recipes

This week, I found myself making sandwich bread, granola, muesli, and other staples to have on hand for breakfasts and lunches throughout the week. I also found myself breaking out the crock pot and returning to some of my favorite easy dinner recipes. Here they are:

Simple Soft Sandwich Bread

Large-Clump Granola

Homemade Muesli

No-Bake Granola Bars

Overnight Chia Oats

Simplest Slow Cooker Black Beans (We use these to make bowls, with this 3-Ingredient Chicken chopped up, this salsa, rice, lettuce, etc.)

An overhead shot of a quart of cooked slow cooker black beans.

Taco Night Simplified, Like Really Really Simplified (We no longer are in our stand-up taco shell phase, but the base recipe continues to be a staple — I make a double batch of the meat every couple of weeks.)

Two hard shell tacos filled with taco meat, cheese, and salsa on a plate.

Honey Soy Chicken (This chicken, once cooked, can sit out for hours — it tastes fine at room temperature, and I serve it with rice made in the rice cooker, so people can just help themselves as needed).