Angela McCallister's Top 5 Memorable Dishes

Hello, DreamReaders! In my new holiday release, The CEO’s Christmas Manny, many significant moments hinge on food and drink to bring the family together. In honor of the emotional ties recipes can hold in life, I’m listing my five most memorable dishes.

1. Buffalo chicken. I made it from scratch the first time for a fry party, and it’s been the fav ever since. Many memories are tied up in this dish because I’ve made it for so many special events. 

2. Homemade candy bars. With five kids, finding a treat simple enough for the littlest ones was tough. Then I found this candy bar of segmented graham crackers filled with peanut butter dipped into melted almond bark. Though the kids are mostly grown, we still make these together each year.

3. Bread pudding. I’d never tried bread pudding. Then I discovered my son loved it, so I bought him new baking dishes and made it in them for his birthday. It was delicious and easy, and when I make it now, I always think of him.

4. Friendship cake. I loved going to my grandmother’s as a child. She was the warm, loving, crafty kind of grandmother who told embarrassing stories about your parents. She always made a friendship cake when we came. You wanted to eat the whole thing but couldn’t stomach more than a few super sweet bites. It takes thirty days to make and three weeks longer if you have no starter (why you need “friends” to give you some!). I can’t see this cake without tearing up thinking of her.

5. Custom birthday cakes. Every year I wasn’t deployed, I made cakes for my kids’ birthdays: a retro yellow oven with cookie burners and cherry knobs, a dried-out pool with skateboards and skater logos, a 3D dinosaur two years in a row (by demand), an army invasion, a Minecraft cake. I couldn’t order cakes when I was home because the looks on their faces when they saw the cakes were priceless. I will never forget these moments.

What recipes bring back your strongest memories?