Make Ahead

Kids will definitely go for these logs. Make them for breakfast or even as an after-school snack. They’re so delicious, the kids won’t balk at eating fruit. If you have them, feel free to use corn-on-the-cob holders to assist in coating the bananas. You don’t absolutely need them, but they’ll help keep the peanut butter where it belongs—on the bananas.

The grand lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis is called “the living room of the South,” for good reason. It’s the best spot in town to sink into a comfy lounge chair, sip a cocktail, and watch people, or the occasional parade of ducks, come and go. Their bracing mint julep is justifiably famous.

Gina: This light-colored sangria, made with white wine, is as beautiful as it is refreshing and delicious. You can make and serve this drink immediately, but it’s even better if you can prepare it in advance, so the fruit flavors have a chance to permeate the wine.

Gina: Feeding a crowd for brunch—no problem (and welcome to my life with the Neely boys!). Assemble this casserole the night before you plan to serve it. Sautéed onion, red bell pepper, and kale make this dish beautiful and good for you, too.

Gina: Oh boy. When I realized the importance of Strawberry Shortcut Cake to the Neely boys, I knew I had to get baking and learn this recipe! The first step was getting permission from Momma Neely to make the cake. Let’s just say baking the cake was the easy part! Momma Neely always brought this cake to our house on special occasions. Didn’t matter if the occasion was a birthday, a graduation, or a good report card. It got to the point where our girls would say, “I need to call Grandma Neely and tell her about my report card so she can bring me some shortcut cake.” I like to call it a shortcut cake because we use a boxed mix. But no one will ever be able to tell when you serve it.

Pat: This cool, creamy pie is as refreshing as a glass of lemonade—and it goes down just as easy. We use lemonade concentrate, sweetened condensed milk, and whipped cream to create a fluffy, light-textured filling, then cradle the filling in a graham-cracker crust and freeze the pie before serving. The result is a beat-the-heat, not-too-heavy dessert that can easily follow a big feast—and still disappear (not that anyone in our family is ever too full for dessert!). The lemon-zest garnish is not essential, but it sure is beautiful and fun to make, and it adds another little kiss of lemony love.

Gina: These tart-sweet bar cookies are a variation on traditional lemon bars, and, girl, they are a vacation in a pan! The tender cookie base holds a puckery lime filling that gets a little extra kick from grated lime zest. You can use fresh limes or that bottled Key-lime juice you brought back from your last trip to the Gulf Coast. These bars need nothing more than a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, and they make an ideal dessert for barbecues, picnics, and slumber parties.

A plain old grilled chicken breast can be a bit uninspired, so we like to jazz up our breasts (who said that?) in this version of grilled chicken salad that has plenty of moxie. The marinade of fresh lemon juice and zest, olive oil, and fresh herbs infuses the chicken with a bright, sunny flavor (so yummy that you’ll want to use the marinade again and again for grilled meats). Here we team the grilled chicken with potatoes, celery, green olives, pistachios, and a creamy mayonnaise dressing for an over-the-top texture-and-flavor combination. This recipe doubles or triples beautifully, so it’s great for special lunches (think birthday parties, anniversaries, or bridal showers). It’s also great with a glass of chilled white wine and a crackly baguette.

A pesto-like dressing made from walnuts, garlic, and plenty of fragrant basil gives fresh, tender green beans a vibrant flavor. This simple, satisfying salad is delicious alongside grilled burgers, roasted chicken, or pan-seared fish.