Mary-Frances Heck

This wine-spiked whiskey sour is our pick for comeback cocktail of the year.

Your next weeknight dinner is this steak stir fry recipe. We like skirt steak because it's a tasty and affordable cut. Slice it thinly so it's tender.

It goes without saying, but the sweeter and riper your strawberries, the better this adult slushy will taste (and look).

This weeknight chicken soup goes Greek with orzo, lemon juice, and a handful of fresh dill.

Martini drinker? Try this Italian take on the Vesper, which uses the slightly sweet aperitif Cocchi Americano.

This pineapple-mint vodka recipe is pretty much the definition of refreshing.

Dark chocolate and espresso add the slightly bitter notes needed to balance this dessert. Remember, the higher the cacao percentage, the less sweet the chocolate.

Don't bother peeling the onions; their skins add a nice, rich brown color to this vegetable stock. If you'd like, remove the skins for use in dishes when a lighter color is preferred, such as in risotto or cream sauces.

Chicken wings are great for stock. They're flavor-making powerhouses of bones, meat, and skin and are easy to find. Some supermarkets sell backbones and carcasses; feel free to use them toward (or instead of) the four-pound total.