Elizabeth Green

Homemade marshmallow sauce is so ridiculously easy to make that you'll chuckle at yourself for ever having assumed it was complicated. Making it also allows you to use pure vanilla extract, which tastes so much better than the fake vanillin flavoring in many commercial versions.

This is the easiest hot fudge sauce ever. You'll be glad to know that it firms up to that chewy fudge consistency on contact with ice cream, just as you expect hot fudge sauce to do!

Although Americans chow down on plenty of crisp pretzels, there's something irresistible about the soft variety that makes them just as addictive, if not more so, than the crunchy version. When formed into bite-size nuggets, not only do they pop easily into your mouth, but they are also small enough to eliminate the temptation to double-dip in the Cheddar sauce. You can also offer up a bowl of mustard, or divide your Cheddar dip into three bowls, flavoring one with mustard and the other with caraway seeds.
You may suspect that the large amount of baking soda to cook the pretzels is a typo; it's not. Believe us, it's the secret to the chestnut-brown color they develop during baking. Without it, the pretzels would look anemic.Editor's Note:This recipe is part ofGourmet'sModern Menu for A Father's Day Feast. Menu also includesGrilled Rib Pork Chops with Sweet and Tangy Peach RelishandThe Ultimate Brownie Sundae.

Chocolate has the incredible ability to stand alone quite nicely while playing along with loads of other prominent ingredients—without being a bully. And that is why a brownie sundae can be so frustrating: How can you settle on one ice cream flavor or a single sauce?
We figured Father's Day is the right time to have a brownie sundaeyourway. Dads have soft spots for cuteness, so serving up a brownie raft supporting mini-scoops of three different ice creams adrift in three different sauces will tickle him to no end. Feel free to use whatever ice cream flavors are the family favorites.Editor's Note:This recipe is part ofGourmet'sModern Menu for A Father's Day Feast. Menu also includesPretzel Bites with Quick Cheddar DipandGrilled Rib Pork Chops with Sweet and Tangy Peach Relish.

Why use frozen berries in the summer, when local fruit is at its peak? Because we love fresh local berries so much when whole or, in the case of strawberries, when sliced as well, puréeing them seems almost a sacrilege. If, however, you've got a surplus of fresh berries, go ahead and purée them.

Toss the season's first ripe peaches into a tangy relish to spoon over smoky grilled pork chops for the first official day of summer.