Braises, roots, and baking for when the light goes early. What gets cooked once the oven stops being the enemy.
Apple Cider Cookies That Smell Like Fall in the Oven Every holiday party has the same cookie lineup. Chocolate chip shows up. Peanut butter makes an appearance. Someone always brings gingerbread that sits there getting hard while people pretend not…
Celery Root Mash With Browned Butter That Turns Heads Nothing beats that moment. You walk into a holiday gathering with your dish, set it down, and suddenly everyone’s ignoring the mashed potatoes. The usual suspect gets passed by. That’s what…
Chicken Marsala with Wild Mushroom Medley That Tastes Better Than A Friday Night Restaurant Service A Friday Night That Got Out of Hand It was October 12th, sometime past 9:30 PM. I was leaning against the prep table, sweat cooling…
Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Red Wine That Tastes Like Time There’s a smell you don’t forget. Beef, wine, onions. It’s the kind of smell that makes the dog lift his head, the kids wander into the kitchen, the house…
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes That Smell Like Home When Pumpkin Desserts Fall Flat Every fall someone brings a dessert that looks right and tastes like cardboard. Happens at work too. The color’s there, the scent’s there, but bite in and…
Fall Chex Mix Recipe You’ll Keep Sneaking by the Handful The Story That Always Comes Back I grew up craving Chex mix around the holidays. Back in the 80’s, Saturday morning cartoons on Fox channel 35 weren’t just about Darkwing…
Cranberry Pecan Wild Rice Pilaf That Feels Like the Holidays in a Pan You ever notice how some holiday sides get passed right over? The beige casseroles. The gluey stuffing. The rice dishes that sit there, untouched, until someone finally…
Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls That Smell Like Fall in Santa Cruz You ever eat a cinnamon roll in October and feel… cheated? Like, sure, it’s sweet and sticky, but it could be anything. Could be July. Could be April. It doesn’t…