• Cranberry applesauce

    cranberry applesauce

    As much as I love cranberry sauce, I also like to mix things up every once in a while. And with Thanksgiving coming up (so soon!), I wanted to try a slightly different cranberry recipe. This is super simple and doesn’t require as much sugar as regular cranberry sauce — the apples sweeten things up significantly. I […]

  • Kale pesto

    making kale pesto

    In the pantheon of trendy foods, kale is Jupiter. Everyone from Gwyneth to Beyonce is a fan, and even fast-food restaurants are trying to get in on the action. But, honestly? I don’t really like the way it tastes. If I’m going to be chowing down on raw leaves, I’ll take spinach any day. Still, I know […]

  • Charred tomatillo salsa

    I know what you’re thinking. You’re wondering how I could possibly give you a recipe for nachos and not include some salsa to go with it. So… today I’m talking about salsa. Homemade salsa. It goes perfectly with pork, and it’s so easy you may not quite believe it. Those are tomatillos. They look like […]

  • Cranberry sauce with pears

    While most people look forward to Thanksgiving for the turkey, the mashed potatoes or the pie, my favorite thing about turkey day is… the cranberries. I seriously cannot get enough. Every year, I buy approximately one billion bags of cranberries to freeze and make lots and lots of cranberry sauce. And then eat it all. […]

  • Restaurant-style salsa

    Let’s be honest: I will eat just about any salsa that’s put in front of me. Yeah, I prefer freshly made and non-chunky kinds, and I generally don’t like fruit salsas (though Flaming Amy’s pineapple salsa is a notable exception), but I will eat it regardless. Restaurant salsa — at least the kind that doesn’t […]

  • Irish coffee sundaes

    If you don’t have any Irish whiskey in your house, you may need to go get some RIGHT NOW. Because you’re going to need to make this Irish whiskey caramel sauce. Don’t worry if you’ve never made caramel before — it’s not that hard and it only takes about 15 minutes. You do need to […]

  • Barbecue sauce – 2 ways

    I wanted some Eastern North Carolina-style vinegar barbecue sauce for the pulled pork, but I figured I couldn’t buy it in Maryland. Then, when I started looking for a recipe, I realized it is super easy to make — as is what I would call “normal” barbecue sauce. I ended up making three kinds: Eastern […]

  • Cranberry sauce

    There are a lot of foods I love at Thanksgiving: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, pecan pie. But perhaps my favorite is cranberry sauce. No, I am not talking about that Jell-O-esque stuff that comes in a can, I’m talking about actual cranberry sauce. Made from actual cranberries. I don’t want to hate on […]

  • Salsa, a few ways

    You know how a bunch of jarred salsas say they are “chunky” or “super chunky”? I hate those. I like my salsa to be as chunk-less as possible. But I know I’m weird. So I will show you how to make salsa my way, but also tell you how to make it for normal people. […]

  • Multi-functional marinara

    When I was single, I used to make a pot of this on Monday and eat spaghetti or gnocchi with tomato sauce all week. But I have recently discovered it works quite well as a pizza sauce, too. And it’s great because it is quick, easy and cheap. I would recommend you use San Marzano […]