• 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 […]

  • Best-ever Thanksgiving sweet potatoes (with marshmallows)

    best thanksgiving sweet potatoes

    My mom makes the best Thanksgiving sweet potatoes ever. How do I know? Besides the fact that I have eaten them since (probably) infancy, every person I have ever served them to loves them — and usually asks for the recipe. Obviously this don’t have to only be made for Thanksgiving, but I’m not sure […]

  • Guacamole salad

    guacamole salad

    When I was in elementary school (probably around second grade?), my family went to Kansas to visit some relatives. The first night, we stayed in Witchita, and my dad uttered a sentence none of us have ever forgotten: “When we’re on vacation, you can order whatever you want.” I had a giant bowl of guacamole […]

  • Macaroni and cheese (no béchamel required)

    macaroni and cheese with cheez its

    I think we can all agree that homemade macaroni and cheese is awesome. But it can be a bit of a pain (and a mess) to make. This recipe gives you the deliciousness of homemade mac and cheese, with significantly less work, less mess and less stress than a version that involves making a huge […]

  • Frozen strawberry salad

    This salad reminds me of hot dogs, watermelon and sun tea. Inflatable alligators, freshly mowed grass, the smell of Coppertone and chlorine and the thwack of flip flops on the pool deck. Besides its association with childhood pool parties, it’s easy, it’s pink, it’s chock-full of fruit and it’s delicious. It also contains Cool Whip, sugar […]

  • Buttermilk mashed potatoes

    My mom makes the best mashed potatoes. They’re not fancy, they don’t contain carmelized shallots or fresh herbs or bacon bits… just potatoes, sour cream, milk and plenty of butter. So it’s not really a surprise that Toby’s dinner of choice tends to be pork tenderloin, cheese biscuits, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes and a […]

  • Sweet potato banana bake with coconut and pecans

    Have you noticed how trendy sweet potatoes are these days? I’ve always loved sweet potatoes — particularly when mashed and topped with gooey marshmallows — but they used to be a fall-only kind of vegetable, and now they’re year-round, while white potatoes have taken the back seat. It’s probably the fact that they have more fiber, […]

  • Smoky bean salad

    Going to a barbecue/cookout (or whatever you call grilling outside where you live) this weekend? I have a perfect side dish recipe that doesn’t require any cooking and takes only a few minutes to put together. But first, if you live in the U.S., I hope you’ll take a moment — or several — to […]

  • Bourbon sweet potatoes

    Cranberries may be my favorite part of Thanksgiving, but they certainly aren’t the only exciting dish on the table. Sweet potatoes are also a crucial part of the feast for me, particularly when topped with marshmallows. Growing up, the only kind of sweet potatoes I remember eating is the (fabulous) kind my mom made — […]

  • 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. […]