Category: Cooking

Green beans are the most popular holiday beans, but I suspect that’s because we choke them in creamy soups and fried onions. I have eaten […]

My now ex-husband met his first ragweed salad at a buffet in Aberdeen, Mississippi after Sunday school at my grandparents church. He grew up in […]

The initial idea was breathtaking: we had grandiose visions of underrated birds coaxing the hind limbs of other underrated birds. We called it Gooduckail: quail […]

I like to think of myself as a calm, normal, almost relaxed observer of Thanksgiving, but in truth, I’m kind of a tyrant. I hide […]

Until recently, it never occurred to me that some people buy pre-cooked turkey to serve on Thanksgiving. Not only am I too much of a […]

Last week, thinking about a particularly unimpressive turdaken my family made in a year, I asked which foods should be permanently banned from the Thanksgiving […]

If you have a gravy boat, you probably use it once a year. Maybe twice. If you don’t have a gravy boat, it may never […]

If you are just an occasional baker, you might be wondering what is the difference between different baking dishes. How does this affect how the […]

The second week of November is weird. Looms for Thanksgiving, but it’s too early to buy perishable goods. You could probably do absolutely nothing to […]

Well, a year has passed. Or was there already two? Oh yes it is. And even though Thanksgiving is officially back, you don’t have to […]

Being from Mississippi but growing up in Los Angeles was a confusing childhood, especially in a culinary sense. Not only was the food different in […]

I once lived in a swamp. With the onset of autumn, Cape Cod swamps fill with water. Giant wheeled cars whip the vines, and the […]

Separate Brussels sprouts are nothing to see. It is green, round and looks like a cabbage. It looks like a vegetable and that’s okay. But […]

Many people call fall and winter “soup season”, but I have always considered these colder months “mashed potatoes”. Whether you eat it as a (non-negotiable) […]

It is a good idea to submerge the cleaned and used vanilla bean in an aliquot of alcohol. (These beans are expensive, and you might […]

Now that October is behind us, it’s time to turn our attention to the next holiday we might be foolishly gorging on: Thanksgiving. While Halloween […]

Having your first Thanksgiving dinner can be intimidating, especially this year, which could also be your guests’ first personal holiday meeting in … quite some […]

A green tomato in early November is a moral dilemma. Do you leave it on the plant, praying that the rain will keep it long […]

As you’ve probably noticed, November 1st gives everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving in America exactly 24 days to get ready for the Big Day. This is […]

Bitches are picky tomatoes. Too much sun, little sun, too much rain, not enough water, an endless number of diseases from which the tomato plant […]

Merchant Joe is very good at two things: supplying his frozen food department with an endless procession of new and interesting convenience foods, and producing […]

Mayonnaise is made from eggs and is often used in dishes that contain them, especially hard-boiled eggs. Frommayonegg to boiled eggs, this combination is loved […]

I don’t know how to carve pumpkins. I can control a primitive face with a toothy smile and triangular eyes or simple ideological symbols , […]

The ideal fried egg should be crispy at the edges and bottom, with a barely solidified or runny yolk, depending on your personal preference. I […]

I don’t know if it was rain, wind, or the fact that Bake-Off is back, but recently I struggled with the urge to bake. This […]

The most successful bakers are the most methodical and least impulsive, at least they have learned to channel their impulsiveness into other pursuits. Baking requires […]

Luck may favor the brave, but Thanksgiving favors the prepared. Preparing your oven for Turkey Day in the last week of October may seem like […]

When you find you have leftover rice left over, your first instinct may be to use it to make fried rice. (And your instincts are […]

As someone who often cooks far more food than they can eat in each week, my freezer is an incredibly important part of my kitchen. […]

When used in casseroles and sandwiches, the “bread and fry” method appears to be the default method for preparing eggplant. As a southern person, I […]

“How good does something have to be?” is a question my boyfriend asks a lot, usually after I’ve changed, improved, or otherwise messed up a […]

Years ago, I saw – or at least I think I saw – an article claiming that stirring a saucepan of food in a straight, […]

Through no fault of their own, humble cauliflower looks a lot like a brain (or at least the most cerebral of all vegetables). Its bumpy, […]

I don’t clean my deep fryer very well. I’ll clean out the basket if it gets really dirty, but I usually dry it off with […]

A few months ago, I accidentally signed up for a farm box delivery service. This wouldn’t be a big deal if I didn’t buy a […]

Making flour or bread crumbs for chicken is an important step in grilled chicken. You can complicate matters with a three-step flour and egg coating, […]

I like to cook. I love eating. I love to eat what I have prepared. However, I don’t like decorating my food. Don’t get me […]

I love creamy greens because of all the cream. The most common creamy greens are spinach, and that’s my favorite, but spinach isn’t the only […]

Boiled vegetables, with their starch and pectin, are a great thickener . By adding them to gravies, soups, stews, or sauces, you can add body […]

I don’t know if it’s East Coast Italian, Calabrian or something, but my boyfriend’s Italian family doesn’t like butter as cooking oil. This is the […]