Best Kid-Approved Iced Thanksgiving Cookie Cutouts
I was elbow-deep in soapy water last Tuesday—the good kind of Tuesday, the one where you actually have a plan for dinner—when the smell of … Read more
Lighter Birthday Confetti Cake with Perfect Vanilla Buttercream
This was supposed to be a batch of vanilla cupcakes for my neighbor’s kid’s fifth birthday party. I had the whole plan mapped out—classic butter … Read more
Perfect Crowd-Pleasing Crockpot Chicken Rice Soup
Maggie wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by her place to borrow a ladder—mine had mysteriously vanished after last fall’s gutter cleaning—and the smell … Read more
Cozy Roasted Butternut Squash with Pomegranate Seeds
The neighborhood potluck was in three hours and I’d completely forgotten. I’d volunteered to bring a side dish weeks ago, and now I was staring … Read more
Cozy One-Bowl Banana Bread with Walnuts
I wasn’t expecting cooking advice from a man holding a hedge trimmer, but there I was, wrestling with a tangled bougainvillea in my backyard, listening … Read more
Best Easy Fall Persimmon & Burrata Thanksgiving Salad
There used to be this tiny, unassuming restaurant tucked away on a side street in Portland, Oregon, called The Gilded Pear. They made a persimmon … Read more
Fall-Favorite 15-Minute Garlic Parmesan Chicken Recipe
It was 11:17 PM on a particularly damp Tuesday in late October, and I was starving. Not the polite, “I could eat a snack” kind … Read more
Creamy Loaded Crockpot Potato Soup: Easy 5-Ingredient Recipe
This was supposed to be a fancy loaded baked potato bar for a Sunday football gathering. I had the bacon crisping, the cheese shredding, and … Read more
Quick Roasted Honeynut Squash with Brown Butter
My neighbor, Dave, wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to drop off a package that got delivered to my house by mistake, and … Read more
Perfect Small-Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies: Easy No-Mixer Recipe
My teenage daughter asked why I couldn’t just melt the butter and stir everything in one bowl. I started to explain why that wouldn’t work … Read more