Cooking

The transition into a new year is, traditionally, a time to find our bearings, to consider where we are, where we’re going, and where we aspire to be. It’s a time to set goals and to make changes in our lives; we hope for the better.

Siblings Maci and Emmett Sheets love to make their Mamaw Sandy’s raspberry pie, a favorite for the Omak family’s baking tradition.

After weeks of buttery sweets, crisp latkes, rich stews and cheese-laden casseroles, I’m in the mood for meals that are lighter but still warming and cozy. Baechu Doenjang Guk, or Cabbage and Doenjang Soup as it’s called in English, is Joanne Lee Molinaro’s way of soothing her mind and body.

The perennial debate between Santa Claus believers and nonbelievers has always amused me. That’s because of a childhood experience that no Santa Claus skeptic has ever had.

You could make a big roast for a holiday feast, or you could nibble on seven different fishes. You might opt for a shellfish stew, cozy chowder, big lasagna, sweet-and-sour fesenjan or gently spiced korma. As an accompaniment, I humbly offer these Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls.

I’d been waiting to get my hands on “Good Things” for months. When it finally arrived, I decided I’d set the book down on its spine and make the first thing its pages opened up to. It was a sunny, early fall day, so I was hoping to put together a crunchy salad with a bright dressing – the book contains loads of those – or maybe a creamy dip for crusty bread and vegetables. But that day, the book opened to page 337 and its recipe for Slow-Cooked Salmon.

Christmas is the most magical time of year for many in the world. The music, decorations, family gatherings and special events all add to the joyfulness and splendor of the season. What other time of the year are we able to watch the Charlie Brown and Dr. Seuss Christmas specials ? “Robin and the Seven Hoods” is my favorite, although it’s much harder to find.

Walmart shoppers were in a frenzy for Kraft on Black Friday, buying all the food manufacturer’s flat-screen-sized, 65-inch boxes of macaroni and cheese in minutes.

There is a joyful chaos this time of year that I’ve finally learned to embrace. A big part of the mayhem is that it’s nearly impossible to predict who will be around for dinner.

It may surprise some that pot pies have been around longer than Betty Crocker and Marie Callender. Pot pies have been feeding hungry humans since ancient times, nearly as far back as the Flintstones.

When I was starting out as a dietitian decades ago, I never could’ve predicted how much time I would ultimately devote to helping people escape an all-or-nothing mindset around food. It’s a trap we can easily fall into this time of year as the zeitgeist swings from holiday excess to new-year deprivation in the course of a month.

What’s your post-Thanksgiving Day plan? In years past, it might have included going to sleep early to wake up well before dawn to fight – sometimes literally – for the best Black Friday deals. Maybe it’s a trip to the theater to see the latest big movie release. I will be flying back to Washington from visiting my family. But if I were already at home, I would be taking it easy – and making a grilled cheese sandwich with leftover roast turkey and cranberry sauce.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or first-timer when it comes to cooking for Thanksgiving, chances are you’ll encounter a little stress or confusion about at least one part of the holiday meal. We field many of the same questions year after year, so if you’re having the same concerns as Thanksgiving creeps closer, trust us, you’re not alone.

When it comes to our Thanksgiving menu, I stick to the basics.

Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating and sharing our blessings. Giving thanks and sharing with others are the cornerstones of our American Thanksgiving tradition.

Making something out of seemingly nothing is one of the best kitchen tricks imaginable. It’s a skill that can save you time, money and ingredients, helping you take care of yourself and the environment. Not all dishes lend themselves especially well to improvisation. Soup, however, does.

Here are two ways to make a maple bar, one using premade biscuit dough, the other making yeast dough from scratch. Both work well; the yeast dough is easy – it just takes a bit of extra effort. The cooking and glazing are mostly the same. We defer to Kevin Lee Jacob’s real maple syrup-based glaze.

What I want to eat at any given moment depends on the weather, my mood, how hungry I am, how much time I have or even a random craving. But with alcoholic drinks, most of the time my answer will be some sort of whiskey-based beverage. I love the notes of wood and spice that the spirit carries. Naturally, my go-to cocktail is an old-fashioned. It’s got a lovely mix of the spirit’s inherent flavors alongside sugar, fruit and a touch of bitterness for complexity.