"We need to make Apple Pancake," announced my friend Jennie. It was nearly a dozen years ago; I was fresh out of college and knocking around my own kitchen for the first time, doing experimental things like putting cinnamon in pasta sauce and struggling to bake chicken breasts. "Apple pancakes?" I said, forming a pleasant picture of a stack of chunky apple buttermilk pancakes, beaded with syrup. "No," she said. "THE Apple Pancake." There were not multiple apple pancakes; there was no stack. The Apple Pancake was something altogether new to me, involving apples, a family story, a cast iron skillet, and the magic of a hot oven — all before breakfast. More

Though pink peppercorns are considered an exotic spice, the evergreen trees from which they originate are anything but. Peruvian pepper is an invasive species that—for lucky foragers in California, Florida, Hawaii and other hot climates—are easy to find to make your own gourmet spice. More

When the holidays have passed and the cold, long winter ahead gets me down, my meals often turn toward comfort foods. And my ultimate favorite in comfort foods is spaetzle. These noodle-like dumplings embrace a light butter sage sauce and hold up even in meaty casseroles. Read on for spaetzle recipes and inspiration! More

Q: I bought five pie pumpkins for this baking season, but for work reasons i've hardly had time to bake (or cook!) at all. I don't want them to go bad, of course.

Is there a way to store them? Freezing them? Making puree and freezing it?

Sent by Tania More

With December finally here, I can't seem to find enough hours to get through each day. Between Christmas shopping, holiday parties, and work projects, life on Monday through Saturday is hurried and I'm sprinting just to keep up. But then, just in the nick of time, there is Sunday. More

Brrrr. It looks like it's going to be an early winter this year. Here's a delicious drink , a classic, that is meant to be sipped while bundled up in an old plaid blanket or sitting in front of a fire. Whip up a batch to keep in your refrigerator for those chilled-to-the bone evenings or pack it into pretty little jars to give, along with a bottle of rum, as a holiday gift. More

As the season shifts from fall, with its brightly colored leaves and crisp apples, to the cooler doldrums of winter, what's a cook to do? It's time to get creative. Hold on to that pumpkin and squash flavor throughout the cold months by trying one of these ideas for cooking with the seeds. More

Go ahead...start a new holiday tradition with this subtly sweet spiced bourbon. More

I had the best Brussels sprouts of my life last week at a lovely little restaurant in Brooklyn called Vinegar Hill House. It was just before Thanksgiving and it got me thinking about the dwindling stock of green food coming from the earth this time of year.

Winter eating can be depressing for a girl like me, but given the limits and challenges of cold-weather cooking, some pretty amazing stuff can pop through this kind of tabletop sorrow. More

I have woken up excited every day this week. Excited and hungry. Because I know that very soon in my future, I will be slicing off a piece of this bread, waiting impatiently while it toasts, and then spreading it with a pat of sweet butter. That first bite is something to savor. The last one too, but it's the anticipation of that first pumpkin-y mouthful with its hint of cinnamon that gets me moving out of bed. More