I've never in my life come across bad mashed potatoes. (I take that back. Potato flakes and a blender are coming to mind.) But usually my taste buds do not discriminate: cream, buttermilk, garlic, and Parmesan are all welcome additions to my favorite spuds, and I will never turn my nose up at cream cheese, truffle oil, even powdered ranch. I can assure you that I will eat any mashed potatoes — all mashed potatoes — with joyful glee. However after devouring these gouda smashed potatoes for the second time, my standards may have just changed. More

Red beans and rice is a true Creole classic! Like many of the best Louisiana dishes, it is made up of humble ingredients that, after a long simmer, are transformed into a bowl of rich, creamy comfort food. It is truly Southern cooking at its core, and perfect for an upcoming Mardi Gras celebration (or even just to ease the early-February chill).

More

How does a warm and creamy squash curry sound to you right now? Good, right?! This vegan curry is made with rich coconut milk and infused with enough spices to make your tongue tingle. It's the kind of dish that makes you look forward to dinner all day long. More

I first came across "Aunt Cleo's Chicken Pie" while digging through my fiancé's tattered purple recipe folder, filled to the brim with handwritten index cards that his mother, Tina, had originally sent with him to college. We were only in the beginning phases of dating when I rummaged through the file, but I figured out pretty early that he was a sucker for his mom's home cooking. More

I've been doing a lot of cooking this week, and it's been really nice. When my marriage ended a year ago, I was suddenly thrown back into cooking by myself again, and at first I was lost at sea. I had forgotten everything I'd known -- the touch and the feel of cooking -- that I'd had ten years earlier when I was single. More

My kitchen has been churning out brownies, baked goods, and layer cakes in mass quantity over the past two weeks, and boy have I been hankering for a savory reprieve. (You know it's bad when one more finger-lick of chocolate, even in the name of hot fudge sauce perfection, just might end in a sugar-induced coma.) Thank goodness white chicken chili seems to be the perfect baking overdose cure. More

I don't know about you, but as the days get shorter and colder, I find myself gravitating toward gingery recipes and adding this warming spice to everything from toddies to slow-cooked braises. A little goes a long way, though, and I've learned to respect the mighty power of the ginger root in all its various forms. Do you have a favorite way to cook with ginger? More

Like many great cookie recipes, this one was born by accident. One year while I was making gingerbread men, some careless dough-rolling birthed a man who baked up chubby, thick and cakey, not flat and crisp like his brothers. Surprisingly, this textural mutation of a gingerbread man turned out to be the best one of all. You can call it cookie evolution, the accident that led to the creation of these chewy, molasses-spiked cookies. With their warm, spiced flavor and cake-like softness punctuated by the coarse crunch of sparkly sugar, you might also call them a new holiday tradition. More

If you happen to be into chick flicks, which I am, then maybe you love the Christmas movie The Holiday as much as me? (Unfortunately I have to watch it alone, because it doesn't meet my fiancé's manly standards.) In one scene in particular, Kate Winslet offers to whip up some "Christmas fettuccine" for Jack Black, who is in need of some much-needed cheer. More

Happy post-Thanksgiving, friends! We hope you all had a festive, food-filled day yesterday, Now the topic turns to leftovers, doesn't it? There's no reason you can't have a mini Thanksgiving meal all over again, but if you want to branch out, consider one of these recipes. From turkey pot pie to sweet potato hash, from pie filling jam to mashed potato puffs, here are 10 ways to make the most of your holiday leftovers: More