My friends, it is cold. And there is no better combination than cold weather and hot drinks. Unless it is this seasonal favorite, hot buttered rum, rendered even more seasonal by its association with another seasonal favorite, pumpkin butter. That's right. Pumpkin buttered rum might just be your new favorite thing. More

It's the details that matter the most at fancy dinner parties and holiday meals. Take this recipe. Really, it's just a warm beet salad. But assemble it in pretty layers, add some toasted walnuts and a citrusy vinaigrette, and suddenly you have a dish that elicits oohs and ahhs as you carry it proudly to the dinner table. More

I have a bone to pick with Thanksgiving. Every year, November 1st rolls around, and even before the Halloween candy has been divvied up, Thanksgiving blows through the door (never mind that there are still nearly four weeks before it's due) and sucks all the air out of the room. Magazines, newspapers, blogs (yes, us too!) dive headlong into cranberry sauce, turkey, stuffing and gravy.

I want to know: Who decided that we should spend an entire month preparing for just one meal? That's what Thanksgiving is, after all. One big meal. An important one, yes, a meal full of tradition and joy and fellowship, but still just one meal. I count at least 89 more meals in November — what about them? More

Growing up, there were two kinds of cranberry sauce people: canned or homemade . We always had a little of both to appease everyone. As my sisters and I have grown older, the debate has changed. Now, cans aren't even in the picture although the argument between relish or sauce seems to start the second Halloween is over. More

The calendar says it is early November, but the weather outside is relentlessly sunny, with temperatures in the upper 70s. Luckily I've found the perfect drink to get me through this conflicting season. Mixing apple brandy, wheat beer, maple syrup and apple cider vinegar, the Sidewalker is full-bodied, yet crisp and refreshing, just the thing to sip during Indian summer evenings. More

Since Thanksgiving is virtually around the corner, and now is the time for orange vegetables to assert their place, I felt it was high time to re-introduce you to my favorite sweet potato gratin recipe. This is a smoky, rich gratin, with a streak of caramelized onions and garlic sandwiched between layers of sweet potatoes baked in cream. I hate to sound like I am bragging, but just to put it in perspective, every time I have served this, grownups have literally licked their plates and groaned aloud.

What I can say? It's the power of sweet potatoes in cream. More

Sometimes a warm, sweet (or spicy) drink after dinner is even better than dessert (bonus if it has a little you-know-what in it). We'll take a good hot chocolate any time, but if you're in the mood for something different—warm apple pie cocktail, anyone?—take a look below. There are even a few that would make great Thanksgiving cocktails. More

The Thanksgiving turkey is so iconic, so embedded in the collective conscience of people in the USA, that it's hard to imagine Thanksgiving without it. Yet some households forgo the ceremony of placing that burnished bird in the center of the table. Maybe you're a vegetarian or vegan, or maybe you don't like turkey. Maybe your family considers Thai or Chinese or Mexican food traditional. Or maybe your household is small and a chicken is more practical. If you're not serving a turkey this year, what will you serve?

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Get out your recipes and start your shopping lists! It's November 1st, which means open season on Thanksgiving planning. Zach and Clay from The Bitten Word are here to help us get started with a look at what's trending (and what's not) in our favorite food magazines this year. More

Fall blew in hard this weekend, with a flutter of leaves and a gale of snow, in some places. Halloween is here too, that spooky night of mystery and play — are you throwing a party? Perhaps you're not in full party form, but you want a little treat or snack to see you through the night of the Great Pumpkin. Well, we have 15 simple treats for you today, hand-picked for autumn. They range from the sweet — peanut butter popcorn, pumpkin Rice Krispie treats! — to the salty, like Ina Garten's masterful roasted nut mix with rosemary, and homemade cheese crackers.

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