Judging by America's obsession with possessive, moody vampires and young entrepreneurs with a taste for domination, we have a national fascination with the darker side of love. Here's an idea for those not interested in the usual pink, sweet and simple homemade treat: dark and chewy DIY black licorice.

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A panade is one of those dishes that is way better than it has any right to be -- or than it looks to be. It's an assembly of day-old bread, shredded cheese, and handy pantry ingredients (in this case, cranberry beans, swiss chard, and sausage) that gets doused with broth and baked until bubbly. Not quite a soup and not quite a casserole, it's something more: the best of both worlds.

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I'm one of those people who always has a snack tucked away in my bag, a worst-case survival tactic for when the hours between meals stretch just a little too long. I love me some yogurt-covered snacks: raisins, cranberries, pretzels, all of them. It's taken me a while to work out how I might make these favorite snacks at home, but my golly, I think I've finally got it.

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There are a million and one ways to make chili. All of them are excellent and all of them are sure to satisfy a large crowd of hungry people. Whether you like your chili with ground meat or chuck roast, pinto beans or no beans at all, the basic method for making it is the same. Want to make a very good pot of chili? Here's how. More

It's been months since I yanked basil from the ground and whizzed up some pesto. When basil is in season, I'm slathering it on everything from pasta to crostini to eggs, to the point where it is a kitchen staple. What happens when that pesto-craving hits, but your window-box is bare and the market only has sad limp little bouquets of basil? Get creative.
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If you've avoided cooking beans at home because you've heard that they are troublesome, finicky, or complicated, it's time to leave that behind. Cooking beans is no more bother than filling a pot of water and letting it simmer happily on the back burner all afternoon. In fact, that's basically all it is. Ignore the naysayers; it's time to cook some tasty, creamy, totally tender beans at home. 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

In my recent pantry reorganization, I found a bag of wheat berries I'd been meaning to use. A simple salad with some winter citrus and salty feta seemed like a good idea, and it all turned out very tasty. Light yet satisfying, this makes a perfect lunch or dinner side salad this time of year. More

Light yet satisfying, grain salads are the perfect meal to eat while recovering from a month of heavy holiday food. They are also very adaptable, incorporating the hardy vegetables and warm flavors of winter as easily as the bright, fresh flavors of summer. These eight recipes mix whole grains like farro, brown rice and quinoa with the fruit and vegetable stars of winter, including Cara Cara oranges, maple roasted acorn squash and golden beets. 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