Here's a quick little Halloween treat for you! Nothing spooky about these two-bite cookies, just a touch of rich Nutella to indulge your sweet tooth and a drizzle of icing to dress them up in full Halloween style. Guaranteed to appease all the ghosts, goblins, and witches who stop by for a treat. More

I recently had the best Pad Thai of my life. It was one of those restaurant meals where the person cooking takes us under her wing and simply says, "How about I just cook for you?" Chef Ngamprom "Hong" Thaimee of Ngam in NYC's East Village then brought out plate after plate of regional Thai cuisine from her native Chiang Mai, Thailand, and I was floored.

Normally when I have this kind of meal out, I try to savor it as just that: a meal out that I will probably not make at home. But this was different. In particular, Hong's Green Papaya Pad Thai was a game-changer. Replacing the traditional rice noodles with shredded green papaya isn't a new trick — and one that's gaining a wider audience thanks to its lower carb count — but I'd never thought to make it that way at home. So I called her the next day and asked her to please teach me. This week, I visited her kitchen. More

We had two encounters with mascarpone cheese in pasta recently. One was seeing this Tagliatelle with Spinach, Mascarpone, and Parmesan over on Jamie Oliver's website. The other was catching the tail end of a British cooking show where the host was making mascarpone-lemon spaghetti. (We're sensing an English theme.) This is our version, which borrows a bit from both but has the bright flavor of Meyer lemon plus toasted hazelnuts, which turned out to be the best ingredient of all... More

The next time you find yourself with a neglected cup of macaroni or that last serving of spaghetti that no one seems to want, promise me you'll try this. I've been making pasta frittatas ever since another Kitchn writer mentioned it years ago, and it is hands down my favorite way to use up leftover pasta—along with whatever else is hanging around in the fridge. More

I love fizzy water something fierce. I'd take my Soda Stream on vacation with me if I could. I've dabbled with making my own soda syrups and played with adding fresh juice to my glass, but lately I've been looking for something to shake up my soda game. Which is why I'm pretty sure Artisan Soda Workshop was written just for me. Seventy different recipes! And all of them easy-peasy to make in minutes! This may have been written for me, but don't worry: I'll share. More

There was a time when a certain bunny-shaped pasta with instant cheese mix figured prominently in our weekly meal plan. Now we turn to a quick dinner solution that's just as easy and, dare we say, much tastier! More

While I would like to live in a world where I eat homemade soup all the time, the truth is I usually keep a few of those aseptic boxed soups in the pantry for when homemade is just not going to happen. In general, boxed soups aren't that bad but here are nine little tricks I use to improve their flavor. More

Peaches? In October? Yes, I nabbed a handful of extra-soft, very late season peaches at the market last week, and after I ate a couple I decided to sink the rest into an easy cake for a dinner party. And this turned out to be just the right decision. More

We've all been there: You want to throw together a quick soup but you don't have any stock on hand. The first question that pops up is whether stock is necessary. The answer depends on what kind of soup you are making. A stock is more important with a simple broth-based soup, whereas a more complex pureed or cream-based soup might be OK with just water. Ideally, though, you will always use stock, as it is the foundation of your soup and really adds flavor. Read on for a method of creating a quick, vegetable stock that will enhance any soup and can be made at the last minute. More

In the past we've looked at a few more refined versions of potato soup. There has been a creamy curried potato soup, a sweet potato soup with miso and ginger, and a roasted garlic and potato soup. But I'm not as polished as the rest of our Kitchn writers. See, this Midwestern girl wants her meat and potatoes and she doesn't always want them to be fancied up — well, unless you consider bacon fancy. More