On one of my very first forays into journalism, I was tasked with interviewing some local Atlanta lifestyle celebrities about comfort foods and one interview in particular has stuck with me. This week it once again popped into my mind giving me the ideal drink idea for our 10- Minute Happy Hour. More

For a fun twist on a traditional place card, how about a Polaroid snapshot of your guest? Snap a photo of your guests when they arrive, and then prop the pictures in glasses as place cards. (A few cranberries add a festive touch.) At the end of the night, your guests can either take their picture home or leave it for you to make an album. More

For the past few years I've been in charge of baking the bread for my family's Thanksgiving dinner. My sister usually hosts, but we all split cooking responsibilities, and bread has always been my thing. Due to popular request, I haven't strayed too far from a basic Parker House roll recipe (great for gravy dipping, even better for leftover sandwiches), but I'm really feeling the desire to switch it up this year. These buttermilk biscuits look delicious, and I can't wait to make them. More

I was a vegetarian for years and years and truthfully, even today, turkey isn't at all my favorite part of Thanksgiving. And ham doesn't do much for me at Christmas. Instead, I tend to geek out over new vegetable side dishes and flavor-filled herby stuffing. But I remember the days where it did feel like vegetarian options were slim at the holiday table. They don't have to be. More

When the temperature takes a permanent nosedive and fall is starting to look a lot more like winter, shepherd's pie is one of the first things that I crave. One enormous square of this casserole, with its blanket of mashed potatoes and that savory meat-and-vegetable filling, sends a sigh of contentment through my whole body. One casserole makes more than enough for my household of two, so I can look forward to comfort meals all week long. More

Do you love collards? If not, get out there and acquaint yourself with this amazing green! Collards are very nutritious (high in vitamins K, A, and C, as well as calcium, iron and fiber) and have been linked to lowered cholesterol. They are a hearty green that can grow well into early winter in colder climates and year round in more temperate ones. But more than anything, collards are delicious! More

The flavor of maple syrup is more than simple sweetness, which may be why it works so well in savory recipes, especially the kinds of recipes we start dreaming about at this time of year: crisp-skinned roast chickens glazed with maple and lemon, shredded Brussels sprouts topped with maple-toasted nuts, and roasted root vegetables tossed with maple and sage. More

Parsnips, those pale cousins of the beloved carrot, are filling up farmers market stands here in the Pacific Northwest lately. And while it's commonplace and simple to roast them for a quick side dish, pairing them with something a little sweeter can make a show-stopping addition to the average dinner spread or the more-than-average holiday table. More

This is the time of year when Dutch ovens come into their own. Even if you use your big, heavy Dutch oven year-round, as I do, it still seems to come down off its shelf a little more often in the fall. Today I want to show you my favorite Dutch oven — and a soup to cook in it. This soup is one of those magical recipes with just a few ingredients, and all the usual suspects — carrot, onion, beans, chicken broth — that nevertheless turns out to have such a deep, wonderful flavor you don't mind that it makes enough to feed you for a week. And a Dutch oven is really the best vessel for it, because this soup is cooked just a little differently. More