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How To Make a Pie Crust from Scratch

We've talked a lot about pies these last three weeks. We saw 29 smashing pies in our Best Pie Bakeoff, and we're excited to try some of these new recipes this week. Thank you and congratulations ...

What's Cooking This Weekend?
Weekend of November 22-23

It's the last weekend before Thanksgiving, and we still have pies on the brain. Thing is, we've also got stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes on our minds. What about you? What are yo...

Vote Now! Best Original Pie from the Best Pie Bakeoff 2008

Twenty-nine pies! Thirteen classics, and sixteen originals. We're all the richer for these recipes, and we can hardly wait to try a few. Yesterday and today we voted on the Classic pies and it lo...

Recipe Recommendation: Rosemary Roasted Cashews

Here's another quick appetizer idea for Thanksgiving—sweet and spicy cashews that your guests can snack on while they're waiting for the turkey......

On Eating Bone Marrow

Henry David Thoreau urged us to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. Well, I'm here to urge you to suck on roasted bone marrow! Seriously, this is one of the most delicious, low-cost food ...

Good Question: How To Cut Up a Turkey Before Roasting?

Here's a good question from Anne (in Reno) on that Thanksgiving turkey. Hi, I'm doing a pre-Thanksgiving turkey this weekend since there are never enough leftovers. I have been recipe surfing and fo...

Weekend Project: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Like many of you, we're planning on dedicating a good chunk of this weekend to Thanksgiving grocery shopping and some early prep work. Here's a round-up of all the tips, reminders, and ideas we've bee...

See Tyler Florence's Gorgeous Kitchen
Delicious links for 11.21.08

Turns out Tyler Florence has a gorgeous kitchen (go figure, right?) but he also uses one of our favorite inexpensive kitchen tools. Take a look at this kitchen tour. That plus a video showing how Than...

Good Idea! Use Canning Jars Instead of Ramekins

There's no law that says custards must always be served in ramekins! We love the rustic and whimsical look of re-using glass canning jars for custards - or what about chicken pot pie, mac n' cheese, a...

Zingerman's Italian Wild Cherries

I was lucky enough to get to play around with a jar of Zingerman's Italian Wild Cherries, which are being given as a prize in our Pie Bakeoff (have you voted yet?). My original idea was to make a pi...

Recipe: Thanksgiving Tofu Loaf

For many of us, a vegetarian Thanksgiving means loading up on side dishes. No complaints here; I look forward to mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce every year. But there's also somet...

Vote Now! Best Classic Pie from the Best Pie Bakeoff 2008

Well, we've seen 29 scrumptious pies - each of which we'd like to take a fork to any time. We're all the richer for these recipes, and we can hardly wait to try a few. We're also voting on the pi...

Blogging The New York Times: Kroger Grocery Stores and Murray's Bringing Good Cheese to the Midwest?

The top story in today's New York Times Dining area is one that we blogged back in March: national grocery store chain Kroger is partnering with New York's Murray's Cheese "to bring cheese to a wide a...

Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Cocktail: The Poinsettia
Straight Up Cocktails and Spirits

Keeping in mind all the multi-dish bustle that comes with Thanksgiving, this year I set out in search for a cocktail recipe that would be: quick and easy to prepare (and replenish!) adjustable to ...

Are You Planning a Trial Run for Thanksgiving?

In one of our favorite episodes of "Will and Grace," Jack's mom shows up unexpected at Will and Grace's apartment several days before Thanksgiving, panting from speed walking and holding a casserole d...

Do You Use Kitchen Twine?

Trussing a big turkey may be the only time some of us use kitchen twine all year. But others use it frequently: tying vegetables so they stay upright in a steamer, trussing smaller chickens and pork r...

Summer in Review: How Was Your CSA?

Most CSAs and farm-shares have sent their last boxes of winter vegetables and closed up shop for the season. Now that we've had a chance to catch our breath (and finish eating our leafy greens!), we t...

Open Thread 182

What's cooking this week?...

Gallery: Recipes for Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Yesterday we showed you a gallery of favorite Thanksgiving potato dishes, and the day before that we featured holiday appetizers. And today there are all the other dishes that populate a Thanksgi...

Why Is This Sweet Potato Not Orange?

Well, the answer is really not that exciting. Simply put, there is more than one type of sweet potato. Some are the bright orange-fleshed ones we're used to, but others are pale yellow like the one ab...

Seasonal Spotlight: Chestnuts

These beautiful, shiny brown nuts start showing up in piles in the fall and winter. I never had chestnuts growing up - they just weren't a staple in my household. The first time I had them was in Pa...

Good Question: Should Fresh Nutmeg Be Used the Same Way as Ground Nutmeg?

It seems like nutmeg week around here! First we talked about the nutmeg grinder we love, then Emma gave us the full scoop on this common spice. Now reader amt230 has a good question about fresh ground...

Conscientious Entertaining: How to Spend Less Money this Holiday Season

There's a lot of pressure during the holiday season - and at Thanksgiving in particular - to throw the most extravagant, impressive dinner parties possible. This can leave many of us torn between holi...

How Are You Cooking Your Turkey?

The great turkey debate! Number one, are you even making a turkey for Thanksgiving? Number two, if you are, how are you cooking it? ...

Recipe: Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce

Making a good bolognese sauce is a labor of love. Sure we could just add some hamburger to a tomato sauce and call it good (and we often do!), but sometimes we really want that silky, deeply-flavored ...

How To Fold Napkins Into Fancy Shapes
Delicious links for 11.19.08

Fancy napkins, eco-friendly coasters (to buy or to make yourself - hello holiday gifts!), and a great squash recipe below in today's Delicious Links. ...

How To Open a Pomegranate

For all you pom-obsessed cooks out there, a friend sent in this video that helped her avoid messily wrangling down a pomegranate last weekend....

Liquid Smoke: What Is It?

We've been using liquid smoke quite a bit lately, mainly to add depth of flavor to vegetarian dishes. But what exactly is this stuff? ...

Thanksgiving Wines: Keep it Simple

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. As I was reading Emma’s post last Friday on Thanksgiving dinner, I started to ponder the choice of wines to serve. For some reason, picking the Thanksgiving m...

Look! Wax-Dipped Pears in France

Here's a small, colorful note from my time in France last week. At the market some of the pears had dabs of something bright and scarlet on top. What was it? ...

Kitchen Spotlight: Open Storage in Small Kitchens

We love the look of neatly organized open storage, but it seems like it would be hard to keep things uncluttered and clean. Perhaps the fact that it's all open is motivation enough to keep shelve...

Top Chef New York: Hot Dogs and Angry Chefs

Last night on Top Chef, the contestants had to make a hot dog that stood up against New York's finest and then serve lunch at Tom Colicchio's restaurant, Craft. The diners were all rejected applica...

Pumpkin Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #29

Recipe: Denise of Chez Us' Pumpkin Pie Category: Classic Well, this is it! The last pie recipe of our 2008 Bakeoff. This means that we'll move on to voting a little later today - please come and vote...

Technique: How to Sweat Vegetables

Whenever we come across this instruction in a recipe, we can't help imagining little cartoon onions and carrots eying a soup pot with beads of sweat running down their faces. Fortunately, the reality ...

Good Eats: Map Plates and Chocolate Toffee Wedges

What's cooking at Serious Eats this week? Every week we round up our favorite posts from our friends at Serious Eats. This week there's some cool geographical map plates, an interview with Ruth Reichl...

Pecan and Date Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #28

Recipe: Rachel's Pecan and Date Pie Category: Classic Here's a reworking of yet another classic pie - pecan, this time! This is a wonderfully sweet and gooey pie, made with dates. This recipe sounds ...

Gallery: Thanksgiving Potato Recipes

Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, mashed potatoes, candied potatoes. What kind of potatoes are you making for Thanksgiving? Here are our favorite potato recipes, plus a couple tips on making awesom...

Recipe Redux: Brown Sugar-Cornmeal Cobbler Topping

This summer, we gave you a recipe for our Easy, Foolproof Cobbler for Any Fruit, and by any fruit, we mean fall and winter fruit, too. We make this cobbler all the time with apples and pears, but late...

Omnivore Books on Food
San Francisco

Omnivore Books on Food is a new bookstore in San Francisco. Housed in a former butcher shop in Noe Valley, they specialize in books about food, particularly vintage and hard-to-find books....

Easy Entertaining: Four Ideas for DIY Paper Flower Centerpieces

Apparently paper flowers have come a long way since the tissue paper carnations of our grade school years! These are lovely enough to serve as a centerpiece for dinner or a decoration for a buffet tab...

Good Question: Wall-Mounted Flatware Storage?

Here's a good question from reader Michael. He asks: I'm moving into a condo with a small kitchen. There are only 2 drawers and they're too skinny for any silverware organizer. Are there any good wa...

Sense of Place: The Food and Cuisine of California

California is the birthplace of fusion cuisine and the local/sustainable food movement - not to mention diet fads galore! And with so many cultures converging in a place that can support so much great...

Best Wine Glasses and Cute Snowflake Oreos
Delicious links for 11.19.08

Are you looking for new wine glasses this holiday? Check out this roundup of the best. ...

The New Yorker Food Issue

Every year for Thanksgiving, we go to Costa Rica with a group of friends to unwind and unplug (that's right, no internets for AT's Mama and Papa Bear.) It's divine. Except that with a toddler in tow, ...

Edith's Sweet Potato Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #27

Recipe: Edith's Sweet Potato Pie, from Leonard Category: Classic We've been waiting for a pie entry like this. This is an authentic, handed-down family recipe, and with photos to prove it too. This i...

Pushing Daisies: The Pies

We know some of you are fans of "Pushing Daisies," and we recently discussed the show's honey-related story lines, but we could hardly let this month pass without a mention of the show's primary food ...

Good Question: How To Make DIY Instant Oatmeal?

Here's a great question from Emily. She wants a copycat recipe for Quaker's multigrain oatmeal packets. Hi, I've got a weak spot for Quaker's Simple Harvest Maple Brown Sugar instant oatmeal packets...

What To Do With All Those Mini Pumpkins... Hint: It Involves Your Oven!

Our mystery box has kept us well supplied with mini pumpkins this fall. For several weeks we've enjoyed them displayed on a white platter in the middle of the dining room table as a simple centerpiec...

Best Pie Tip: Brush the Crust with Egg

We've been reading a lot of pie recipes lately. In all of their diversity, there are a few common patterns and good tips that have turned up. Our favorite so far is this classic tip: Brush your unbake...

Times Top 5: The Importance of Gravy
From the NY Times Dining Section 11.19.08

We once made a frantic trip to Popeye's fried chicken on Thanksgiving morning to buy gravy because ours wasn't up to par. Not this year! The Times has a comprehensive guide to making gravy ahead of ti...

Pear Gruyère Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #26

Recipe: Alexandra's Pear Gruyère Pie Category: Original We've talked about the food on the popular television show "Pushing Daisies", but we haven't mentioned the most prominent food on the show: pi...

From the Spice Cupboard: Nutmeg

Nutmeg has come a long way since the days when it was thought to ward off the plague! These days it's appreciated much more for its flavor-enhancing properties and you'll find it used in everything fr...

Gallery: Holiday Appetizers from The Kitchn

Are you thinking about your Thanksgiving meal yet? We are! We'll be pulling together some of our favorite Thanksgiving and holiday recipes from the archives this week, and we're starting with app...

Jack-O-Lantern Tartlets
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #25

Recipe: Stephanie's Jack-O-Lantern Tartlets Category: Classic Here is the second entry from enterprising pie-baker Stephanie; she also entered the Original category with her mouthwatering peanut butt...

Recipe: Fresh Cranberry Relish

This is cranberry relish to us. No wiggling cylinder from a can, no whole berries that are cooked down with sugar. Our cranberry side dish is always fresh, chunky, sweet, and full of fruit. We think w...

Seasonal Spotlight: Chanterelle Mushrooms

I love it when these meaty, golden yellow mushrooms show up in the Fall at Far West Fungi or the Alemany market. They sprout from September to February, and are profuse since insects and other animal...

Wanting: Peugeot Nutmeg Mill

Nutmeg is much in demand this time of year, and we're cooking with it a lot. Emma is going to tell you all about this spice tomorrow morning, including its origins and some of the dishes it's commonly...

Holiday Entertaining: Do You Serve Appetizers for Thanksgiving Dinner?

Appetizers aren't a traditional part of the Turkey Day line-up, but we think it's a good to give people something to snack on while the meal is coming together. What do you think?...

Owl Cupcakes, Best Placemats and How To Set the Table
Delicious links for 11.18.08

It's Dining and Entertaining month over at our sister home sites, and we love seeing the great dining and tabletop ideas they find. Here are our picks today from AT, Ohdeedoh, and around the web. ...

Food Science: The Difference Between White Meat and Dark Meat

It seems like there's a new theory, trick, or technique every year for making sure the white and dark meat on a turkey cook evenly. What's all the fuss about? Let's take a look......

On Meeting Jamie Oliver

I met Jamie Oliver last week and it was a total thrill. Such a thrill that it didn't even cross my mind to get photographic evidence for you. Here's Jamie and Martha Stewart at the taping of her At ...

Rustic Pear Custard Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #24

Recipe: Rachel's Rustic Pear Custard Pie Category: Original We've seen quite a few apple pies in this Bakeoff, but no pear pies so far - until now. Rachel submitted an easy, flexible custard-filled p...

Recipe Source: The Spice House
Chicago

The Spice House is our favorite spot for spices, dried herbs and seasoning mixes in Chicago. The company also offers its products online, and has compiled a large database of recipes, including some m...

Good Question: Best Holiday Quick Breads Without Pumpkin or Cranberries?

Here's a holiday baking question from reader Ashley. Maybe you can help? She writes: I have a holiday baking dilemma. I want to bake a breakfasty quick bread for the holidays but my boyfriend hates ...

The Cheesemonger: Why Is My Cheese Orange?

Milk is white, so why is some cheese orange? What is the culprit responsible for this color change in cheese and why would some cheesemakers choose to rob their cheese of its natural tint in the first...

Canned Pumpkin, Best Pinot Noir, Bubble and Squeak, Bay Leaves, and Cooking With Leftovers
Top posts for November 10-16, 2008

Practical and frugal tips for cooking more with less ruled last week: we had tips on putting...

Recipe Roundup: Thanksgiving Stuffing

According to a survey we took last year, stuffing is by far your favorite Thanksgiving side dish. But when it comes to what type of stuffing, there's a lot of variation out there: cornbread, herb, ...

Apple Cranberry Galette with Stonewall Kitchen Apple Caramel Butter
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #23

Recipe: Donna's Apple Cranberry Galette with Stonewall Kitchen Apple Caramel Butter Category: Original The apple pies keep rolling in! We love all these new recipes for one of our favorite fruits, an...

Good Food with Evan Kleinman: Tips for Stress-Free Holiday Baking

As much as we love baking fresh goodies for all holiday gatherings starting to happen this time of year, the task can often become time-consuming and stressful. No more! This week on Good Food, Cindy ...

Pumpple Pie (Pumpkin & Apple!)
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #22

Recipe: Jennifer's Pumpple Pie (Pumpkin & Apple!) Category: Original Pumpkin AND apple! What a pie! We had a hard time deciding which category to put this into, but we ultimately decided that suc...

Drinking Vinegar: Have You Ever Made a Shrub?

We're not talking shrub as in the small bush in the corner of your yard. A shrub in the beverage sense is a non-alcoholic, fruit-infused vinegar that's usually mixed with soda water. We read about s...

French Pumpkins: Potimarron

While in France last week I thoroughly enjoyed prowling the morning market, its stretch of tables brilliant with fruit, vegetables, and delicious local specialties. Here's the local variety of pumpkin...

Creamy Adsuki Bean Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #21

Recipe: Joanna's Creamy Adsuki Bean Pie Category: Original Another bean pie! We already had one pie made from beans in this Bakeoff, and it piqued our interest. We were curious whether anyone else ma...

Handy Pantry Staple: Duck Confit in Cans

I know, I know. You're thinking: "Canned duck? Are you kidding me?" But trust me on this one, really. I love keeping a can of duck confit in my pantry, and unlike other foods in cans, it's actuall...

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Menu from Gourmet

For all the talk about the big Thanksgiving meal, very little is said for the vegetarians among us. It's always about the turkey. The brining and the roasting and the carving and the drumsticks. Well,...

Quick Tip: How to Ripen Green Tomatoes

Though it's getting cold and blustery outside, we've still been seeing plenty of green tomatoes at the farmer's markets! If green tomatoes aren't your thing or you really have your heart set on one la...

On Traveling, Cooking, France, and the Bread Basket

One of the clichés about Europe and France in particular is the omnipresence of bread. And not just any bread, but crackly, crispy crust with soft and tender innards bread. I'm happy to report and s...

Chocolate Truffle Tart with Vanilla Crème Brulee
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #20

Recipe: Mary's Chocolate Truffle Tart with Vanilla Crème Brulee Category: Original Twenty pies! There are just a few more to go this week as we count down to a reader vote-off for the category winne...

Farmers' Market Report: Persimmons
Los Angeles

Some of our relatives own a small persimmon farm, and they told us that peak harvesting season has just arrived. Our trip to the Hollywood Farmers' Market yesterday confirmed this news, as the brillia...

What Foods Do You Buy Weekly?

After last week's discussion of all the ingredients we keep stocked and ready to go in our pantry, we got curious about what foods get bought on a weekly basis. These are either perishable ingredients...

Playing with Your Food: How To Make Carrot Flowers!

Carrot coins? Yawn. Matchsticks? Too much work! Next time you're making a stew or miso soup or gingered carrots, take a few minutes and make carrot flowers. It's simple, not too much extra work...

Heat-Resistant Spatulas and Loukoumades
Delicious links for 11.17.08

Have you ever seen these Greek doughnuts? We haven't seen them in person but we sure want to now! ...

Word of Mouth: Marron Glacé

marron glacé (ma-rohn glay-say): n. A chestnut preserved in syrup, usually eaten out of hand like candy or used as a topping for desserts. Chestnuts are a common ingredient this time of year,...

Recipe: Mushroom Soup

Earthy mushroom soup is one of our favorite fall meals. After trying several recipes, we settled on this one as a favorite and we come back to it again and again. It's adapted from a recipe by Anthony...

Look! A Cozy Bacon Wrap

We've seen other examples of "wearable" bacon in years past, but this bacon wrap really takes the cake...er...the bacon. The holidays are coming - is this something you'd like to give or receive?!...

Weekend Meditation: The Shared World

One of the hidden characteristics of food is that it is a conveyer of much more than bulk and nutrition. Secret and not so secret messages are served with food all the time. Here, eat this: I love ...

Candy Apple Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #19

Recipe: Susan of Doughmesstic's Candy Apple Pie Category: Classic The apple pies keep racking up in our Best Pie Bakeoff, and they are all looking so good! The latest is this caramel-drizzled pie fro...

Buckeye Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #18

Recipe: Stephanie's Buckeye Pie Category: Original Do you know what Buckeyes are? Besides being a poisonous nut and the mascot of the Ohio State University, they are also delicious little candies ma...

Apple Ginger Pie Bars
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #17

Recipe: Vanessa's Apple Ginger Pie Bars Category: Original Pie as a cookie? Why yes, that's what Vanessa does here, and it looks great. What does pie in cookie form look like? Read on for Vanessa's r...

Banana Cream Pie
Best Pie Bakeoff 2008 Entry #16

Recipe: EJ's Banana Cream Pie Category: Classic Our weekend pie extravaganza continues today with four more pies entered in our Bakeoff. This one is a homestyle classic - but improved. It has homemad...