Faith Durand

You don't even have to boil water.

Ham is one of my favorite things to serve as a main dish. I’ll either cook my ham in the slow-cooker or bake it in the oven. I love that it’s easy to make and provides the perfect savory foundation to build the rest of your dinner around. In my opinion, a large part of the pleasure of serving ham is enjoying the side dishes that play well with its rich flavor. Plus, leftover ham can be reinvented into several other meals throughout the week or frozen until further notice.

Editor’s Note: If you’ve cooked this beloved recipe before, it might look a little different these days! We recently improved it to make it even easier to follow and more delicious.We love our iced coffee in the summer, but fall and winter belong to the latte. We love to sit inside on a chilly day with a hot, frothy latte or cappuccino. But a latte shouldn’t just be a coffee shop treat.

On Thanksgiving, I don’t think any dish inspires quite as much love and jealousy as classic stuffing. Or, for that matter, technical debate over stuffing vs. dressing. Sure, if it’s baked inside the turkey it’s stuffing, and if it’s not, it’s dressing. But to me, it will always be stuffing — it sounds so much more satisfying than dressing, which brings to mind vinaigrette. And on my table, the stuffing is always some version of this classic sage and onion mix.

The recipe that makes almost any meal a little better.

Like the boxed stuff, but so much better.

Plus, two ingredients not normally found in chili.

Lasagna is perhaps the quintessential feed-a-crowd casserole. There are many ways to make lasagna, but here is my own method for making it. I was so intimidated by lasagna before I first tried it. It looked like a process that would eat up my whole day. While that it is not true, it is definitely more time-consuming than spaghetti with meat sauce — but it’s oh-so-worth-it. This recipe is a hybrid of a full-on, totally from-scratch lasagna recipe and one that uses pre-made components.

Even if the arrival of PSL season has you rolling your eyes, there’s no denying the deliciousness of a pumpkin spice latte. But you can do better than Starbucks. Our homemade pumpkin spice latte is even better than what you can get at the coffee house chain. Here’s how to make an easy extra-frothy pumpkin spice latte at home. You’ll have enough to share with someone you truly love. Our homemade recipe is better than Starbucks.

Do you love figs? Then you’ll love this easy dessert. But you’re that type. This dessert is really meant for people who can’t quite get the fuss over fresh figs — people who live in places where the only figs around are weak and watery, pale imitations of what they should be. This recipe will banish all that disappointment — these figs are caramelized, smoky, dark — and rich. The first time I tried a fresh fig I was disappointed.

We love roasted peanuts in everything from homemade granola to crunchy slaws and vibrant salads. But we found found that it’s much cheaper to buy raw peanuts in bulk and to roast them at home. It’s quick and easy, and it lets us control the roasted flavor more precisely. It’s so easy! You start with raw, shelled peanuts, spread them on a baking sheet, then roast them in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. That’s it! They taste better than store-bought roasted peanuts.

Years ago, when I was just beginning to cook for myself, I felt intimidated by shrimp. Like other crustaceans from the deep, they seemed mysterious, expensive, and exotic. But then I learned that shrimp are incredibly easy to cook.One of my favorite walk-in-the-door meals is shrimp, roasted until hot and juicy, tossed over a bowl of pasta, on top of creamy polenta, or in a hearty kale salad .

You can have the roast turkey. Leave the glazed ham. Prime rib — what’s that? In my house, leg of lamb is the celebratory roast; I love its tenderness and flavor. Though roast leg of lamb sounds intimidating, the sweet little secret is that leg of lamb is actually one of the easiest, most foolproof cuts of meat to cook. Here’s our remarkably simple, fuss-free leg of lamb recipe. It will turn out perfectly every time.

One bad hard-boiled egg can ruin you for life. At least, that’s what I believed until I learned how to cook soft-boiled and hard-boiled eggs, and precisely how I wanted to eat them. The perfect hard-boiled egg has no green ring around the yolk and the innards are creamy and mellow (plus easy to peel!). And if you’re in the mood, you can stop short of the hard-boil and make a gooey soft-boiled egg instead.

Every year the impending arrival of the Super Bowl incites a parallel culinary sport: churning out new recipes for chicken wings, different versions of creamy dips, and other easy appetizers. February calls for seven-layer dip, nachos, and hot wings. It’s the one Sunday I dispense with the hummus and bask in the glory of bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers. (Or bacon-wrapped anything.

So you’re making Thanksgiving dinner for 20 people and you’re wondering whether you can make the mashed potatoes ahead of time and keep them warm. The answer is yes! Here are four foolproof methods to keep your mashed potatoes warm (or reheat the mashed potatoes you made yesterday). The method you use is up to you; use the one that works best for you and your schedule.

Take your pick of mix-ins.

They're shockingly simple to make.

You'll make it on repeat.

You say bruSHETta, I say bruSKETta, we all say tartine! Open-faced sandwiches seem to have a special place, here at The Kitchn, with over a dozen recipes scattered through our archives. Why? They’re so pretty, their piled fillings on display, and they work well as lunch, dinner, an appetizer. From sweet potato goat cheese bruschetta to a ricotta, fig, and honey tartine for fall, here are 25 of our favorite open-faced sandwiches.

From roasted broccoli to sautéed bok choy and everything in-between.

These quick and easy recipes are the perfect complement.

Do you ever struggle to use up the milk in your fridge? Sometimes we buy milk for a recipe or a weekend brunch, and then it lingers in the fridge, half-used, with the expiration date barreling down upon our guilty heads. It’s a sad waste to pour sour milk down the drain, and we’re here to tell you that you never need to do that again.

My whole family looks forward to these more than the big meal.

Cooking isn’t only about the food, or the eating, or the pleasure of the table. It’s also about the smells! Certain foods offer up delicious aromas that can make your whole house smell amazing. Last weekend we asked our Twitter friends to tell us which recipes they love to smell cooking. There were some nearly universal favorites — fresh bread, beef stew, cinnamon rolls, anything with onions.

Works like a charm every single time.

We've got classic, bacon-wrapped, and everything in between.

Moving homes — is any other life transition so exhausting? Especially since it’s often compounded by other transition moments: marriage, new relationship, retirement, a new job. In the midst of moving madness it’s important to stay nourished for the hours of packing, unpacking, and digging through boxes.

Are you traveling this summer? Taking a jet plane to faraway places? Nourishment often collapses as you step onto the jet bridge; food onboard is expensive and rarely worth eating, and airports offer their own torturous temptations of buttery Auntie Anne’s pretzels and overpriced beer. But a day spent in Air World doesn’t have to be an undernourished one.