Kate Ramos

Slaws don’t have to be made just of cabbage — there are so many other delicious crunchy vegetables out there! Refreshing jicama and beautiful red cabbage get tossed together with tangy lime juice, spicy jalapeños, and cilantro for a great slaw to serve with tacos or tamales. The vegetables and dressing for this slaw can be prepped up to three hours in advance, but keep them separate until you are ready to serve.

In Mexico, tamales of pork and chicken are most traditional, but vegetarian tamales made of beans, cheese with rajas (or chile strips), and mushrooms are becoming more popular. A couple things to consider when making vegetarian tamales: Lard is traditional when making the masa for tamales, but you can substitute vegetable shortening. I like to use the chicken cooking liquid from the chicken tamales to flavor this mole, but you can substitute vegetable stock instead.

Chicken tamales drenched in mole are a staple of the Christmas season. They are a little time-consuming (but not hard), and best when made with friends and family. In fact, the making of the tamales is almost as important as the eating of the tamales. Gathering together to create this beloved food has become one of my favorite traditions of the holiday season. I like to break the process up over a couple of days.

I’m a big fan of repairing reputations. I believe most things start off with the best intentions, but sometimes take a wrong turn, start running with a bad crowd, and need a loving hand to get back on track.  This, I’m afraid, is what happened to poke cake.

A handful of sweet, juicy cherries epitomizes great summer eating but sometimes that dark, sweet flavor needs to be shared, needs a friend, needs to mingle. Cherries and lime? Friends. Cherries and shaved ice? Best buds. Do I even need to mention how close cherries and bourbon are? That’s why it’s best to take at least a pound or two and reduce them to their purest form.