Autumn

Many of us turn to beans for our weekly meals. It’s a beloved pantry staple for hearty chili, winter stews, and comforting soups. Canned beans are no stranger to my pantry (there’s always a variety lining the shelves for an emergency), but over these past several months at home, I’ve become a dried bean convert.

Bubble and squeak, with its cutesy name, is a classic British day-after-holiday dish. It is incredibly versatile, as you can throw in any leftover vegetables or mashed potatoes into this comforting recipe — perfect for a relaxing meal after a hectic holiday. Usually made to use up leftovers after a Sunday roast dinner, or a major holiday like Easter or Christmas, bubble and squeak is quintessentially British and makes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, or even a quick weeknight meal.

Seed crackle is the new crouton.

There are some dinners that you just know are going to be automatic wins. Chili is absolutely one them. When chili night falls into your meal plan, you can expect a dinner that’s warming, hearty, and filling. Sure, a Dutch oven loaded with chili is certainly meal-worthy all on its own, especially when it’s packed with beans, meat, or a combination, but I always think having one simple side is the ticket to rounding out dinner. Serving chili with a side dish balances the table.

Serve a la mode.

“My husband ate more than half of the bowl.”

Chewy, nutty, chocolaty perfection.

All the pickle girls out there — this one’s for you.

It’s a comfort-food classic.

Restaurants have a secret that they do not want to share, and it’s this: Cooking crab legs is one of the easiest meals you can make at home. It’s true. You can make impressive, restaurant-quality crab legs — boiled, broiled, or steamed! — in your own kitchen. Because most crab legs are sold already cooked and frozen, all you really have to do is reheat them, and that only takes about five minutes. Here are three ways to make impressively easy crab legs at home.

Lobster tails may seem like a fancy meal that should be relegated to a special night out, but they’re actually quite simple to cook at home. The tails come frozen and ready to cook, and their meaty texture and sweet flavor pair well with just melted butter and a squeeze of lemon. Of course, you can also chop up the meat to make a killer lobster roll , lobster ravioli, or lobster risotto instead.

The sauce is everything.

This vegetable jambalaya is faster and just as good, in my opinion, as traditional jambalaya (which typically has andouille sausage, chicken and/or seafood). With the “holy trinity” of vegetables, juicy tomatoes, and long-grain rice, this is a fantastic main dish (with some optional add-ins, if you want) or a hearty side dish to serve alongside your favorite main.

My husband is from New England and we go back to visit a few times a year, so I consider myself a part-time New Englander. We feast on a lot of whole lobster while we’re there — especially in the summer when the whole family’s together and a lobster dinner is both celebratory and fun. Although I’m partial to claw meat, most of the family loves tail meat, as the tails are meaty and easily come out of the shell in one piece.

This Chocolate Martini Is Made For Chocolate Lovers

Soup dumplings who?

A bowl of chocolate mousse is a decadent treat, but a layered chocolate mousse cake with a cookie crust is next-level. There are many varieties of chocolate mousse cake. Some have chocolate cake crusts rather than the cookie crust; others are chocolate cake layered with a mousse frosting. But we think our double-layered chocolate mousse cake is one of the best. This mousse cake is set in the refrigerator rather than baked and is served cold.

And good fortune!

Hint: Put down the extra-sharp cheddar.

And it makes your kitchen smell amazing.

Almost everything you need is in your pantry.

Oh, and it's done in 25 minutes flat.

Embrace the magic that is store-bought tortellini.

A marinade is like an insurance policy for your grilled steak.

It's my family's most-requested dinner.

Struffoli is not only a fun word to say. The classic Italian dessert, also known as Italian Honey Balls, is a festive that’s traditionally served during Christmas time, just like panettone, pizzelle, and pignoli. Tiny balls of dough are fried until golden-brown. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, they’re then tossed in a sticky-sweet honey syrup and decorated with rainbow sprinkles.

Bonus: It's super easy.

The ultimate winter dinner.

Pure comfort food.

It’s on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Dutch ovens are the workhorses of pots. They go from stovetop to oven with ease, making them ideal for braises, soups, stews, and more. Even better, Dutch ovens can be covered to keep foods warm or to transport a hot dish over to a sick friend. Whether you choose a classic cast iron Dutch oven or the ever-popular enameled version, Dutch ovens are easy to clean and can last decades with proper care. I like to think of the day I brought home a Dutch oven as the day my kitchen changed forever.

It's perfect.

Give this gift to yourself.

It's even great for beginners.

Our favorite way to eat cauliflower isn’t as a cauliflower pizza crust or cauliflower rice, it’s an extremely creamy mash. But before we designate mashed cauliflower as just a lighter version of mashed potatoes, let’s consider why it is a side dish with merits all its own. You can’t over-mash or over-whip cauliflower the way you can potatoes. Without potato’s starch to contend with, you can purée the cauliflower all day with no risk of gumminess.

These are beyond worth the effort.

You can prep it the day before.

Think Pocky stick, but peanut butter.

It's perfectly retro.

Tastes like a ticket to Paris.

You had me at crispy bacon and gooey cheese.

Christmas Chex Mix is one of my favorite holiday treats that offers a welcome change from all the cookies and candy canes fighting for attention. This crispy, salty-sweet mixture even looks like Christmas — everything is coated in white chocolate, and red and green M&Ms peek through! My favorite Christmas Chex Mix blend is pretty simple — cereal, pretzels, and candy — but the sprinkle of flaky salt at the end is what takes it over the top.

They're a new tradition.

No one has to know how easy it is to make.

It doesn't get any fancier than this.

Hosting a holiday gathering means planning the menu, music, and atmosphere. I always include a festive appetizer to make the evening feel more celebratory and buy a little extra time to finish last-minute preparations once the doorbell starts ringing. Cranberry jalapeño dip is a play on the crowd-pleasing classic: pepper jelly and cream cheese. With its vibrant red hue and sweet-tart flavor, this cranberry jalapeño dip is a must-make this holiday season.

It's the coziest thing you'll cook all winter.

Every year as the holidays approach, I eagerly anticipate holiday baking and decorating sugar cookies. And every year, they don’t exactly turn out as planned. That’s because decorating cookies is a lot easier said than done — especially if you’re a perfectionist like me who likes straight lines and clean edges. But this year, I’m prepared. I recently got to work developing a simple royal icing recipe that makes cookie decorating as stress-free (and mess-free!

Over my years of writing for The Kitchn, I’ve shared almost all of my favorite holiday cookies, from my mother’s famous peppermint cream-filled butter cookies (followed by the much less finicky peppermint cream squares the following year) to rugelach and gingerbread cookies. I’ve saved one of my most beloved cookies for last. These candy cane cookies are the best.

It was only a few years back when my mom first decided to bake stollen for Christmas morning. Traditionally, she baked her signature coffee cake after stockings, but with a house filled with more holiday guests than usual, she decided to expand the morning menu.I can still remember her kneading the dough on the 23rd, and when I later walked past the countertop, I encountered the most supple, glistening dome of dough I had ever seen.

It's an easy and impressive way to feed a crowd.

They're a holiday miracle.

You'll make it on repeat.

You've never had creamed corn like this.

It's ridiculously good — and surprisingly easy to make.

Get to know this Southern green.

It can't be beet.

Grab some candy canes.