Black-eyed peas are eaten on New Year’s Day because they’re believed to bring luck and money for the year ahead, a tradition that traces back to West African cooking and enslaved communities in the American South, usually served with collard greens for cash and cornbread for gold. I grew up thinking this was just something
Garlic cauliflower mash is a low-carb mashed potato swap made by steaming cauliflower until fork-tender, draining and drying it thoroughly, then blending it with roasted garlic, butter, and a little cream cheese until smooth. I used to roll my eyes at cauliflower mash. My first attempt came out of the food processor looking more like
Maple roasted sweet potatoes are cubed sweet potatoes tossed with maple syrup, olive oil or butter, and salt, then roasted at high heat until the edges caramelize and the inside turns soft, usually 25 to 30 minutes at 425°F. I make these more than almost anything else in my fall and winter rotation. They taste
Green beans with crispy shallots means blanching fresh green beans until they’re bright and just tender, then topping them with thin shallot slices fried low and slow until deeply golden, no canned soup or tinned onions required. I grew up on the version with the cream of mushroom soup and the crunchy things from a
The best budget Christmas dinner idea is building your whole menu around brown sugar pork tenderloin instead of prime rib or ham, since it costs a fraction as much per serving but still looks like a restaurant plate when you slice it at the table. I used to think a fancy Christmas dinner meant a
The best Amazon Christmas gifts for the home cook in your life are the ones that upgrade something they already do every week, not another single-use gadget headed for the back of a drawer. I have bought a lot of bad kitchen gifts in my life before I figured this out. A pineapple corer sounded
Cornbread dressing is crumbled, deliberately staled cornbread mixed with sautéed onion and celery, broth, eggs, and sage, then baked separately in its own dish rather than stuffed inside the turkey. Dressing and stuffing get used interchangeably by a lot of people, but they’re not the same thing. One goes inside the bird. One doesn’t. And
Turkey gravy is made by separating the fat from your turkey’s pan drippings, building a roux with that fat and flour, then whisking in the drippings and stock until thickened, with a make-ahead version possible using roasted turkey wings for the base. Gravy is the one part of Thanksgiving that has to happen in the
Sweet potato casserole is a smooth, mashed sweet potato base baked until set, then topped with either mini marshmallows or a pecan streusel and browned in the oven, a distinctly different dish from candied yams, which keeps the sweet potato in whole sliced pieces. I used to think candied yams and sweet potato casserole were
Au gratin potatoes are thinly sliced potatoes layered with cream and cheese, usually gruyere or sharp cheddar, then baked until the potatoes are tender and the top is browned and bubbling, distinct from scalloped potatoes, which traditionally skip the cheese entirely. Most people use these two names interchangeably, and honestly, most recipes online do too.
Costco’s best Thanksgiving dinner buys this year are the Kirkland Signature turkey dinner kit for a stress-free main, the loaded mashed potatoes for the single best pre-made side, and the $5.99 pumpkin pie for dessert, while the full $199.99 complete dinner package is worth it only if you’re feeding a crowd and truly don’t want
Southern green beans are fresh green beans simmered low and slow in broth with bacon, ham hock, or smoked turkey for 45 minutes to an hour and a half, until they’re soft enough to fall apart on a fork, not crisp-tender. If you grew up on the quick-blanched, still-snappy version of green beans, this recipe
A Thanksgiving meal for 4 people typically runs between $30 and $90 depending on where you shop and what you buy, with a realistic mid-range spread landing around $50 to $55, or roughly $13 per person. That number surprised me the first year I actually sat down and added up a receipt instead of guessing.
One of the most realistic new year financial resolutions you can actually keep is resetting your grocery budget in January by shopping your own pantry and freezer first, instead of starting the year with a brand new grocery list like December never happened. Every December I tell myself I’m going to stay under budget, and
Butterkäse is one of the best all-purpose melting cheeses you can cook with, and it works in everything from grilled cheese and mac and cheese to eggs, pizza, and the viral stuffed sweet potato. Once I got my hands on a block of this stuff, I went a little overboard testing it in everything I