If you're planning on a New Year's resolution to have your cake and eat it, too (aren't we all), Giada De Laurentiis has a new show on the Food Network that will help inspire you to get in the kitchen and bake a better cake. The show, called Winner Cake All, debuts on Monday, January 7, on Food Network.
Cold fall and winter nights beg the kind of comfort and ease that only a piping-hot casserole can deliver. These are the meals that will satisfy your hunger and warm you from the inside out. From cheesy pasta bakes to flaky pot pies, these are the 25 casseroles that will carry you through all the cold nights ahead.
Chilly winter weather is here, and with it comes the temptation to turn up the heat on our thermostats. Look to your windows instead, and invest in one of these draft-stopping solutions that will help warm up your space, and save you money in the long run.
Here's a mini-guide of solutions, with pros and cons of everything from layered curtains to shrink-wrap film.
I really love butternut squash — it's sweet and absolutely packed with flavor and fiber. You can roast it, purée it into soups or smoothies, and add it to any kind of casserole under the sun.
Recently I started stocking cubed and frozen butternut squash on hand at all times — just like I do peas and corn. Not just because butternut is a vegetable my kids will eat readily (or because I can use the bag for boo-boos), but because it's just incredibly versatile. Here are five reasons to keep butternut squash within reach at all times.
Tell me if this scenario sounds familiar: Every morning when I wake up, I brew a giant pot of French roast, and pour myself a cup. After adding sugar and cream, I take that first sip, and every morning it's like the first time I've ever had such a drink in my life. It's absolute perfection. It's like vanilla, sugar, cream, and coffee beans were made to be tasted by me this morning and me alone.
But then, each subsequent sip is a little less satisfying. I think to myself maybe I can recreate that experience with another cup of coffee made exactly the way I had before. Reader: it's never the same, until at least the next morning. I always thought that this was just me being finicky, but it turns out there are a couple explanations behind why the first sip tastes best.
For fans of the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the quick, witty dialogue and striking retro sets are the main draw, but the classic New York and Jewish food fall right behind. In the first season, Midge, played by Rachel Brosnahan, brings her brisket to bars to bribe her husband's way onto stage and jokes at her own Jewish wedding about there being shrimp in the egg rolls.
In fact, we theorized that the entire show is secretly about the power of cooking. When the long-awaited second season returns on December 5, People reports that the food will be back and more prominent than ever.
Canned pumpkin can be found on grocery store shelves almost year-round these days, but it only goes on super sale once a year — and the time is near. Consider this your PSA that canned pumpkin is about to be the cheapest it will be all year. Here's everything you'll need to know about stocking up and still having enough pumpkin to bake and cook with come next year.
While some people prefer to shop with a specific loved one in mind, we really enjoy shopping for an unspecified person in a random group gathering. We get such a kick out of buying a silly gift and then watching people fight to steal (or get rid of!) said gift. Of course, we're talking about the classic White Elephant swap — where everyone brings a present of a set dollar amount and people take turns either stealing an already opened gift or taking their chance with something from the unopened pile.
In our experience, groups can be super wacky, competitive, or overly serious with their swaps. No matter what kind of crowd you're shopping for this year, we've got some suggestions.
To get some inspiration for all of the holiday shopping ahead of us, we asked a few of our favorite Food Network celebrity chefs what they have on their wish lists this year. As you can imagine, these picks run the gamut. Some are fancy, (okay, lots of them are fancy), some are funny, and some are practical! But one thing's for sure — all these gifts have about as much personality as the stars who chose them.
Chocolate bark is one of those things that always looks way more complicated than it is. I know, I know, people say that about *a lot* of things, but this is true, you guys. Most of these recipes only contain a few ingredients and most of the "cooking" involved is just melting chocolate and crushing candy. You can handle that.
I've always been particularly fond of Oreo bark, because it adds another layer of texture to chocolate bark that is usually lacking. A few of these recipes, you'll notice, use whole Oreos to create interesting layers in the bark. Other times they're just crushed up with the rest of the candy and thrown on top. I'll leave it up to you to decide what suits you best.
For some reason, the only time it's okay for adults to wear bibs is when they're eating lobster. That leaves us all open to a lot of opportunity for spills and grease stains. And of course, the latter of the two is basically impossible to get out. But it's not like I'm gonna stop eating greasy things (gimme that bacon!)!
The good news is that I don't have to. And I don't have to resort to wearing a poncho either. Because I have learned a very simple trick to getting grease stains out of my clothing.
We're headed into the season of entertaining, when family sleepovers become common, before and after big holiday meals. I also think of this as breakfast casserole season; everyone is looking for easy, hearty ways to put breakfast on the table in the middle of the zaniness. Well, here you go: One of the simplest, heartiest breakfast casseroles I know how to make.
Kitchn's Delicious Links column highlights recipes we're excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites.
"It takes how many ingredients?" Whenever I see a recipe that ostensibly requires fewer components than I have fingers on my hand, I feel like I have to click it, if just to see if the author includes salt and pepper on the ingredient list. Salt and pepper are technically ingredients, but including them sometimes feels like including water or heat — because you might need them for the recipe, but you're probably not going to have to leave the house to get them.
But when this baked chicken Caesar recipe says it only requires four ingredients, it really means it.
Making cold brew coffee at home comes with its share of challenges. To name a few, not getting the coffee-to-water ratio correct can result in a bitter or flavorless brew, it's notoriously messy, and requires equipment that some basic kitchens just don't have, like cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer.
While you technically don't need a dedicated brewer to make cold brew, the right one can make it a lot easier. We're already fans of the KitchenAid Cold Brew Coffee Maker, but normally retailing for $100, its an investment. Which is why we were especially thrilled that its currently 50% off on Amazon. If you're wondering why we'd suggest buying a cold coffee maker at the end of November, you'll be thanking us when the temperatures warm back up. But we know plenty of year-round cold brew drinkers who should be jumping at the opportunity to save on this at-home system.
One caveat: while the deal is still good on Amazon, its been so popular that delivers may not arrive until after Christmas. If you want to start making cold brew now (or want to wrap it up and put under the tree), Jet is offering the exact same deal. It's on sale at a few other online retailers as well, but those are the lowest prices we were able to find.
Look, I understand that the holidays aren't always full of cheer. There can be a lot of pressure to deliver the perfect holiday party fare, instead of the same old boring wine and cheese spread you find yourself snacking on every year. You want to impress your judgmental relatives so that they're all talking about the ingenious appetizers you served before Christmas dinner for years to come.
In theory, these deviled eggs that are supposed to look like Santa Claus might ease that pressure, by showcasing your culinary craftiness. There's just one problem: They don't look entirely appetizing (sorry).
As a kid, you probably drank hot cocoa by the gallon. It always seemed like the right time for a cup of hot cocoa, and yet in adulthood I would bet that you don't drink it too much anymore. What hot cocoa really needs is a grown-up upgrade. Enter: the Dirty Snowman cocktail. It's basically childhood nostalgia with a boozy twist.
If you've ever been tempted to wrap up a package of Oreos, slap it with a sparkly bow, and call it a holiday present for the biggest chocolate sandwich cookie lover in your life, this year that's finally socially acceptable.
The omniscient powers that be at Mondelez have concocted a new (very special) package of Oreos meant to give as a gift. Presenting ... the Oreo Music Box!
Soup is my favorite thing to eat this time of year, but it's not always enough to make a complete meal. Sandwiches and big salads are great additions, but sometimes I want soup to be the star of the hour. That's where these 20 side dishes come into play.
Your side dish of choice, of course, is going to depend on the type of soup you're making. If you have a relatively smooth soup, like tomato, you might want garlic bread or a soft roll for dunking. If your soup calling leads you to a turkey tortilla number, then maybe you want to take it easy with sautéed kale or roasted broccoli. The choice is yours, dear friend.
We've all been there. After a long work week and a mini-marathon cleaning session on the weekend, you look around your apartment and feel like it looks just as dirty as before.
So what to do when you feel like your house is never clean, but don't have much time to devote to housekeeping? We called on cleaning expert Kadi Dulude, owner of Wizard of Homes NYC, for advice on things you can do when you feel like housekeeping is out of your control — and she had lots to share.
There's something about giving a homemade food gift that feels especially generous. Now — before the holidays get underway — is a great time to get started on a number of these DIY gifts, since some need a few weeks or more to infuse or rest in order to be at their full gifting potential. Plus, it doesn't hurt to check this off your list now before the nuttiness of the season begins. Here are seven great homemade food gifts you can get started on now.
When you have minimal counter space to prep, work, and cook on, every square inch is precious. Take it from a New Yorker who once prepped a Thanksgiving turkey on the kitchen floor, while chopping mirepoix in the sink and stacking hot bakeware, mixing bowls, and several pounds of potatoes on one square foot of Formica.
While this 930-square-foot Austin home has a decent amount of counter space, creative uses of vertical and horizontal space in the kitchen maximize the cooking surfaces available. For those of us cooking with extremely limited, precious counter space, stealing a few organizing tricks from this kitchen can help keep food prep off the floor.
Yes, spaghetti squash has the power to make an amazing dinner (I'm looking at you, spaghetti squash pad Thai), but if we're really being honest, the truly amazing thing about this vegetable is its likeness to long, thin pasta.
But here's the thing: No one likes short, broken strands of spaghetti, so why settle for short strands of spaghetti squash? Are you getting the longest, twirliest strands you can from your squash?
You can learn a lot about a couple by stalking, I mean looking at, their wedding registry. How else are you going to find out if they prefer drip coffee to espresso, what color their fluffy bathroom hand towels will be, and if they ever plan to host a holiday? It's an absolute gold mine of information.
Recently while mining for even more information, we asked our friends at Zola, an online wedding registry platform, for some insider intel on the latest registry trends. We learned this fun fact and felt that we needed to share with you all: This Le Creuset covered rectangular casserole dish is THE most popular casserole dish on the site.
Friends and family, gather round — I'd like to tell you all a magical tale. Once there was a woman named Nancy, who had very little time to make dinner (DO YOU RELATE?) so she bought a slow cooker in hopes that it would help. Nancy poured her heart into many a recipe, and found that there was still too much prep work involved, and her family passed out from hunger pains before she could put dinner on the table.
So she huffed and she puffed and she scoured the internet and found all the best slow cooker recipes with five ingredients or less (SHOCK!). These recipes have now been passed down generation through generation and I'm very happy to report that I'm now in possession of this mighty list. BEHOLD!
Because the editors here at Kitchn get a healthy dose of kitchen inspiration every day, we basically work on our wish lists all year long. Whether it's a cool new tool we see at a trade show, an ingredient we sample, a beautiful dish we use for a photoshoot, or something else, we see a lot of stuff we end up wanting. Sometimes, even on a weekly basis.
This list can serve three purposes: It can help you add to your own wish list, it can give you ideas for the person on your list who's hardest to shop for, and it can serve as a super subtle attempt at telling our loved ones what we want for the holidays.
Ina Garten's not-so-secret talent is making everyone feel like they can be a really, really good cook. Her recipes are precise, her instructions are clear, and her end goal is always the same: Is it delicious? If we had to choose one specialty out of the many recipes that Ina has concocted, we would have to say chicken, hands down.
Not only does Ina help us master all the classic chicken recipes, but she's also our go-to source for quick weeknight hits. Here's a list of our all-time favorite Ina chicken recipes on both sides of the spectrum.
Your kitchen is the workhorse of the home, and the items you store in it — serving pieces, utensils, and all that cookware — are among the toughest items in the whole place because they have to stand up to daily use.
And even though these items are usually pretty durable, if you store them incorrectly, you could potentially damage them (or, at the very least, waste space you could be using for something else).
Here are five kitchen items you may be storing the wrong way.
Brownies, like chocolate chip cookies, are one of those baked goods where it's best to have a few favorite recipes rather than just one. You need a brownie recipe for every occasion: a favorite boxed brownie, a favorite cocoa brownie, a favorite chocolate brownie, and a favorite easiest-ever brownie (that's where these come in).
I like to call these desperation brownies. They require just a few pantry ingredients and no mixing bowl, meaning you can make them at a moment's notice in almost any kitchen. The best part? They're just as chocolatey, fudgy, and crave-worthy as any brownie recipe we know.
Kitchn's Delicious Links column highlights recipes we're excited about from the bloggers we love. Follow along every weekday as we post our favorites.
When I think of kitchen staples, one of the first things I think of is a big bowl of bright-yellow lemons. They're one of the few perishables that I know I'll always use before they go bad. I use them for desserts, pasta sauces, and cocktails. A lemon is the key to many brilliant weeknight dinners, like this honey-lemon chicken recipe that delivers sweet and tart deliciousness in just 15 minutes.
Most of America might be just barely recovered from the latest run on Costco's most famous dessert — the pumpkin pie that hasn't changed in 31 years. The 12-inch pie, which weighs four pounds and can feed a crowd, sells in the millions every year. And, of course, we've already fallen in love with the three-pound cookie butter cheesecake.
But this year Delish reports that the geniuses behind the warehouse shop's dessert selections have gone above and beyond: They're selling four-packs of chocolate fudge lava cakes.
In the realm of drink flavors, Starbucks isn't known for its subtlety. Think back to the green and purple Witch's Brew Frappuccino the company unleashed for Halloween to get an idea of what I mean. Even the Peppermint Mocha, my favorite among the Starbucks' holiday drink lineup, is a bit heavy-handed on the peppermint syrup.
So when Starbucks announced that the juniper latte would be available nationwide this year, I had my reservations. Would it taste like a handful of pine needles blended up with some steamed milk? After trying it for myself, I can honestly say that Starbucks nailed the Christmas-flavored coffee drink this time.
In my opinion, cheesecake is better in miniature form. A dense, rich slice is more than I can handle after a meal — but a muffin cup-sized portion is just right. These mini cheesecakes are ridiculously creamy, and feature that buttery graham cracker crust everyone agrees on. They're equal parts celebratory and homey, which is really the best kind of dessert.
With Thanksgiving now just a memory, our holiday attention turns to the most wonderful time of the year: Christmas! And with that comes the joyous — but daunting — task of bringing the festive spirit of the holiday season into your home: decorating your house, buying (or unpacking) the tree, untangling that giant ball of scrambled Christmas lights, and perfecting that holiday playlist on Spotify. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.
So it comes as no surprise that the grocery equivalent to Santa's workshop, Trader Joe's, is here to help us out with at least one of those tasks: the decorating of your tree.
With temperatures dropping outside, our minds are more focused on warm soups and stews rather than salads these days. But I still love a feel-good dinner salad anytime of year. These 10 recipes celebrate the ingredients and flavors of the season — like roasted vegetables, dark leafy greens, and maple-sweetened vinaigrettes. Plus, they're satisfying enough to be called dinner but not so much so that they'll weigh you down, which is always a win in my book.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: Amazon has a bunch of home decor pieces that look expensive, but are ridiculously affordable. It's not that surprising, right? After all, you can buy just about everything (and we mean everything) at the mega-retailer — and usually for a low, fair price.
Of course, we're not the only ones who think Amazon is a decorating enthusiast's paradise. Truth is, plenty of interior designers can't get enough of Amazon's cheap thrills, either.
Don't believe us? Here, five designers share what they buy on Amazon for under $50. Psst … many of them are available for Prime shipping!
I didn't think chicken tikka masala could really get much better, but then I remembered my best gadget friend: the slow cooker. This is a curry dish that benefits from a nice, long simmer anyway, so why not let that happen while I'm off doing other things? That's what I call smart cooking.
Spooned over some steamed rice, this easy slow cooker tikka masala is about to make your busy days very happy indeed.
On The Great British Bake Off, the white tent where the contestants create their marvelous mouth-watering bakes is a place of comfort and joy, even when the pressure is on. Yes, The Great British Bake Off is technically a competition, but the white tent also represents the bond between the bakers and their love of baking.
This is why (and be warned, there are spoilers ahead) it might have come as a shock to some viewers, when, on the latest season of the show, the final three contestants, Rahul Mandal, Kim-Joy Hewlett, and Ruby Bhogal, actually left the tent to complete their final technical challenge. It was the first time in the show's eight-year history that the contestants have stepped outside of the tent to bake, but it turned out to be a worthwhile risk on the show's part.
At first glance, silicone baking mats don't seem all that hard to store, right? They're practically weightless, so you should be able to store them anywhere. The problem is that they're floppy and won't stand up on their own.
So what do you do? Roll them up! But now the problem is that they don't want to stay rolled, and that is a dilemma. Rubber bands don't slide on easily, and twist-ties are awkward. I've seen a fairly involved technique involving wrapping them up in a dish towel and tucking the ends under, but why would I want to add bulk inside any of my cabinets? And of course, you can buy a special gadget — which looks like a slap bracelet from the '90s — just for these purposes.
Fortunately, we've come up with a solution that's better than all of those ideas.
This may come as no surprise, but John Legend, who is good at literally everything, happens to also be really good at giving gifts! We caught up with Chrissy Teigen (at the Chase #OneLessThing Holiday Pop-Up Shop) and learned that the first gift he ever gave her was a cooking class at Sur la Table. Cue swooning.
Significant others, take notes!
If you're new to kohlrabi and not quite sure what to do with it, or you're seeking some new inspiration, look to a few other vegetables that you're already familiar with. Because of its crisp, firm texture and somewhat peppery, somewhat sweet taste, this brassica makes a good substitute for broccoli stems, cabbage, and more.
By the time we're done with Thanksgiving leftovers, we wake up and it's December: the season of cheese balls and bottomless cookie jars. Weekends are filled with rich cocktails and endless eggnogs. Forget season's greetings — it feels like all of December is season's eatings. And sometimes we just need a little bit of a break; something refreshing, resetting, and that makes us feel like we're steeled for the giant tub of caramel corn that just arrived in the office kitchen.
Here are a few of my favorite recipes to make me feel a bit better between bites of boozy truffles and roast beef.
When you hear the words "Dutch oven," do you automatically see dollar signs? With the two biggest names in the business — Le Creuset and Staub — costing upwards of $285 for even just a small, four-quart option, we totally get it. That's a lot of money to spend on a single piece of cookware!
While you may be tempted to skip it entirely and spend that money on, say, groceries, we do really insist on the fact that every kitchen needs a Dutch oven. And that's why we're writing this post. Because you don't HAVE to spend a small fortune on a Dutch oven. In fact, you can spend just $45 and get a legitimately good, reliable, workhorse of a Dutch oven.
Heidi Swanson — Queen of California Cool Cooking, Patron Saint of Vegetables — can truly do no wrong in my book. She has a magical knack for taking everyday ingredients and transforming them into beautiful, revelatory dishes. Her kitchen is always stocked with those seemingly simple but low-key-brilliant finishing touches that give her recipes their signature Heidi-ness, like saffron-garlic butter or a toasted nut and seed sprinkle with crushed coriander, almonds, sesame seeds, and oregano.
But my favorite 101 Cookbooks recipe of all time is not the artfully styled granola bowl or the vibrant rainbow cauliflower rice. My favorite dish leans a little more ... brown. It's not the most eye-catching or attractive recipe on the block, but it perfectly embodies Heidi's expert marriage of healthfulness, comfort, and that little something extra. Can you guess what it is?
Holiday shopping does not have to be stressful. Scratch that — stocking stuffer shopping does not have to be stressful! These low-stakes gifts can be funky, quirky, silly, and, best of all, cheap. They come in all shapes and sizes (see below for proof). The number-one rule of stocking stuffers is that there are NO rules. As long as whatever stuffer you choose fits in a giant sock that you hang on the mantel, you're good to go!
Here are our picks for the best, handmade, wallet-friendly stocking stuffers from a few of our favorite Etsy craftspeople.
It's several days after Thanksgiving, and I'm still very much in holiday eating mode. We ate leftovers for every meal on Friday, switched it up with tacos on Saturday, and ordered pizza on Sunday because we still didn't feel like cooking. The next few days for lunch will probably be more leftovers, because I can't see beyond the mountain of plastic-wrapped mashed potatoes and stuffing in the fridge to even try and dig for a fresh vegetable.
When I do break free and get back to some type of normalcy, I know exactly what I'll be eating to help me reset. This vegetarian cauliflower rice bowl is packed with all my favorite healthy foods, and it's the perfect meal to enjoy throughout December.
A funny thing happened the last time I was using my dishwasher: I noticed that there's a compartment for rinse aid. Of course, it's been there all along, but I've never paid it any mind. And I've definitely never used it before. So, I wondered: What exactly is rinse aid, and should I be using it? Could my dishes be getting cleaner? Could they be rinsing more completely?
To answer all my rinsing-related questions, I reached out to Brian Sansoni, vice president of communications and outreach at the American Cleaning Institute.
Here's what I found out.
Butternut squash mac and cheese isn't just a recipe for sneaking more vegetables into your diet. Adding butternut squash to your mac and cheese also gives it a gorgeous golden hue, makes for an extra-silky sauce, and adds a sweeter, earthier taste to the classic.
We think butternut squash mac and cheese should be your go-to seasonal comfort food, just as welcome on a Wednesday night as it is at your holiday table. Here is the easiest way to get from cubed squash to deluxe mac and cheese at home.
