Dinner Recipes

There used to be a tiny farm-to-table spot tucked behind a gas station in rural Vermont called The Sugar Shack that made a cranberry sauce … Read more

I swore I hated beef stew. For years, I did. The version I grew up with was a sad, grayish affair—mushy carrots floating in a … Read more

My brother-in-law Mark asked why I couldn’t just use store-bought puff pastry for my chicken pot pie. I was mid-lecture about homemade laminations and butter … Read more

Last November, I was at my local farmers’ market, trying to decide between two identical-looking butternut squashes. An older woman next to me watched me … Read more

My neighbor, a retired librarian named Carol, wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a cup of brown sugar—I was in the … Read more

I wasn’t expecting cooking advice from my accountant, but there I was, hunched over a stack of receipts in his cluttered office, listening to him … Read more

It was 11:47 PM on a drizzly Tuesday in mid-October, and I had an ache for fall that wouldn’t quit. Not the kind you scratch … Read more

This was supposed to be butternut squash soup. I had the big, heavy squash on the counter, the sharpest knife I own was freshly honed, … Read more

I swore I hated stuffing. For years. Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving, I’d scoop a polite spoonful onto my plate, push it around, and leave most of … Read more

My friend Rachel asked me why I couldn’t just roast the squash whole and scoop it out later. I started to explain why that wouldn’t … Read more