Honey Oat Quick Bread

Several weeks ago, I promised you this quick bread recipe, and now seems like the perfect time to share it. The hubbub of Halloween is over, and the thralls of Thanksgiving have yet to begin. My mind is turning from sugary treats to wholesome, tasty food that takes little effort. And speaking in terms of effort, I view this recipe as the cozy pajamas of the bread world: it’s very easy and very forgiving.

Lentil Stew with Sausage

(For stove or Instant Pot!) There are very few foods that I find as simultaneously delicious, wholesome, and satisfying as beans and lentils. When my husband and I were dating, he was starting to cook for himself more, but he expressed frustration at the difficulty of finding good recipes. My mind quickly jumped to this lentil stew, which I have been making and enjoying for years, so I shared the recipe with him. When he later told me that it was his new favorite food, I knew we had a shining future of culinary compatibility ahead of us.

Malaysian-Style Tandoori Chicken

My travel ambitions have always been largely based on where I would most like to eat. So of course, stereotypical gastronomic destinations such as Italy and Paris have topped my list for many years. Recently, another country has been racing its way up that list, due in part to the fact that I am married to someone who frequently raves about both Malaysian cuisine and culture (having spent more than two years there) and also in part to a wonderful Malaysian cookbook I found that I cannot get enough of (and which you will certainly be seeing more of).

Chocolate Cheesecake Frosting & Graham Cracker Cupcakes

After performing the requisite field research, I have aptly concluded that I am a cupcake noob.
Case Study #1: Your standard cupcake tin contains twelve cups, but I had enough batter for thirteen cupcakes. “Wonderful!” I thought to myself, “I’ll just put the extra batter in a doubled cupcake paper and let it bake on the rack next to the others.” Fast-forward ten minutes: I peek in the oven, and the unfortunate thirteenth cupcake has shimmied its way between the wires of the rack to fall directly onto the heating element below. Smoke is beginning to issue from the oven, and I grab a pair of tongs to attempt a rescue mission, all the while hoping our smoke alarm doesn’t go off and having Neal A. Maxwell’s words of “too many anxious openings of the oven door, and the cake falls instead of rising” cycle vaguely through my mind in reference to all of the other cupcakes.

Creamy Carrot Soup

Other than perhaps my family’s chocolate chip cookies, this is the recipe that I have made the very most in my life. This is one of my favorite soups. And yet, I have struggled to find the words to present it to you properly. This soup is kind of like a favorite T-shirt – a little old-fashioned, maybe, but super comforting and reliable. It’s the soup I go to the most, and unlike my favorite T-shirt, it will never wear out.

Pulla Bread

I have never been to Finland, but my hope is that each morning, every schoolchild is wrapped in handmade woolen clothing and sent with a steaming loaf of pulla before returning home to relax in the sauna all afternoon. If you know otherwise, please don’t spoil my dream.