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What’s not to love about a tender squash, creamy cheese, fresh sage, and red peppers? What Is Spaghetti Squash? Just to be clear, spaghetti squash is a vegetable! It looks a bit like a large, yellow melon, but when you cut it open, pale yellow spaghetti-like strands lurk under the seeds. You could say spaghetti squash is kind of cool. But let’s be perfectly honest. It’s also a bit on the bland side, in the way zucchini is bland, but with a totally different texture....

Good news, though! I’m an adult now and I can make my own cherry pies—ones that have a better balance of sweet and tart flavors. Use Puff Pastry for Easy Hand Pies While you could use a homemade pie crust, I like to take a shortcut and use frozen puff pastry for my hand pies. It’s easy to roll and shape, sturdy enough to hold the filling (so it doesn’t explode everywhere during baking!...

The key ingredients to this ubiquitous Italian soup are beans, pasta, and tomatoes. Beyond that, you can add whatever vegetables are in season, leftover chicken from another meal, or any number of things. What’s fresh and in season? What do you have in your crisper drawer or pantry already? Take this recipe and make it your own! No bean in my cupboard escapes candidacy for the soup (except maybe black beans)....

To me, the ideal chocolate cupcake is moist with a deep chocolate flavor. The recipe also should produce exactly one dozen cupcakes in a standard muffin tin, no more and no less. The Secret to Moist, Rich Cupcakes I worked hard, trying a half dozen different versions. My original recipe called for sour cream in the batter, which produced a rich and slightly denser cupcake. But one day, I tried substituting buttermilk and it has now become my go-to....

Make chocolate pudding, of course! Pudding ingredients are basic and usually on-hand, and Aldie and I shared a wickedly good afternoon making this batch, based on a recipe from The Gourmet Cookbook. Alden loves to help in the kitchen, not only with the cooking but with the cleaning up of the pots and pans as well. An Easy Chocolate Pudding Recipe This homemade chocolate pudding is easy to quickly put together....

In my case, tres leches is a celebration cake we had on birthdays and for Christmas, and the cake I bake when I want to showcase my Colombian heritage. It’s the ultimate comfort food. Chocolate All Throughout A chocolate tres leches cake is a chocolate sponge cake moistened with three kinds of milk after it is baked. The cake doesn’t get soggy—it softens and becomes incredibly moist. This milk mixture is flavored with cocoa powder and ground cinnamon, reminiscent of hot chocolate....

Two favorite food groups, merged together. I used to love these sandwiches as a kid, and was inspired by a Karen Tedesco recipe in Better Homes and Gardens to make this slightly more fancy version with tarragon. Do you like tuna melts? If so, how do you like yours? Please let us know in the comments. Video: How to Make Tuna Melts Likewise, if you can only find tuna canned in water, drain the liquid from the tuna and add a tablespoon or so of extra virgin olive oil....

I first encountered colcannon potatoes while doing research on traditional Irish cooking. Not surprisingly the Irish have all sorts of ways of cooking potatoes, with festive names like champ, bruisy, pandy, boxty, and this one, colcannon. Irish Mashed Potatoes In the following colcannon recipe, we mix the mashed potatoes in with chopped cooked kale, green onions, milk or cream, and lots of butter. To serve, make a depression in the middle of the mashed potatoes and put a knob of butter in it....

There is one green beverage, however, that’s longed for by a cult of followers: the Shamrock Shake. Tall, minty, frosty, creamy goodness and only available for about a month at McDonald’s. But why limit this indulgence? With just a handful of quality ingredients, you can make your own Copycat Shamrock Shake at home any day of the year. What is a Shamrock Shake? Since the 1970’s, McDonald’s has offered this limited time shake with its recognizable green hue as a specialty treat to celebrate St....

For this version, I wanted something quick and simple. I also wanted it to look similar in color to the box of Kraft Mac and Cheese my children have grown to idolize. They are a little older now, so I’m ready to migrate to a more grownup version! Video: How to Make Baked Mac and Cheese What Is the Best Pasta for Mac and Cheese? You want something that is sturdy and will hold the sauce within the pasta....

What Is a Dark and Stormy? It consists of rum and ginger beer, and maybe, just maybe, a splash of lime. But it can’t be just any old rum. Dark rum is a necessity, and if you want to make the drink true and proper, it must be Gosling’s black rum. How To Drink a Dark and Stormy The rum is often served floating on top, mimicking a stormy sky. The first thing any seasoned Dark and Stormy drinker will do, however, is stir it up....

Summer meant pick-up games of “pickle” on the quiet street in front of our house, stealing bases, and hoping the kid with the ball would overshoot. It seemed almost every day the ice cream truck came by, our highly trained ears could pick up the tune blocks away. If there was a pool, we played “MARCO POLO” (caps for emphasis, we were loud) for hours and hours. How did our parents put up with us?...

The Martini is famously that drink. Adjusting the vermouth up or down changes it from “wet” to “bone dry;” trade out the garnish to cocktail onions and you suddenly have a “Gibson.” Or dash in some orange bitters, and your glass will more closely resemble how the drink was served at the turn of the 20th century. And, when it’s lightly laced with olive brine—or heavily doused, depending on your preference—it becomes a Dirty Martini....

An Inexpensive Crowd Pleaser As I started to make it more and more I began to notice that friends started to drop by for dinner with increasing frequency. This was fine as all I had to do was add a bit more chicken stock and soy sauce and toss in another beaten egg. I could feed my guests cheaply and enjoy their company. Just Like Restaurant Egg Drop Soup! For years I ate what I thought had been faux egg drop soup cobbled together by a hungry student, however, it was only recently I discovered that my recipe was actually quite accurate....

When I was learning to cook in college, a Thai friend’s mother told me that there are two particular tricks you need to be aware of to craft a truly outstanding curry. Two Important Tips for the Best Thai Green Curry The first is that if you’re using eggplant, you have to blister and sear it in order to enhance its unique taste. The second is that you have to lightly fry your curry paste in order to reveal its true potential....

The idea of hosting a pie potluck came after spending a few Thanksgivings with my second family—my best friend’s parents. Every year, they host up to 50 people for a potluck dinner, and at the end, we gather around an enormous, groaning table full of pies made by the guests. It’s a brilliant way to end the meal—it extends the celebration and gives people a reason to linger. It also gives guests the opportunity to contribute to the meal and lets us enjoy as many pies as we can stomach....

Now I love a good beer batter, and some fish are best with that simple dredge of flour. But not catfish. Catfish need breading. Cornmeal breading. There’s something about a cornmeal crust that really sings with catfish. Maybe it’s the combination of a truly American fish with a truly American grain. Tips for the Best Fried Catfish This is a simple dish, but there are a few keys to good fried catfish: Hot oil, and the right breading....

Ginger peach rum punch is a refreshing porch sipper. Ripe peaches are muddled with rum, fresh lime juice, and simply syrup. Bring it over to a BBQ or to your neighbor’s for a hang on the stoop. When you’re ready to serve, top it with spicy ginger beer and add ice for a juicy summer cocktail! The Best Rum for this Peachy Punch Peaches play well with a variety of liquors, but for this recipe rum is my booze of choice....