Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This 30-minute broccoli cheddar soup recipe is the ULTIMATE comfort food! It's rich, creamy, super cheesy, and loaded with tender veggies.

Broccoli cheddar soup is one of Jack’s favorite foods. Ask him about the version at Panera Bread, and he’ll go on and on about its creamy texture and rich, tangy, cheesy flavor. He never expected me to develop a broccoli cheddar soup recipe at home (unless you count this vegan twist), but with the holidays right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to surprise him with one. So, on a gray, chilly day last weekend, when we were both craving comfort food, I finally made him this broccoli cheddar soup recipe. As we sat down with our…

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Peanut Butter Blossoms

Chocolate and peanut butter lovers, these peanut butter blossoms are for you! Perfect for the holidays, they're festive, delicious, and easy to make.

Who else loves peanut butter blossoms?! These classic Christmas cookies have a peanut butter cookie base with a chocolate Hershey’s Kiss on top. I love how the rich chocolate melds into the soft, nutty, sugar-crusted cookies. I mean, nothing bad ever happens when peanut butter and chocolate team up. I’m sharing my go-to peanut butter blossoms recipe below. Easy and delicious, it’s one of my family’s favorite holiday treats. Peanut Butter Blossoms Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need to make this peanut butter blossoms recipe: Peanut butter, of course! I use natural creamy peanut butter to make this recipe. Make sure that…

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Snickerdoodle Cookies

The BEST snickerdoodle recipe! These classic cookies are soft, chewy, and filled with sweet cinnamon flavor. Easy to make in 30 minutes!

Meet my favorite snickerdoodle recipe! These classic snickerdoodle cookies are soft and chewy in the middle and crisp around the edges. They’re buttery, sweet, and warmly spiced with cinnamon, and they have a delicious tangy flavor. Taste aside, I love this snickerdoodle recipe because it’s so simple to make. You can mix up the dough, bake the cookies, and have them ready to eat in under 30 minutes! It’s a great recipe to make for the holidays, but we also enjoy it year-round. I brought these cookies to a block party last summer, and they disappeared immediately! Snickerdoodle Ingredients Here’s…

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Sautéed Green Beans

This sautéed green beans recipe is a delicious, quick, and easy veggie side dish! Lemon juice, garlic, and fresh thyme fill it with bright, zingy flavor.

If you need a last-minute side dish for the holiday, this sautéed green beans recipe would be perfect. It calls for under 10 ingredients and cooks in under 10 minutes (bonus: no oven required!), so you can whip it up right before you eat. But don’t let its simplicity fool you. This sautéed green beans recipe might be easy to make, but it’s still bursting with flavor. I sauté fresh green beans until they’re crisp-tender and vibrant green. Then, I toss them with a zingy lemon-Dijon dressing. It gives the beans a bright, garlicky bite, making them so delicious that…

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Wild Rice Pilaf

This wild rice pilaf is flecked with shaved Brussels sprouts, herbs, and roasted vegetables. It's a fresh, festive side dish for the holidays or any meal.

This wild rice pilaf is a simple combination of some of my favorite fall ingredients. It starts with chewy, nutty wild rice. Then, I add caramelized roasted sweet potatoes and umami shallots. I toss in some shaved Brussels sprouts, which wilt against the heat of the freshly cooked rice and roasted veggies, and I finish it with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, and lots of thyme and parsley. I love eating this wild rice pilaf for lunch in the fall, the wild rice and roasted sweet potatoes making it hearty enough to be a satisfying meal on its own. But this…

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How to Cook Wild Rice

Learn how to cook wild rice on the stovetop! With its chewy texture and nutty flavor, this whole grain is delicious in salads, side dishes, and more.

Wild rice is one of my favorite whole grains to cook in the fall. Its chewy texture and nutty flavor make it a perfect partner for seasonal produce like sweet roasted squash and earthy root veggies. Because I’ve found myself preparing it a lot lately, I thought I’d take today’s post to give you some background on it. I’m also sharing a foolproof stovetop cooking method and some of my favorite wild rice recipes. What is wild rice? You might think, given its name, that this whole grain is a relative of the white or brown rice you’d find alongside…

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Roasted Root Vegetables

This roasted root vegetables recipe is so delicious that you'll want seconds! Fresh herbs and a fragrant sage oil pack the veggies with rich, earthy flavor.

This oven roasted root vegetables recipe elevates humble carrots, parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes, and beets into a holiday-worthy side dish. I know these unassuming vegetables might not be the first ones you reach for at the farmers market or grocery store, but there are so many reasons to cook them. They’re nutritious and affordable. They’re colorful, and–best of all–they’re delicious. In this roasted root vegetables recipe, I chop them into big chunks and toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and lots of fresh herbs. Then, I roast them until they’re tender and caramelized. When they come out of the…

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Apple Pie Recipe

In this easy apple pie recipe, tender, cinnamon-spiced apples fill a flaky, buttery crust. Top it with vanilla ice cream for a mouthwatering fall dessert!

This apple pie recipe is hands down my favorite. It has a flaky all-butter crust and a flavorful filling of juicy, tender, cinnamon-spiced apples. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, it’s the ultimate dessert for Thanksgiving…or any occasion, really. I can never resist a second slice! I’ve been making this homemade apple pie recipe for my family for years, and I first shared it on the blog back in 2022. Since then, many readers have tried it and loved it. Ryne wrote, “Turned out amazing! One of the best I’ve had,” and Sue said, “Any time I need an…

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Apple Pie Filling

Learn how to make apple pie filling from scratch! Sweet, tart, juicy, and warmly spiced, it's delicious in pies and on ice cream, pancakes, and more.

Once I started making this apple pie filling recipe, I knew I’d never fill an apple pie any other way. The apples come out with the perfect texture–tender, but not mushy–and they’re dripping with syrupy, cinnamon-spiced juices. If you’re making an apple pie this fall, I can’t recommend this filling highly enough. But even if you’re not making a pie, I still hope you’ll try this recipe. This homemade apple pie filling doesn’t need to hide inside a flaky, buttery crust to be a delicious treat. The soft, sweet-tart apples are fantastic on ice cream or yogurt, stirred into oatmeal, or…

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Easy Pie Crust

Learn how to make pie crust with this easy pie dough recipe! It yields a flaky, buttery crust that's perfect for using in your favorite homemade pies.

Meet my best pie crust recipe! I tested and tweaked this recipe to perfection a few years ago, and now, it’s the only one I use. I love it because the crust comes out tender and flaky every time. Made with 100% butter, it also has a delicious buttery flavor. This pie crust recipe is easy to make. Adapted from J. Kenji López-Alt, it comes together in the food processor with 5 basic ingredients. Below, I’m sharing the complete recipe, plus step-by-step photos and tips. Even if you’re new to making pie crust, you can master this recipe. I hope you…

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Balsamic Brussels Sprouts

These roasted balsamic Brussels sprouts have a delicious crispy texture and sweet, tangy flavor. You'll want to eat them straight off the baking sheet!

A balsamic Brussels sprouts recipe was one of our first-ever posts on Love & Lemons (10+ years ago now!), so I’ll always have a soft spot for this classic side dish. I wanted to share a new, updated version of it this fall because it’s such a good one to have in your back pocket during the holiday season. Balsamic Brussels sprouts are no harder to make than regular roasted Brussels sprouts, but the addition of the vinegar and a little honey really gives them restaurant-quality flavor. They’re sweet, tangy, caramelized, and crisp around the edges. I love to toss…

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A food blog with fresh, zesty recipes.
Photograph of Jeanine Donofrio and Jack Mathews in their kitchen

Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.

We love to eat, travel, cook, and eat some more! We create & photograph vegetarian recipes from our home in Chicago, while our shiba pups eat the kale stems that fall on the kitchen floor.