Stuffed Acorn Squash

I love making stuffed acorn squash in the fall. With a hearty wild rice filling, it's cozy, fresh, and festive. Perfect for Thanksgiving or any fall dinner!

Stuffed acorn squash is one of my favorite fall dinners. I often make it after trips to the farmers market, when I come home with more squash than I know what to do with. It’s also my go-to vegetarian main course for Thanksgiving. Loaded with a fresh fall filling, the tender, golden squash halves look so pretty at the center of a holiday table. I’ve made countless stuffed acorn squash recipes over the years, but when I tried this version, I knew it would be one that I’d make on repeat. The hearty filling consists of nutty wild rice, crisp…

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Pumpkin Tiramisu

This pumpkin tiramisu is a stunning fall dessert! With layers of pumpkin cream and chai-spiced ladyfingers, it would be perfect for Thanksgiving.

This pumpkin tiramisu recipe is a show-stopping fall dessert! No offense to pumpkin pie, but it might just steal the spotlight on your Thanksgiving dessert table. It features luxe layers of pumpkin cream, chai-soaked ladyfingers, and a gorgeous dusting of warm spices. Rich, creamy, and packed with fall flavors, it’s impressive and delicious. It’s been on my list to develop for months, ever since I made this strawberry tiramisu over the summer. I thought a pumpkin version would be so fun for fall. It took me a few more tests than I expected (four, to be exact), but I can confidently…

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Creamed Spinach

This creamed spinach recipe features tender spinach in a rich, creamy sauce. It's one of my family's favorite side dishes for holiday meals!

This creamed spinach recipe is the most luxurious way to eat your greens. Inspired by Jack’s mom’s famous creamed spinach (a staple at Thanksgiving, Easter, and other family gatherings), it’s ultra-creamy, rich, and cheesy. If you ask me, it’s just as good as any steakhouse creamed spinach…if not better. While many creamed spinach recipes call for frozen spinach, this one uses fresh. I love the silky texture of the whole, just-wilted leaves in the cream sauce. I think it makes this classic side dish feel a bit brighter and fresher. Make it for a holiday or a simple weeknight dinner.…

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Popovers Recipe

Made with a simple 5-ingredient batter, these popovers are light, airy, buttery, and delicious! Enjoy them plain or top them butter, honey, or jam.

I love pulling a pan of popovers out of the oven. In that moment, they’re beautifully puffed, almost lifting out of the pan. They have crisp, golden brown exteriors, and they smell like melted butter. Freshly baked popovers are pure delight. I’m sharing my favorite popover recipe below. It’s super simple (just 5 ingredients!) and SO delicious. The popovers’ crisp, golden outsides give way to airy, custardy interiors. I’m happy eating them plain, but they’re also wonderful with butter, honey, or jam. What are popovers? Popovers are light, custardy rolls. They’re made with a simple batter of eggs, milk, flour, melted butter,…

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Caesar Salad

This classic Caesar salad recipe features crisp romaine, crunchy croutons, and Parmesan cheese. A creamy, tangy homemade dressing ties it together.

This Caesar salad recipe is classic and delicious. It features a base of crisp romaine lettuce topped with crunchy croutons and plenty of shaved Parmesan cheese. A creamy, tangy homemade Caesar dressing ties it all together. I’ve shared Caesar salad recipes with extra add-ins and other twists in the past (looking at you, kale Caesar), but this classic Caesar salad is the one I make most often. I love it because the ingredients are SO simple and the creamy dressing is easy to stir together (no raw egg yolk here!). It’s the perfect side salad for dinner parties or holiday gatherings. Even…

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Homemade Caesar Dressing

This homemade Caesar dressing recipe beats any store-bought salad dressing I've tried. With a mayo base, it's creamy, tangy, and easy to make.

A great Caesar dressing is the secret to a great Caesar salad! This Caesar dressing recipe is my favorite. I love it because it’s easy and delicious. Unlike a traditional Caesar dressing, which is made with an emulsion of raw egg yolk and oil, this one has a mayo base. It’s super simple to stir together (and it doesn’t contain raw eggs!). Still, it’s rich, creamy, and packed with tangy, savory, umami flavor. Try it on your next Caesar salad, and you’ll never get a store-bought Caesar dressing again! Trust me, this homemade version is so much better. Caesar Salad Dressing…

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Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Got leftover mashed potatoes? Make these mashed potato pancakes to use them up! Crispy on the outside and fluffy inside, they're easy and delicious.

These mashed potato pancakes are the BEST way to use up leftover mashed potatoes! I don’t know about you, but I’m happy eating leftover mashed potatoes for exactly one day after a holiday meal. Beyond that, I have to transform them into something new if I have any hope of polishing them off. That’s why I started making these mashed potato pancakes. The recipe takes smooth, creamy mashed potatoes and turns them into delicious, golden little cakes. They’re crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle, and packed with savory, oniony flavor. Make a batch, and your holiday leftovers will be…

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Acorn Squash with Chickpeas & Chimichurri

Warmly spiced chickpeas, tangy chimichurri, and roasted acorn squash fill this recipe with an unexpected—but delicious—combination of flavors.

Every year in November, I like to share at least one vegetarian main dish recipe. I find that Thanksgiving hosts often like to have a special option for vegetarians at their table, especially if they’re newer to the family. But what people don’t know is that, for the most part, herbivores are usually happy filling up on sides like stuffing, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies. I certainly am! So this year, I’m bringing back a “main dish” that can double as a side dish: acorn squash with chickpeas and chimichurri. I stuff roasted acorn squash quarters with warmly spiced chickpeas…

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Sweet Potato Casserole

Without question, this is the best sweet potato casserole recipe I've tried! Smooth and creamy sweet potatoes are topped with a savory pecan crumble.

This sweet potato casserole recipe is one of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes. Instead of topping it with mini marshmallows, I cover it in a crisp pecan crumble. I love how this nutty, savory topping balances the creamy sweet potato filling. It’s delicious…and it tastes like it belongs at dinner, not dessert. 🙂 This recipe is great for the holidays because the ingredients are super simple (ALDI shoppers, you can get all of them there!) and you can make it ahead. Prepare the filling and topping up to 2 days in advance, and store them separately in the fridge until the…

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25 Best Thanksgiving Appetizers

Kick off your holiday feast with these easy Thanksgiving appetizers! They include fun, festive ideas like stuffed mushrooms, baked brie, and more.

If I’ve learned one thing from hosting Thanksgiving over the years, it’s this: Thanksgiving appetizers are essential. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve served a holiday meal 30 minutes or an hour (or two) later than planned because my roasted beets were still rock-hard or the water for my mashed potatoes took longer than expected to boil. In those moments, Thanksgiving appetizers save the big day. They tide over hungry guests until it’s time to sit down to dinner, keeping everyone’s spirits up and the atmosphere light. I’m sharing my 25 best Thanksgiving appetizer ideas below. They include a simple cheese…

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Mashed Sweet Potatoes

These mashed sweet potatoes are a delicious sweet and savory side dish! Perfect for the holidays, they're easy to make with 7 simple ingredients.

If mashed sweet potatoes have never made an appearance on your dinner table, now’s the time to change that. They’re just too delicious to not have in your side dish rotation, especially in the fall. These mashed sweet potatoes have a beautifully creamy texture, and I season them with salt, pepper, and a little maple syrup to create a rich flavor that’s part savory, part sweet. But maybe best of all, this mashed sweet potato recipe is SO easy to make! It calls for 7 ingredients, and the stove takes care of most of the work for you. It’s a…

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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.