How to Cut a Pomegranate

Learn how to cut a pomegranate like a pro! Plus, find delicious pomegranate recipes to showcase this vibrant, juicy, feel-good fruit.

Who else loves pomegranates?! As soon as these vibrant, ruby red fruits appear at the grocery store each fall, Jack and I start eating them like crazy. We can’t get enough of their sweet/tart flavor and their juicy, bursty texture. I sprinkle the seeds over desserts, salads, and even dips, while Jack eats them by the spoonful as a snack! But…how do you cut a pomegranate fruit, anyway? If you’re asking that question right now, you’re not alone. Learning how to cut a pomegranate can seem intimidating, and done the wrong way, it can be a huge mess. Not to…

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Cranberry Sauce

Try this homemade cranberry sauce recipe once, and you'll never get the canned kind again! Made with 4 basic ingredients, it's easy and delicious.

fall / side dishes

Confession: I made homemade cranberry sauce for the first time this fall. Crazy, right?! You would think that someone who’s as obsessed with seasonal produce as I am would have tried a cranberry sauce recipe years ago. Nope! My family has always served canned cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, and it’s never been my favorite part of the meal. In fact, I usually pass it up in favor of a second helping of stuffing and two slices of pumpkin pie. Can you blame me? But this fall, some fresh, locally-grown cranberries at our farmers market caught my eye, and I decided…

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Mashed Sweet Potatoes

No matter who you're serving, these mashed sweet potatoes are guaranteed to be a hit! They're smooth, creamy, and full of sweet and savory flavor.

fall / side dishes

If these mashed sweet potatoes aren’t a perfect holiday side dish, I don’t know what is! They’re creamy, flavorful, and blissfully easy to make. They call for just 8 ingredients (yes, including salt and pepper), and you can even make them in advance. They’re totally gluten-free, and they can be made vegan, too. No matter who you’re serving, these mashed sweet potatoes are guaranteed to be a hit. I got the idea to make them after developing last year’s sweet potato casserole recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love its nutty crumble topping, but I was especially smitten with the…

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Best Stuffing

The BEST Thanksgiving stuffing! Based on my family's classic recipe, it's rich and savory, made with fresh herbs, celery, butter, and leeks.

fall / side dishes

If I told you that a no-frills, classic stuffing recipe was my favorite part of Thanksgiving, would you believe me? Well, it’s true! As a kid, I fell in love with my grandma’s stuffing recipe. Made with onion, celery, and dried herbs, it was simple and delicious. It had a crisp, golden layer of bread on top, with a moist and gooey center underneath. Rich, savory flavor filled every bite. My mom still makes this homemade stuffing recipe for my family’s Thanksgiving every year. Because I love it so much, I wanted to develop my own spin to share with…

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What are Leeks? (And How to Cook Them)

Leeks add sweet, oniony flavor to soups, stews, pastas, and more! Read on to learn how to cut and cook them, and find some of my favorite leek recipes.

cooking basics

Ever heard of potato leek soup? I thought so! But how often do you cook leeks in other recipes? Have you tried them in pasta, stuffing, or risotto? Have you eaten them on their own? If I had my way, we’d all be eating leeks way more often. They’re incredibly versatile, adding unique, sweet, and mild onion flavor to a huge range of dishes. To spread the leek love, I’m sharing my go-to methods for how to cut, clean, and cook leeks below, as well as my favorite leek recipes. If you have a leek in your fridge right now,…

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Mushroom Gravy

This mushroom gravy recipe will take your mashed potatoes to a whole new level! It's vegan, but even meat lovers will fall for its rich, savory flavor.

fall / cooking basics

I’ve had a mushroom gravy recipe on my list to make for years. After trying this one, all I can think is, “What took me so long?!” This mushroom gravy is rich, velvety, and packed with savory flavor. It’s totally vegan, but it’ll give any gravy made with meat or butter a run for its money. Every time I make it, I always eat a few spoonfuls straight from the pan. It’s that good! Pour it over mashed potatoes once, and you’ll never want to eat them any other way. Vegan Mushroom Gravy Recipe Ingredients This mushroom gravy recipe comes…

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Garlic Mashed Cauliflower

This creamy mashed cauliflower recipe is an easy, healthy, and delicious side dish! Roasted garlic and a little butter fill it with rich, nutty flavor.

fall / side dishes

When I asked Jack to sample this mashed cauliflower recipe, I told him it was mashed potatoes. Call me cruel, but I wanted his honest opinion. He loves mashed potatoes more than anyone I know! He wasn’t completely fooled (“I was standing next to you when you bought the cauliflower…”), but he did happily enjoy bite after bite. Since then, he’s devoured several bowls of this mashed cauliflower and accidentally called it “mashed potatoes” more than once. I’ll take it! In the past, I’ve made cauliflower mashed potatoes with a mix of potatoes and cauliflower. But this year, I decided…

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Roasted Garlic

Making mashed potatoes, a sauce, or soup? Roasted garlic will infuse it with rich, nutty flavor. Find my easy method for how to roast garlic below!

cooking basics

Have you ever roasted garlic in the oven? As it cooks, your kitchen fills with an amazing savory scent. It’s the kind of mouthwatering aroma that’s guaranteed to make you hungry, even if you’ve just finished lunch. If you ask me, this smell alone is enough reason to learn how to roast garlic at home. But of course, the main reason to make roasted garlic is the taste. Unlike raw garlic, roasted garlic doesn’t have any sort of bite. Its flavor is sweet, mellow, nutty, and rich. It also softens as it roasts, becoming tender, creamy, and spreadable. Blend it…

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Love & Lemons Cooking Club – November!

We LOVED seeing your October Cooking Club submissions! Below, you'll find our complete recap, as well as details on November's recipe.

Happy November! First, a HUGE thank you to everyone who sent in a photo for our October Cooking Club. Your kind messages, fun stories, and cute pictures really made my month. I heard from readers who shared our Butternut Squash Soup with their families or made it with their kids. Some of you even grew your own squash! (If you have any gardening tips, please send them my way…) In sum, it was a joy to see how all of you were celebrating fall. Our winner this month was Ashley Galante, but as promised, you’ll find all your photos in…

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Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta

This butternut squash pasta is healthy, comforting, and delicious! Roasted squash, sage, and thyme fill the creamy sauce with cozy autumn flavor.

fall / dinner

The first time I made this butternut squash pasta sauce, Jack couldn’t stop talking about it for days. “That sauce!”, he kept saying. “That sauce!” Of course, I teased him for it, but if I’m being totally honest, I was completely smitten with it too. Looking at this butternut squash pasta, you might expect it to taste like mac and cheese. But don’t be fooled. The creamy sauce is rich and nutty, with bold autumn flavor from herbs like sage and thyme. Because it’s so flavorful and complex, this butternut squash pasta would make a show-stopping vegetarian main dish at a special…

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Sautéed Broccoli

Learn how to sauté broccoli like a pro! This easy sautéed broccoli recipe is a light, healthy side dish or delicious addition to pastas, bowls, and more.

side dishes

I’ll say it: I don’t cook sautéed broccoli often enough. I don’t know why, but whenever I have broccoli on hand, my first impulse is to roast it. But a few weeks back, I was making this butternut squash pasta for dinner, and I needed a quick and easy side dish to pair with it. I chopped up a bunch of broccoli and cooked it on the stove with lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic. The broccoli florets came out vibrant green and tender, while the stalks kept a nice al dente bite. It was so simple, flavorful, and refreshing…

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Hello, we're Jeanine and Jack.