Mulled Wine

This mulled wine recipe is perfect for the holidays! Simmered with citrus, apple cider, and warming spices, it's cozy, festive, and delicious.

Jack and I love to make this mulled wine recipe during the holiday season. Packed with notes of citrus, apple, and aromatic spices, it’s cozy, flavorful, and festive. Sipping a steaming mug of it is the best way to warm up on a cold winter night. This mulled wine is the perfect drink for holiday parties. For one, the recipe is easy to scale up or down depending on the size of your group. It also makes your kitchen smell amazing. The heady, spiced aroma on its own is reason enough to try it! Mulled Wine Ingredients Here’s what you’ll need…

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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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Creamy Mushroom Soup

This mushroom soup recipe is creamy, comforting, and bursting with savory mushroom flavor. Make it with or without cream—it's delicious either way!

This mushroom soup recipe has become one of Jack’s favorite comfort foods. He loves anything and everything with fresh mushrooms, and this creamy, savory soup is positively packed with them. One and a half pounds of mushrooms cook down with onion, garlic, and tamari to create the soup’s umami base. Fresh thyme brings out the mushrooms’ earthy flavor, and white wine adds a nice tang to brighten it all up. I puree part of this mushroom soup, so it’s creamy with or without heavy cream. Jack likes the rich flavor of the cream version—it tastes like a classic cream of mushroom…

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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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Best Sugar Cookies Recipe

These easy sugar cookies have crisp edges and soft middles. Cut out into shapes and decorated with icing, they're a delicious treat for any occasion.

Meet my best sugar cookie recipe! It’s an updated version of one I shared a few years ago, with streamlined steps, simple ingredients, and absolutely delicious results. These cut out sugar cookies have crisp edges, soft middles, and a warm, buttery flavor. Decorated with icing, candies, and/or sprinkles, they’re a festive treat for Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or any occasion. Heads up that this recipe requires chilling the dough, so plan to mix it up at least 2 hours before you roll out and bake the cookies. If you’d like to space out the steps of this recipe even more, you can…

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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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Waldorf Salad

This Waldorf salad recipe is simple, refreshing, and delicious! A tangy, creamy dressing coats crisp apples, celery, walnuts, and grapes.

When was the last time you made a Waldorf salad? Up until recently, this classic fruit and nut salad wasn’t in my rotation, but this fall, I started making it on repeat. A friend of a friend brought a Waldorf salad to a dinner party I attended, and I couldn’t resist going back for seconds…and then thirds. The combination of crisp apples, juicy grapes, crunchy celery, and walnuts was sweet, savory, and surprisingly refreshing. Halfway through my last helping, I was already looking forward to making my own version at home. This Waldorf salad recipe is simple and delicious. It stays…

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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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50 Thanksgiving Side Dishes

Whether you're seeking classic Thanksgiving recipes or something totally new, you're sure to love one (or more!) of these 50 Thanksgiving side dishes.

Can we agree that Thanksgiving side dishes are the best part of the holiday meal? No offense to roast turkey and pumpkin pie, but the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and other sides are what I look forward to most. I’m sharing 50 of my favorite Thanksgiving side dishes below. They include all the classics (think green bean casserole and dinner rolls) as well as inventive veggie sides, crowd-pleasing potatoes, and more. If you’re still planning you holiday menu, check them out! You’re sure to find some recipes you love. Our Best Classic Thanksgiving Sides Best Stuffing Based on my mom’s classic recipe,…

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Twice Baked Potatoes

Learn how to make twice baked potatoes! They have crispy skins and a rich, creamy mashed potato filling. Melty cheddar cheese takes them over the top.

Twice baked potatoes are a potato lover’s dream. They combine all the best parts of a baked potato and mashed potatoes into one delicious side dish. These twice baked potatoes have crispy skins and a rich and creamy filling. With a layer of melty cheddar cheese on top, they’re the definition of comfort food. Twice baked potatoes are just that—baked twice. First, you’ll bake the potatoes whole. Then, you’ll slice them in half, scoop out the soft flesh, and mash it to create the rich filling. Add the filling back to the potato skins, top with cheese, and bake again.…

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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.