As much as I love apples for their straightforward, tart-sweet flavors and crisp, snappy texture, they are no match for pears.

Pears are lush, fragrant and elegant. Take the tree-ripened local variety, Luscious. With their rough, tawny skin, they may not look like much, but they live up to the name. A cold, hardy variety, Luscious pears are ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Crust Fund Pizza is not a pizzeria.

“It’s like a pizzeria, but it’s kind of mythical, and mostly exists in my head, except for when it exists in an alley a couple nights a month,” said John Carruthers, who calls himself proprietor, “because it sounds funny and old-timey.”

Carruthers is the founder and serious amateur ...Read more

ST. LOUIS -- A colleague is holding a small dinner party for our department to honor one of our number who is retiring.

We are sorry to be losing our irreplaceable co-worker and friend, of course, but we are also excited by the prospect of the party. The hostess is known to be an excellent cook, and I have it on good authority that dessert will...Read more

An order of McDonald’s McNuggets will only cost you $1, but not for long.

Once per week, customers can get a 10-piece chicken McNuggets for $1 now through Dec. 2, when they order on the mobile app, the fast-food giant said in a news release.

A menu favorite, the nuggets are made with white meat chicken and “no artificial colors, flavors, ...Read more

This cozy dessert features all the flavors you know and love in a pumpkin pie, but without the hassle of rolling a crust. The creamy pumpkin filling is complemented by the warm spices in the pumpkin pie spice blend and maple syrup. Oats and pecans add a lovely crunch to the topping. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin ...Read more

A great alternative to rice, wild rice has more protein than most other whole grains and is a good source of nutrients like fiber, B vitamins, and magnesium.

The folklore

Wild rice looks like rice and is eaten like rice, but this crunchy, chewy whole grain is actually an aquatic grass that grows wild in lakes and rivers mainly...Read more

Here are two of my favorite dishes that always appear on my Thanksgiving table. They may become your family traditions after you taste them.

Rustic Mashed Potatoes with Mascarpone and Chives

Serves 6

One of my all-time favorite mashed potato recipes combines unpeeled Yukon Gold potatoes with mascarpone for an incredibly creamy-...Read more

This Thanksgiving a judicious use of red chile will spark up our holiday table. The dark, tangy robust flavor of dried red chile works well to counter the richness of many of the side dishes. It also proves a welcome change to boring salt and pepper seasoning.

Red chile pairs beautifully with sweet potato. Think sweet and savory ...Read more

After the Thanksgiving feast, chances are good you’ve got a fridge full of the real treat: leftovers! While they’re easy to enjoy as lunch or dinner (or snacks), we’re actually big fans of revamping leftovers into breakfast (think: hearty omelets stuffed with turkey and cheese, or grab-and-go breakfast bars ...Read more

I’m not a huge fan of grapes. Sure I’ll snack on them from time to time, but I never really seek them out. But this creamy grape salad turned me from a grape skeptic into a voracious grape eater. All it takes is a handful of pantry ingredients and a few minutes of effort. It’s fresh and cool and makes the perfect side dish.

Key ...Read more

It's amazing what you find when you (finally) channel your inner Marie Kondo and start clearing your house of junk.

I've been in the same Federal-style colonial for 30-plus years, and having raised five kids there, things have piled up over the years.

Our vacation next week will include filling a dumpster with things we no longer need and, in ...Read more

There are so many different ways to cook vegetables in the brassica family — cauliflower, broccoli, Romanesco, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kohlrabi, bok choy, savoy cabbage. Whether you steam, bake, roast or sauté these hearty veggies, they all will stand up to a range of bold, contrasting flavors, especially the Italianate combinations of ...Read more

‘Tis the season for apples and pumpkins. And we all know apples are the superior flavor. This very affordable frozen dessert pizza is surprisingly full of real diced apples, plus a streusel crumble, cinnamon and sugar.

Once you’ve baked it, drizzle a cream cheese sauce over the top for a delicious dessert. It’s good by itself, but ice ...Read more

Enjoy this light, vegetarian frittata. You can use any vegetables you have on hand and use this recipe as a guide for amounts.

Frittatas and omelets are different things. A frittata is cooked very slowly over low heat making it firm and set, while an omelet is cooked fast over high heat making it creamy and runny. A frittata needs to be cooked...Read more

The keyboard warriors were having a heated dispute on Facebook over the price of eggs.

Some claimed they were paying $4 for a dozen eggs. Others said they were paying a lot less, and didn’t believe eggs cost that much anywhere in the country. Naturally, the subject of politics was brought into the conversation, blaming egg inflation on one ...Read more

Beans are kind of like the your best friend from high school — nearly forgotten but always ready to step back into the limelight and help out an old pal when needed.

As gorgeously (and tantalizingly) demonstrated in Rancho Gordo's new cookbook, "The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans" (Ten Speed, $35), beans are indeed...Read more

If you want to turn climate policy into a bitter culture war, there are few more effective weapons than a Big Mac.

On one side, environmentalists will point out that the cattle we raise cause about as much greenhouse pollution as all the world’s cars, trucks, ships and planes. (1) On the other, irritated meat-lovers will call you a killjoy, ...Read more

Opening with a quotation from Henry David Thoreau's 1863 essay "Life Without Principle" including the lines "Let us consider the way in which we spend our lives/ This world is a place of business/ What an infinite bustle," the film "La Cocina" sets out to fully examine those concepts, and how work can take over one's life and sweep away all too ...Read more

These grab-and-go breakfast cookies contain a medley of dried fruit, oats, nuts and nut butter to start your morning off right. Feel free to use a different unsweetened dried fruit in place of the blueberries, or swap out the cashew butter for almond or peanut butter for a different flavor profile. Transform these cookies into a dessert by ...Read more