Quick Easy Recipes

There used to be a tiny, wood-paneled spot called The Gilded Pear in a sleepy town outside Portland that made the most unforgettable cranberry sauce … Read more

My neighbor Donna wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a ladder on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and the smell hit me … Read more

I was at my accountant’s house for a backyard barbecue last summer—totally normal, right? You’d think an accountant would be all about spreadsheets and tax … Read more

The neighborhood potluck was in three hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing their signature dishes—slow-cooked brisket, homemade lasagnas, intricate salads with … Read more

My neighbor wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to borrow a can of tomatoes—mine had mysteriously vanished from the pantry—and the smell hit … Read more

My neighbor, a retired nurse named Carol, watched me from her porch as I hauled a full Thanksgiving spread for twenty across my tiny apartment … Read more

I was standing in the frozen foods aisle of our local grocery store last November, staring at a bag of cranberries, when the smell hit … Read more

I was scraping the last bits of pumpkin guts into the compost bin last November when a whiff of cinnamon and roasting squash hit me … Read more

I swore I hated fruit skewers. For years. They seemed like such a cop-out at parties—a lazy way to call something a “recipe” when really … Read more

I wasn’t expecting cooking advice from my accountant, but there I was, sorting through a pile of receipts in his cluttered office, listening to him … Read more