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As the year draws to a close, a pause to reflect upon the cooking that took place in the last year seems appropriate. What's even more appropriate is taking some time to think about the people that cooking has been shared with throughout the year. It only takes a little bit of time to realize just how precious those events are, whether they are routine family dinners or one-in-a-lifetime festive events. They are definitely something to celebrate, in the old year and also in the New Year!

With kids all over home for the holidays, now is a fantastic time to make a big batch of caramel popcorn. Making it can be a project and it's fantastic for settling down and enjoying while you watch a movie as a family, play board games that made their way under the tree, or gather together with friends and loved ones you haven't seen much over the year. What a sweet treat!

As Christmas Eve dawns, let's take a bit of time to see how foodies the world over celebrate it and contemplate our own special traditions, celebrations, and festive gatherings that are about to commence. However you celebrate, have a joyous holiday season. Seasoned Greetings to you all!

When Mother Nature gives you a giant pile of snow, there's something to be said for firing up the oven and making your home smell sweet. There's also something to be said for taking a bit of time to brave the elements and make snowmen, snow dogs, and snow bridges! Welcome, winter!

An old recipe gets a new twist when traditional holiday items find their way into the dish. Discover another joy of cooking when you give items like eggnog and cranberries a new way to shine in your holiday dishes without having to find new recipes. After all, 'tis the season to blend tradition and comfort food!

Ever get inspired to take a tried and true recipe and give it a bit of a twist? The acquisition of some thin-cut pork chops recently became the genesis of a new method for preparing pork chops that just might become my favorite approach. So, come on, it's time to just roll with it!

Americans eat over three billion pizzas a year. You can put a special spin on your own pizza enjoyment by growing your own pizza garden that includes everything from tomatoes to vegetables for topping to your favorite herbs. After all, gardens aren't only for your flowers!

Eggnog is synonymous with the holidays, but you don't have to stop at pouring it into a glass and raising it in a festive toast. It's a fantastic ingredient in all manner of traditional and nontraditional holiday fare. Why not try something on the nontraditional side with a festive Eggnog Dessert Pizza that has eggnog flavor baked right into the crust?

Your crockpot holds the key to a fantastic way to make a simple, spicy chili. Depending on what kind of salsa you use in the recipe (yes, I said salsa), it can be hotter or milder. It's also great if you just add the two turkey drumsticks from Thanksgiving dinner and peel and shred the meat and remove the bones before serving. As holiday shopping, entertaining, and decorating roar into full swing, recipes like this are great time and sanity savers!

Homemade bread was part of this year's Thanksgiving and part of this year's post-Thanksgiving leftover marathon. Who wouldn't love fresh bread one night, followed by delightfully decadent bread pudding for breakfast the next morning? It's official. The holiday season has begun!

About a week of contemplating results in a beautiful bowl of soup with a velvety texture and a flavor that brings together the essence of fall. Featuring parsnips and pears and highlighted with nutmeg-crusted goat cheese, it's a fantastic soup course option for your holiday entertaining or a comforting lunch alongside a grilled cheese sandwich. Bring on the snow -- this soup will keep you warm!

Nutmeg has a long and complex history. Once, Manhattan was traded for nutmeg and sugar in a deal involving the Dutch and the Brits. In the 1600s, its popularity with the rich and famous made it the iPhone of its day. Much blood and tears have been shed on its behalf and, yet, we turn to it in times of celebration and comfort.

Whether you are planning a traditional Thanksgiving with all the trimmings or planning something a little different or just having pizza and beer with loved ones, may your Thanksgiving holiday be filled with people you love and opportunities to spend time with them in ways that bring you joy.

The final installment in our ode to slow cookers brings us to something crockpots are great for: making soup. This time around, everything from potatoes to dried beans to kale find their way into a creamy soup that's the epitome of the chilly season before us.

Continuing our ode to slow cooking, we're taking on one of my favorite ethnic dishes of all time: carnitas. Carnitas are a Mexican specialty of seasoned pulled pork, traditionally fried in lard, with a pleasing mixture of tender and crispy browned parts. This simplified recipe avoids the deep-frying step, and takes advantage of the slow cooker's ability to produce very tender meat and pairs it with a quick trip under the broiler to produce the tender, caramelized meat that typifies proper carnitas.

With some of the coldest weather of the year on its way, it's time to pay a bit of homage to the incredible kitchen tool that is the crockpot. A pile of great recipes for your slow cooker await you this week. We begin with a chili recipe that's packed with lots of healthy vegetables and legumes and really packs a flavor punch!

If you think working overtime, skipping your lunch hour and staying chained to your desk will make you more productive, you need to cut yourself some slack and take a break. Get insight into what skipping breaks can do to your health and productivity and find a fantastic totable lunch wrap recipe that will leave you with no excuse to skip lunch.

A trio of flavor superstars come together to inspire a wonderful autumn-focused dessert that could easily star in your Thanksgiving dessert. But why wait that long! After all, you'll want to test it, right?

As cooler weather settles in and pumpkin becomes a focus in everything from coffee to coffeecake, it's time to remember that it can also star in some amazing savory dishes. Just in time for the weekend, a fantastic curry featuring pumpkin and either venison or lean beef is ready to be enjoyed.

As the days grow shorter and colder, there is nothing like the ultimate comfort food -- chicken soup -- to keep the chills at bay. Instead of opting for the tried and true chicken noodle variety, fire up the stove with a pot of fantastic chicken soup that's brimming with lots of great vegetables and slow-cooked chicken flavor.

Diehard foodies the world over will do almost anything or travel anywhere to get inventive, delicious and memorable meals. Trying things like squid, goat meat, street-vendor tacos, and curry make their mouths water—and, if they are not careful, their waistlines expand. Staying healthy on vacation might sound like a contradiction in terms, but with planning, it's possible to enjoy your travels AND watch your weight.

Faced with at least 3 cups of freshly roasted, pureed pumpkin and looking at much more down the road, I'm asking for advice on what to do with it all. Yep, that's right. Sometimes the foodie is simply overwhelmed and it's nice to reach out for ideas when that happens.

Autumn is the perfect time to entertain outdoors -- most of the bugs are gone, the sun isn't scorching even though it's warm enough to enjoy an afternoon or evening al fresco, and there's a bounty of good things to serve for an outdoor meal. Take advantage of the opportunity before the snow flies!

Sometimes when you look in the refrigerator for something that could be lunch, you get a mix of a little of this and a little of that. It's tempting to just let those sit and make a sandwich or the like, but that can mean missing out on some really fun dishes that are born merely because you thought outside the box and put together something truly inspired with what looked like bits of food destined to be ignored.

Having finally replaced my food processor and with the weekend about to begin, I tested it out by making a super simple truffle recipe featuring some mint sandwich cookies, cream cheese, and finely grated chocolate. And no, I never had to touch the stove or microwave. A no-heat truffle recipe? Too good to be true? Check it out and you can help guarantee a sweet weekend, too!

As cool days become the norm, it's time to think about tea as more than that delicious beverage in your cup. It's also a fantastic flavor enhancer in the kitchen! Get a trio of fantastic recipes that will have you delighting in the versatility of tea.

The end of the gardening season brings with it a rush of fresh fruits and vegetables that want to be used before they go bad. That means a lot of preserving, but also lots of fresh foods to be enjoyed while they can. So I leave you for the week with a fun, spicy appetizer (or light meal) that takes advantage of tomatillos, jalapeño peppers, greens, and onions.

As days grow colder and morning walks are greeted with showers of falling leaves, nothing hits the spot quite like a bowl of soup. So that's what's on the menu today, in spades. My ultimate autumn menu involves a bowl of creamy potato-leek soup that's been sprinkled with grated sharp cheese and crumbled bacon with a bit of crusty bread alongside. Add a glass of chilled white wine and I'm welcome fall with open arms.

Fall bring pumpkin this and pumpkin spice that and, you know what? I adore it. What's not to love about something like rich pumpkin cheesecake that blends the flavors of cheesecake and pumpkin pie with a crust that's infused with the best of pumpkin spice? Yeah, I couldn't think of anything, either. Then add some crunchy pecans and velvety caramel-rum sauce and you've got a perfect fall dessert.