Know Your Squash: How They Look, How They Cook

As Thanksgiving gatherings go, they are a motley group: the Curcurbitaceae, a vine-growing family with nearly 1,000 members, including pumpkins, melons, zucchini and cucumbers. Some are gourds — hard-shelled, bitter, stringy and suitable only for decoration. But the winter squashes offer countless delicious uses in soups, salads, main courses, side dishes, breads and desserts. Their…

What to Cook: What to Cook Tonight

Good morning. What a joy it is to sleep through these autumn nights, the windows cracked to chill the room, the curtains drawn against the sun that comes later each morning. I wake refreshed, eager to bring warmth into the lives of those around me. But first: Coffee, breakfast, chores. (Pity the northern suburbanites and…

Eat: How to Cook All the Mushrooms

I think about cooking mushrooms as soon as there’s a chill in the air and I catch the scent of rain-soaked earth. But why? I was never attuned to mushroom seasons. I’ve never come home from a brisk walk in the woods like some 20th-century food writer, rain boots caked with mud, baskets full of…