Cranberries

Cranberries are an underrated fruit. They’re far too tart to eat fresh, but when they are combined with some sugar or a sweet fruit like bananas and clementines, that fierce sourness turns into something downright delightful. When cooking with fresh cranberries, it’s best to rinse them and sort through them to find any soft or …

Cranberries are the under-appreciated fruit of fall and winter. They’re often relegated to a sad cylinder of canned cranberry sauce at the edge of the Thanksgiving table, an afterthought to the apples and pumpkins taking up the dessert space. Which is a shame, because when strategically deployed, cranberry desserts not only bring a welcome burst …

We’re in the long slog part of winter. The holiday season is far behind us, and spring in Chicago is still months away. This is, for me, the toughest time of year. I get stir crazy. I long for sunlight that stays past five o’clock and for sidewalks that don’t end in ankle-deep gray slush …

 Here, have a cranberry Dutch baby. I love a good oven pancake for breakfast. The most common versions involve apples. And those are lovely. But sometimes you want to branch out. In the summer, I make a Dutch baby with peaches and blackberries. In winter, I turn to other flavors. This one is scented with …

January is always the toughest month for me for cooking. There’s a post-holiday malaise that hangs over the kitchen. I try to balance the excesses of December with austerity, but it’s hard to get excited about much of the seasonal produce when the pickings are slim. Oh, I like root vegetables and cabbage and squash but sometimes …

This cake is a beauty. It’s worthy of a special occasion. Like a birthday or a game night with an old friend with a major sweet tooth whom you haven’t seen in way too long and who you just found out is pregnant (!). Three layers of brown butter cake filled with lush, pink cranberry …