My mom and I have been planning the Christmas dinner menu lately and she made the observation that we hardly ever care about the main protein in a dinner – our family is alllll about the side dishes.

I don’t think we’re an anomaly, though. Let’s face it – at Thanksgiving, people aren’t drooling over the turkey. They’re eyeing the mashed potatoes and stuffing and cranberries and rolls and… you get the point. 9 times out of 10, the sides make or break the dinner. And a side like this will make the dinner.

I actually made this for a potluck at work weeks and weeks ago but it would be just perfect to have at a Christmas brunch or even as a vegetarian main at dinner (it’s that filling!) The dressing is so warm and nutty and the earthiness of the squash and chickpeas just makes it a wonderful winter comfort food.

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On the twelfth day of Christmas my oven gave to me… 4 dozen awesome oatmeal cookies!

Okay I know the twelfth day of Christmas is technically January 5th but it’s 12 days until Christmas right now and I can’t help it. It’s inevitable. The holidays roll around, I get insanely festive, and the baking bug bites me bad (try saying that 3 times fast!) Even after a full day of cooking and styling I still want to come home and just listen to Bing Crosby and make cookies. That is the power of Christmas. And that is why I love it so.

These cookies are a riff on my favorite oatmeal raisin by using some golden raisins and pecans, two things I had sitting around and just sounded fun to toss in. I’m such a fan of scooped cookies – rolls you have to chill and then slice seem so tedious and not at all what you want to bake after a hard day’s work. So throw these together and enjoy! You can even freeze the dough balls and bag them up to bake in the future. Not a bad present to save for yourself, if I do say so myself!

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So here I am. After all these years of dreaming and pining and living vicariously through friends, I’m finally taking a vacation exclusively in NYC. I’ve only been here 7 hours and already have had one of the best burgers (if not THE best) in my life and that’s just the beginning of this great food adventure. I plan to visit some fantastic museums and sites while I’m here of course, but let’s be honest, the food will be my focus. Walking, and lots (and lots) of eating.

This is also my first Thanksgiving I won’t be cooking since …well… I can’t even remember. Maybe 2003? Knowing I won’t be lifting a finger to cook tomorrow is bizarre and totally amazing. I’ll be spending the morning seeing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade (in the flesh!!) and then having Thanksgiving dinner in Chinatown.

Feel free to follow along on my Flickr album!

**sings** It’s the most… wonderful time… of the yeaaar!

Okaaay I know that’s actually a Christmas song but it’s far more appropriate for me to sing it during Halloween. This weekend/day fills me with more joy than almost anything else and I decided to celebrate this year with a nice little shindig in my apt. Not as much of a production as my Oscar party, but still just as fun. I wanted to keep the food simple, seasonal, and a little on the playful side, so I whipped up a delicious cheese ball and some finger foods (not literally), and a deliciously spicy and sinful punch. Everything was pretty easy and left plenty of time to focus on my costume… which was one of the most ambitious things I’ve ever done.

I’m a Lichtenstein painting!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

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Let’s face it. Granola like this is basically crumbled up cookies under the guise of being healthfood and thus it is glorious in its deception and deliciousness. I whipped this up late Sunday night when a craving for peanut butter/oatmeal cookies hit me and I wanted to change things up. I threw in a couple handfuls of raisins and half a can of mixed nuts I had sitting in the freezer and voila! Tasty, terrible-for-you granola! Enjoy!

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