Appetizer Recipes

My neighbor Karen wasn’t trying to impress anyone. I’d stopped by to drop off a package that got delivered to my house by mistake, and … Read more

I have to be honest with you. My neighbor, a woman named Carol who gardens in her tiny front yard like it’s a sprawling farm, … Read more

It was 10:47 PM on a random Wednesday in October, and I had the most irrational craving for something spicy, creamy, and wrapped in flaky … Read more

There used to be a tiny bakery in the East Village called “The Gilded Squash” that made the most incredible mini pumpkin pies I had … Read more

I was at the community garden harvest party last October, standing by the grill with a batch of ordinary hot dogs, feeling a bit embarrassed … Read more

The Super Bowl party was in six hours and I’d completely forgotten. Everyone else would be bringing elaborate seven-layer dips and slow-cooker meatballs that smelled … Read more

My friend Jen asked why I couldn’t just use a cookie sheet and call it a day. We were planning our annual Halloween movie night … Read more

I watched my neighbor across the hall, an older woman named Rosa, carefully pressing almond slices into pretzel dough one October afternoon. She didn’t say … Read more

There used to be a little pop-up Halloween market in my neighborhood, set up inside an old warehouse on Elm Street for just six weeks … Read more

My brother-in-law Mark had claimed to hate squash for as long as I’d known him. Twenty-three years. Every Thanksgiving, he’d push the roasted butternut to … Read more