apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Many months ago, we bought a bottle of pear brandy to make a pear clafouti, which turned out to be a disappointment (unlike this berry one, which Faith highly recommends). The brandy sat in a cupboard, forgotten, until we pulled it out to make a version of Nora's Thanksgiving Poinsettia cocktail. Now we're newly addicted to this stuff, and we've got more info, including the origin of this picture and how they got the pear inside the bottle, below...

December snuck up on us this year, and we're quickly trying to adjust from Thanksgiving leftovers to thoughts of Christmas. Are you decorating? Did you put up a tree this weekend? Here's one that's edible...

Well, the gravy is finished. We decided to make ours over the weekend rather than wait to see what kind of pan drippings we got from the turkey or risk not having any at all. So we used a recipe from The New York Times that we wrote about last week. Click below to find out how it went...

Between planning your Thanksgiving meal, grocery shopping, brining, and making dishes ahead of time, actual eating—as in dinner, tonight—gets lost in the shuffle. At least it does for us (we had sushi delivered last night). So, if you want something easy that won't take too much time away from your Thanksgiving preparations, we have some ideas...

There's a new game in town. And we think it may give Epicurious and Food Network a run for their money. And what's that? These guys are missing an "e" in their name? Funny, we here at The Kitchn couldn't help but notice...

If Mayor Bloomberg has his way, stores will have to start charging 6 cents for every plastic bag they hand out to shoppers. What do you think? At first it might seem like a no-brainer good idea, but consider the times you forget your bag...

A while ago, Emma asked about buying the best roasting pan for holiday cooking, and it made us think, "What kind of roasting pan do we have? And where is that thing?" We use it so infrequently, we're not even sure. And then we had an idea...

Here's another quick appetizer idea for Thanksgiving—sweet and spicy cashews that your guests can snack on while they're waiting for the turkey...

In one of our favorite episodes of "Will and Grace," Jack's mom shows up unexpected at Will and Grace's apartment several days before Thanksgiving, panting from speed walking and holding a casserole dish. When Jack finds out she's met his friends without his knowing, he says, angrily, "Damn her and her dry runs!"

Do you have any dry runs planned?

Well, the answer is really not that exciting. Simply put, there is more than one type of sweet potato. Some are the bright orange-fleshed ones we're used to, but others are pale yellow like the one above. So, are they interchangeable? We just ate ours for lunch, and...

Last night on Top Chef, the contestants had to make a hot dog that stood up against New York's finest and then serve lunch at Tom Colicchio's restaurant, Craft. The diners were all rejected applicants who didn't make the show, and holy cow were they a bitter, smug bunch. Whew.

Note: We reveal the winner and loser below...

This summer, we gave you a recipe for our Easy, Foolproof Cobbler for Any Fruit, and by any fruit, we mean fall and winter fruit, too. We make this cobbler all the time with apples and pears, but lately we've been putting a new spin on the dough for the topping...

We once made a frantic trip to Popeye's fried chicken on Thanksgiving morning to buy gravy because ours wasn't up to par. Not this year! The Times has a comprehensive guide to making gravy ahead of time, plus some new side dishes...

This is cranberry relish to us. No wiggling cylinder from a can, no whole berries that are cooked down with sugar. Our cranberry side dish is always fresh, chunky, sweet, and full of fruit. We think we've perfected our combination, finally...