Step-by-step: A Homemade Pumpkin Pie Tutorial

I don’t know about you, but for me, the highlight of Thanksgiving has to be that pumpkin pie served at the end of dinner. Bursting with flavors and rich in texture, pumpkin pie is a blessing to anyone with a sweet tooth. The good news is, this treat is also very easy to make. After trying out multiple recipes over the years, I have come up with my own version that provides the best result. I have revamped the ingredients to make sure they are as natural as possible and got rid of all unnecessary steps. So don’t worry if you have never made pumpkin pie before, for this recipe is completely beginner-friendly.

AUSTIN | Throwing Stars and Sweatshirt Stains

For the first installment of a Moosewood Mess, I started out with dessert because it seemed like a relatively easy first step — something very much within my comfort zone. I invited my friends for the inaugural Moosewood Meal, which only ramped up the pressure. I felt like I couldn’t disappoint them, but I also didn’t want to make something overly complicated and ruin everything before it even started. That brought me to Chocolate Cranberry Crunch bars and chocolate sugar cookies. 
When I first looked at the recipes, they seemed to be idiot-proof. However, it appears I’m an idiot.

Recipes for a Boozy Election Night

Have you cried recently? You hear the hate on the radio, see it on the TV and it builds and builds inside until something breaks. It starts with a knot in the back of your throat but quickly grows into something bigger, wanting to spill out from where it has been kept safe. “Wake up!” I scream in my head. “This is really happening, so get used to it.” This is no time to get down and stay depressed or let your anxiety overcome your will to work and live.

Diaspora Cooking

With all the disheartening news, events that give you horrific flashbacks and the nagging feeling that little progress has been made, it’s very comforting to have a nice, hot meal. This Kenyan chicken curry is the product of Indian diaspora into east Africa. Like the ancestors of Black Americans, tens of thousands of Indians were brought to African colonies by the English as forced labor to build the Kenya-Uganda Railway. Many died and many left after construction, but once the railway was open, so was trade. Indian emigrants took root.

Food Ethics | Beans and Bread

The 40-acre farm in Hawai’i which I called home for the fall of 2017 was riddled with homemade signage. Pieces of wood were painted to remind that there was  “no toilet” and to “use tree! ,” to teach you “proper poopage” in a compost toilet and to tell you to “Get naked!” in the shower. There was also less informational signage that reinforced some important life lessons like “be with the flow” and to “eat your food like water, and your water like air.” One of these signs hung in a particularly prominent place next to the picnic tables at which we ate. It was framed by bunches of ripening plantains and written with a washed out orange and pink paint.

The Cornell Way to Latke

With the first snow of the season comes the thoughts of Christmas. With Christmas comes eggnog, gingerbread cookies and yule logs. This year, we don’t just get one holiday on December 25th, but we get Hanukkah, too: the Jewish Festival of Lights. In addition to Christmas trees and string lights illuminating the windows of households all around the world, there will be hanukiot, the traditional lamps lit on every night of Hanukkah in the window sills as well. Christmas may have monopolized the flavor game with peppermint and gingerbread, but add something new to your holiday palate: a Hanukkah latke.

Dig In | “Bog-to-Table” Cooking: Our Adventures in Nature and the Kitchen

In my last column, I wrote about my adventures at Dilmun Hill Organic Farm, a student-run farm that practices sustainable agriculture on Cornell University’s campus. That afternoon, my friend (and a student farmer at Dilmun) Teddy Matel introduced me to the paw-paw, scooped me wild-bee honey and gifted me a batch of their produce. We left Dilmun on a mission: To make a delicious meal of out these ingredients — and, more broadly, out the terroir of New York.

Collegetown Kitchen | Slutty Brownies — And We’re Not Judging

‘Cause they have everything in them.

This is less of a recipe and more of a reminder that; yes, in fact, you should be making slutty brownies because what else do you have going for you? As with any food topic, I have thoughts on slutty brownies. What should be store-bought? What do you have to make yourself?

Apple Pie A La Grandma

I am the fourth generation in my family to receive and use this apple pie recipe. My great-grandmother first created the recipe and passed it down to my bubbie, who sent it to my mother when she was living in Nairobi, Kenya and wanted to show her host family what a traditional American Thanksgiving was like in 1989. Now, I possess and cherish this special recipe. Rich in history and flavor, this apple pie is sure not to disappoint.

A Cereal that Satisfies Your Craving for Crunch

Naturally sweetened with banana and maple syrup, this gluten-free granola’s subtle sweetness can be enhanced with the addition of fresh berries or a drizzle of syrup or honey.