The Boston Globe

A Thanksgiving feast from our readers

Our readers sent their favorite dishes to The Recipe Box Project and we put together a Thanksgiving menu. Not a green vegetable in the lot.

Japanese American Matcha Mochi Cupcakes

TOKYO – Many foods brought to America by new immigrants evolve into dishes that combine ingredients from both cultures. California rolls are a good example.

The best of the dark, bar none

Dark chocolate is all the rage. So much so that supermarkets are putting out their own house labels, Trader Joe’s packages a brand, and companies like Hershey’s are in on the act. We decided to taste. Twelve students in a gastronomy class at Boston University had the enviable (and somewhat messy) task of tasting 11 …

Put a little life in a child’s lunchbox

I have been bonkers for obento for more than 25 years. On one of our year-long stays in Japan my son Brad, went to fa local elementary school. Like any mom, I prepared lunch for him–American style. I soon learned that wasn’t going to cut the mustard — or wasabi as it were. So I …

Something old, something new

Recipe collections hold treasures — in the food itself and between the lines. Isn’t it time to organize all those cards?

A side dish served with matzo and memories

‘I had hoped to be greeted by the taste of schmaltz,’’ announces one in the group, using the Yiddish word for rendered chicken fat. Her octogenarian husband arrives with his mother’s well-worn wooden bowl and single-blade chopper. When he was a boy, he says, “Every Sunday my job was to chop the liver. My father …

Baked Winter Fruit

This baked winter fruit dish falls somewhere between a crisp and a compote. It uses some dried fruits, which are usually simmered in liquid. But whatever fresh fruits you have on hand can go into the dish, even those starting to show brown spots.

The Wooden Bowls

I wrote this piece just after my nana, Beatrice Bloom, passed away on Valentine’s Day 2000. On this 11th anniversary of her death and the upcoming Passover holiday I wanted to share this personal reminiscence with you.

From left to right:
Beatrice, Lily, Frances, Ruth and Rose

I was on my hands and knees, plucking pot after broken-handled pot from beneath my Nana’s cabinets cluttered with kitchenware accumulated after the death of each of her four sisters. “Who needs to spend money on new pots with all these?” I imagined her saying.

Love at First Bite? Not Exactly.

Whole-wheat spaghetti may be better for you, but will it go over well at home? Maybe with sauce. By Debra Samuels Globe Correspondent / February 9, 2011
Whole-wheat bread entered the mainstream long ago. Now brown rice has displaced white in many bowls, and whole-wheat pasta has become nightly fare in many households — even in Italy.

A classic, any way you slice it

When it comes to pound cake, traditional flavors count By Debra Samuels, Globe Correspondent | July 14, 2010 There are few better accompaniments to fresh berries than a slice of pound cake, that perfectly balanced classic originally made with one pound butter, one pound sugar, and one pound flour. Now the formulas vary, but it’s …