This past year I’ve been lucky enough to take Kitchn readers on the road. We’ve traveled to destinations mostly near and some far; we’ve peeked into locals’ kitchens and picked their brains on the very best places to eat, drink, and shop; and we’ve filled our bellies with classic dishes and our bags with edible souvenirs.

It’s been one delicious ride, and I can’t think of any better way to look back on 2017 than with our most popular travel recipes. From the “best” key lime pie to Monday night rice and beans, these are the dishes that had you guys clicking.

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Carrageenan. You’ve likely seen this word on hundreds of labels, since it’s used in everything from non-dairy milks to salad dressings. It’s even lurking in your lunch meat. But what exactly is it and why is it so controversial?

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Is there nothing more comforting and delicious than mashed potatoes? This warm, creamy, dairy-laden starch might be more of an indulgence than everyday fare these days, but even if you only have them once a year (Thanksgiving!), I say go all out and do it right. Read on for a recipe for classic mashed potatoes, with recommendations for potato type, dairy additions, and mashing methods.

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Wherever in the world you’re traveling, cafés — old, majestic ones that illuminate nostalgic interiors and minimalist Fair Trade shrines where baristas explain the differences between their Kenyan and Rwandan roasts — are the backbone of a great trip. Prime people-watching is always a draw, but so is the chance to delve deeper into a country’s culture by savoring the coffee specialties (and irresistible desserts) beloved by locals.

Here’s what a coffee break looks like in 17 different countries around the world.

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This time of year, with all the parties and the punches and the cookies, so many websites and magazine articles tell us how to avoid this and deny ourselves that. I saw a couple blog posts recommending things like “Weigh yourself every day!” or “Wear your tightest clothes so you will be uncomfortable and won’t eat much!” or “Only make food you hate!”

Seriously? These are all things that will make you feel extremely guilty, unhappy in your body, and like food is the enemy, turning situations that should be fun into stressful internal battles of will. That makes me really sad.

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For some reason, you don’t hear that much about people hitting up Costco for Black Friday. You hear about the crowds at Best Buy and the hoards at Walmart, but no one really talks much about Costco, right? They should, though, because there are some legit good deals — on televisions, yes, of course, but also on kitchen stuff.

Here are the five best kitchen-related Black Friday deals that will be happening at Costco.

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Mexico City is one of the most exciting places to eat; to the uninitiated, it’s also one of the most intimidating. With more than 350 colonias (or metropolitan neighborhoods), 21 million inhabitants, and countless taco stands vying for your attention, it’s not easy to know where to begin. But don’t be deterred. The key is to start small; focus your culinary adventures to one colonia and one colonia only while you get your bearings.

So, where to begin? Read on to find out.

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Welcome to Kitchn’s series My Healthy Morning, where we show you how one person greets the day in a way that makes them feel their best. Each post will chronicle how that person defines healthy for themselves, and the habits and recipes that make their morning a little bit better.

Photographer, food stylist, and cookbook author Leela Cyd is a longtime friend of Kitchn. If you’re a regular on our site or have a copy of The Kitchn Cookbook, chances are she is a longtime friend of yours, too. Maybe you’ve made her beet-pickled deviled eggs? Or maybe her simple but quirky kitchen has inspired you to add a little whimsy to your space? Her gorgeous photographs and smart tips have likely been helping you make life in the kitchen just a little bit better.

This year, she’s been especially prolific with not one but two new cookbooks. The first, Cooking up Trouble: Recipes to Nourish Women, came out this summer; her latest, Tasting Hygge: Joyful Recipes for Cozy Days and Nights, is here just in time for comfort food season. We’re obsessed with recipes like almond sourdough pancakes, braised lentils with apricots and olives, and German-style lemony cheesecake (which is proof that German cheesecake is the best cheesecake).

Oh yeah, and did we mention that Leela is also a new mom to Izador Cosmo? We checked in with Leela to see how she keeps it all together (a strong cup of black tea is key) and how the meaning of “healthy” has changed for her in this exciting chapter of her life.

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Emojis make social media so much more fun. We can even write recipes with emojis. We’ve come so far since the emoticons of the 1990s, made with strings of punctuation that resembled faces if you looked at them sideways. The smiling, winking, and sticking-tongue-out faces were fun, but there was no way to send a sushi roll or a slice of pizza. Now we can send our friends little pictures of food whenever we want, and it turns out that’s really useful.

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I’m not sure how it happens, but every time I travel elsewhere I seem to forget that I live in a place that has food. I leave Brooklyn with my backpack basically empty and return with a bag that is bursting with baked goods and coffee beans and chocolate bars. Such was the case this past Sunday, when I came back from a weekend trip to the Bay Area. Here’s what I toted home with me.

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