Quince is the most luscious fall fruit, but not as widely known or easily found as it should be. It holds its secrets tightly inside; quince is very astringent and not pleasant to eat when raw, but when cooked with sugar it turns coral-pink and delicious. It’s also very high in pectin, which means that it is practically perfect for sorbet. This fragrant sorbet, spiced with star anise and vanilla, is thick and smooth — more like a sherbet than an icy sorbet — and it makes a wonderful accompaniment to autumn gingerbread and apple cake.

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Open Maker Tour

Who: Brandi Shelton of Just Add Honey Tea Company
What: Custom-blended loose-leaf teas, cold-brewed teas, and accessories
Where: Atlanta, Georgia

While studying fashion design and marketing in London, Brandi Shelton fell in love with the daily ritual of a cup of tea, but was less enamored of the traditional flavors. “I thought I could add a spice here or a fruit there to make a more flavorful cup,” she tells us. And that’s how Just Add Honey, her custom tea line, began. Now back in Atlanta, Brandi remains fascinated by tea. Read on for a look at her business and her advice on buying and tasting tea — great for tea newbies and enthusiasts alike!

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Open the Tutorial

For the Thanksgiving dinner I’m sharing with you this week, I wanted a really lush centerpiece, one that celebrated the beauty of the fall harvest but didn’t cost me hundreds of dollars. So I turned to my favorite eco-friendly florist to help me create a beautiful, all-natural vegetable centerpiece that a real human (you know, homo sapiens, as opposed to marta stewartensis) could make with some seasonal vegetables, basic tools, and a little imagination.

But I didn’t want to let all that beauty go to waste, after the meal. Since nothing is glued down or otherwise rendered inedible, you can eat nearly every piece of this arrangement — and I give you recipes to help you do just that.

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Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite comfort foods, and it’s not hard to make them taste amazing. The easy way, my friends, is fat. A lot of it. I used to work at a restaurant where the cooks dropped a brick of cream cheese, a long swig of cream, and unmentionable amounts of butter into the joint’s famous smashed potatoes. So there’s that approach.

But I like to taste the potatoes themselves, and to pump them up in fresh ways, so this year on Thanksgiving I am turning to this recipe — golden mashed potatoes with a secret ingredient to give them flavor and unexpected color.

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