When I came up with this recipe, I was craving more than just something sweet — I was craving a memory. I was thinking,  damn, I miss being a kid.  I saw myself in the mall on a Saturday with my mom — praying, I mean  praying to the gods that she would stop at Mrs. Fields and let me have a chocolate chip cookie. I loved those miniature ones. Maybe it was some sort of Jedi cookie mind trick, but they made you feel like you were getting more. I just loved holding that little wh

It always starts the same — me, curled up in bed at midnight, half-asleep and scrolling through recipes I’ll probably never make. But then I saw this woman squeezing oranges over caramelized apples, and something in me lit up. I could  smell  it — the butter, the cinnamon, that hint of citrus. My brain whispered,  that’s it. Lately, I’ve been craving warmth — not just temperature, but feeling. That deep, cozy kind of comfort that tastes like nostalgia. Earthy spices. Soft tex

I was married for 10 years. I married the first person I ever dated. We started dating when I was 18, and right off the bat there was no real attraction on my end. But I was completely new to dating — away at college for the first time — and my parents never had conversations with me about relationships or sexuality. So, of course, I deferred to my friends. Dating was what you were  supposed  to do by 18, right? They told me, “He’s not a bad guy. He dresses nice. Give him a s

Pumpkin coffee cake is basically edible comfort — soft, spiced, and cozy enough to make your whole kitchen smell like a hug. The one I saw on IG ( @emilyrangel ) looked like a classic  pumpkin streusel coffee cake  — moist pumpkin base, brown sugar–cinnamon crumb topping, a drizzle of glaze. Photo by Jessica Nichole. Ingredients For the cake: 1 cup unsalted butter (browned — divided; half for the cake, half for the crumb) 1 cup pumpkin purée (not pie mix) ¾ cup brown sugar ½

My Artist Date (in Sugar Form) The cravings kicked in this week — sugar plus sugar plus sugar plus more sugar. I doubled the honey in my...

I’ve been on a tight budget lately, which means less eating out and more cooking at home. But that also means I’ve been craving the...

From Friday night pours to viral TikToks, a generation finds calm in the swirl of a glass. Step into a natural wine bar in Los Angeles on...

Farmers markets in Southern California promise beauty — heirloom tomatoes stacked like jewels, chalkboard signs, live music. But behind the aesthetic lies a truth: food that feels exclusive, not communal. In Tijuana, Mercado Hidalgo is compact, dense, and overflowing — a place where necessity and community intertwine. In contrast, LA and San Diego’s markets often operate as curated stages for lifestyle and taste. I trace how food markets reveal what — and who — we value.

Eating as Belonging: Everyday Life in Tijuana If you really want to understand a city, don’t start with its landmarks, start with its...