Crispy Shredded Hash Brown Potaotes

This easy homemade dish beats your local diner’s version

We love breakfast potatoes. And we can eat them any style. But given our druthers, we’ll go for hash browns every time.

We particularly crave the kind of hash browns you can find at any diner. It’s hard to beat those thin, crispy cakes of shredded potatoes. Especially when they’re cooked until both sides are crusty brown.

So serve up these hash browns on Thanksgiving morning (or the day after). And bask in the happy smiles of your guests.

Cornmeal Pancakes

These updated “johnnycakes” are festive breakfast fare

Who doesn’t like pancakes for breakfast? Or lunch or dinner? They’re wonderful anytime.

And they seem particularly suited to festive occasions. Such as Thanksgiving morning (or the morning after).

Cornmeal makes an especially succulent pancake, as colonial Americans discovered. Early European settlers practically lived on a version of cornmeal pancakes called “johnnycakes.”

So what could be more appropriate at Thanksgiving time? Bet you never knew that history could be so tasty.

Spicy Roast Winter Squash Soup

Healthy flavor for hearty winter appetites

Our local markets are laden with colorful winter squash. So here at Kitchen Riffs central, that means it’s time for soup.

You can dish up this soup as the starter for an elegant cold-weather dinner. Or for a main course, just serve a large bowl of soup with crusty bread or salad. It’s a whole meal.

Soup’s on!

The Yale Cocktail

Hints of violet add zest to this aromatic drink

It’s back to school time (again).

Last month we featured The Harvard Cocktail. So it’s only fitting that we now highlight a drink named after Harvard’s great ivy league rival, Yale University.

Especially since November is when many US colleges meet their traditional foes on the football field to decide which school gets bragging rights for the year.

In the spirit of unbiased research, we’ll drink to both sides.