Pumpkin Ravioli with Herbal Butter Sauce

Use wonton wrappers to make this a doable weeknight dish

Love homemade ravioli, but can’t spare the time to make it? Well, we have a handy shortcut.

Wonton wrappers are a great substitute for homemade pasta when you’re making ravioli. Their taste and texture are similar, and you can buy them ready-to-use at most grocery stores.

This method is so convenient, you’ll be able to make ravioli for weeknight dinner. And it’s so tasty, you can serve it at weekend dinner parties, too.

Your grateful guests will think you labored all day in the kitchen. We won’t tell if you don’t.

Pumpkin and Pork Chili

Perfect for Halloween. And you can freeze the leftovers for Thanksgiving eve!

It’s pumpkin season in our part of the world. Chili season too.

So, hey, pumpkin chili. Pumpkin adds unique flavor (not to mention a rich, creamy texture), and it plays well with pork.

Sounds like a trick, we know. But it’s a real treat.

Curried Cauliflower and Chicken Soup

This Indian-style dish is comfort food at its finest

We admit it: As cooler weather moves into our part of the world, we turn into soupaholics.

And this hearty curried soup is becoming one of our faves. We made it with odds and ends we happened to have in the refrigerator (some leftover roast chicken and half a head of cauliflower that needed using).

Best of all, we put it together in about half an hour, so it made an easy weeknight dinner. And it tastes way better than anything you can buy in those red-and-white cans.

The Journalist Cocktail

Stop the presses! You’ll need one of these to survive election season

The political news lately has been . . . interesting. So let’s raise a glass to the journalists who insist on bringing it to us.

Journalists are reputed to be hard-living, hard-drinking folks – with a particular fondness for gin. So this drink is a fitting honor for them. And it has enough clout to soothe our nerves during the closing days of this presidential campaign.

So mix up a batch and remind yourself that the election will soon be over. Then no news will be good news.