In The Lost Recipe for Happiness, by Barbara O’Neal, chef Elena Alvarez has good reasons to celebrate The Day of the Dead with great gusto. Here are two recipes, one for Mayan Hot Chocolate, and one for Pan de Muerto.

Barbara O’Neal is enjoying the bounty of farmer’s markets, making jam, and lazing around before getting back to work

I’m sure everyone in the world has thought of doing this but me–but you know how it is when you [...]

It’s a cold winter afternoon, the kind when winter blisters past the windows, turning everything blue. Inside, I am kneading bread. Not in a bread machine but with my own palms and wrists. The dough is whole wheat, heavy and thick, and it takes muscle to punch it down, to knead and fold and press, then turn it, fold it, press it again. Over and over. For such a glutinous dough, it will take ten minutes to break it down, then a couple of hours to rise and lighten, another round of kneading before I nestle it into glass bread pans to rise one more time.

My new book will be out in January, and I’d love to include some reader recipes. Post one to the comments or email me with one to have a chance.

A great review from a kitchen professional on THE LOST RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS by Barbara O’Neal.

Readers of The Lost Recipe for Happiness who live outside the southwestern US might not know how to roast chiles. A simple recipe to roast a small batch, along with a link to a good recipe for green chile stew.

I needed to bake something today (to make up for my distastrous muffins last week) and decided upon scones. Apricot [...]

 Week before last, TOP CHEF had a challenge that involved cooking the “last supper” of a group of individual famous [...]

I actually thought I’d posted this recipe already, but I must have posted it on a private loop somewhere.
As promised [...]