Various fresh vegetables including tomatoes, carrots, radishes, green beans, green onions, cherries, and yellow mushrooms on a blue surface.

Cook With Us

Good food starts with good ingredients — and the courage to step into the kitchen with an open heart. Cook With Us is where we share seasonal recipes, kitchen stories, and the techniques that help us create meaningful meals at home.

Whether you’re cooking for a crowd or making something simple on a weeknight, we hope these posts and videos inspire you to slow down, cook with intention, and fall in love with the seasons.

Resources for Learning Seasonal Cooking Techniques

These posts and videos help home cooks understand ingredients, build skills, and learn how to cook seasonally.

Seasonal Recipes & Kitchen Stories

Baking, Cake Lisa Balcom Baking, Cake Lisa Balcom

Baharat Coffee Cake

This Baharat coffee cake is layered with a warm spiced brown sugar filling and topped with a buttery crumb, finished with powdered sugar and a final dusting of Baharat for a beautifully aromatic twist.

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Cardamom Lime Pie with Swiss Meringue

This cardamom lime pie features a silky condensed-milk lime custard brightened with citrus zest and warm spice, all baked in a flaky blind-baked crust and topped with billowy Swiss meringue. A fragrant twist on classic key lime pie.

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Baking, Grains Lisa Balcom Baking, Grains Lisa Balcom

Warm & Toasty Ginger Granola

Warm, Toasty, and Perfect for Late Winter

Granola is one of those recipes that feels almost too easy for how satisfying it is. The scent alone — warm cinnamon and ginger mingling with toasted oats and almonds — fills the house in a way that makes everything feel softer and slower.

This is the time of year when winter starts running out of steam but spring hasn’t quite arrived. That’s when we lean into grain-forward breakfasts and start reaching for the jams and preserves we tucked away last summer. A bowl of yogurt topped with this granola and a spoonful of homemade jam? Absolute perfection.

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Soups, Chicken Lisa Balcom Soups, Chicken Lisa Balcom

Chicken & Dumplings

Cozy, Hearty, and Made for Cold Nights

This is the kind of meal that fills the kitchen with the smell of simmering herbs and makes everyone wander in asking when dinner will be ready. Tender chicken, sweet root vegetables, and pillowy dumplings come together in one big pot of comfort. The dumplings steam gently over the simmering broth, creating that classic fluffy texture that makes this dish unforgettable.

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Dessert Lisa Balcom Dessert Lisa Balcom

Butterscotch Budino

This butterscotch budino is a luxurious Italian-style pudding, deeply caramelized with brown sugar and finished with just enough Scotch to round out its warmth. Whisked egg yolks and a touch of cornstarch give it that signature budino texture—silky, glossy, and rich. The moment the sugar starts to smoke and turn spotty is when the magic happens: a smoky edge that gives this comforting dessert a grown-up twist.

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Vegetables, Entrees Lisa Balcom Vegetables, Entrees Lisa Balcom

Rutabaga Cacio e Pepe

A cozy low-carb twist on the Roman classic

This rutabaga cacio e pepe is a wintery, root-vegetable take on a Roman classic. Spiralized rutabaga stands in for pasta, offering a sweet-earthy bite that pairs beautifully with a creamy, peppery Pecorino sauce. It’s simple, fast, and deeply satisfying—perfect for weeknights or light winter dinners.

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Cake, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom Cake, Dessert, Baking Lisa Balcom

Vanilla Bean Pound Cake

A simple, elegant classic with rich vanilla flavor. This vanilla bean pound cake is tender and deeply aromatic, thanks to real vanilla paste and rich cream. The method keeps the crumb light and fine—whipping the eggs and sugar to a ribbon stage before folding in flour and emulsified butter. It’s the kind of cake that’s perfect with a cup of tea, layered with fruit and cream, or simply dusted with powdered sugar.

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Cook With Us — Live & In the Kitchen

We host relaxed, seasonal cook-alongs on YouTube so you can cook right beside us — asking questions, learning techniques, and having some fun in the kitchen along the way.

If you’d like to join live next time, you’re always welcome. We host our weekly show at 6 PM EST every Sunday. Just hop on YouTube and join the show, engage with us or the rest of our followers.

Otherwise, feel free to explore past episodes below anytime the cooking mood strikes. We link our shopping lists in the show notes so you can shop for the video in advance.