Appetizers

My neighbor, a retired art teacher named Mrs. Gable, watched me wrestling a jumbo bag of baby carrots out of my grocery cart last October. … Read more

I was standing in the grocery store aisle last October, staring at a bag of tortilla chips, when the smell of cumin and lime hit … Read more

There used to be a tiny, dimly lit wine bar tucked behind a vintage bookstore in my old neighborhood that made the most incredible cheese … Read more

It was 11:47 PM on a random Wednesday in late October, and I had a very specific craving for something ridiculous. I didn’t have the … Read more

I was at the accountant’s office last October, waiting to go over some boring quarterly numbers, when Mr. Henderson—a man who wears suspenders and talks … Read more

The power went out halfway through the neighborhood trick-or-treat rush last October. One minute, the streetlights were buzzing with that familiar orange glow, and the … Read more

The Halloween party was in twenty minutes and I had absolutely nothing. The grocery store was closed, the neighbors were already arriving with their elaborate … Read more

There used to be a pop-up Halloween experience called “The Haunted Manor” on the edge of downtown that made Spooky Fun Mummy Meatball Skewers. When … Read more

It was 11:47 PM on a rainy Tuesday, and I craved something warm and weirdly specific. The house was quiet, except for the drumming of … Read more

My sister-in-law had claimed to hate cheese boards for years. She called them “adult grazing” and insisted they were just a pretext for standing around … Read more