Apparently, there is a global butter shortage and before you panic, there’s an easy solution at hand: make your own. Homemade butter is an excruciatingly easy process that will make you wonder what the catch is; hint: there isn’t one. Once you’ve made your beautiful butter, you can get into the business of making compound butter for endless flavor profiles. TABLE has some great recipes for you to try, here.

HOMEMADE BUTTER

2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon salt (Optional)

Directions

• Pour heavy cream into a food processor, blender, or mixer. Blend, shake, or whip on low and gradually add speed until solids separate from the liquid.

• Add the butter onto a cheesecloth, gather cloth from all sides, and twist until the remaining liquid is gone.

• Remove from the cheesecloth, and run the cloth butter under cold water

• Place your butter in a small bowl or container and add the salt or any number of flavors like fresh herbs or honey to give it a compound kick.

• Stick it in the fridge to extend its two-week shelf life.

Story and Recipe by Gabe Gomez

PUMPKIN RISOTTO RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

4 medium sized pie pumpkins, seeds removed

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

2 onions, chopped

4 clove garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

3 cups arborio rice

5 cups vegetable broth

1 cup white wine

3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan

4-5 fresh sage leaves

1 pinch nutmeg

1 pinch pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove the tops and scoop the seeds out of the 4 pie pumpkins, place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt.

Roast for roughly 30 minutes or until the pumpkins are fork tender and the edges are slightly browned. Set aside.

Peel and dice the onion and garlic.

Warm the oil and butter in a medium pan over a medium heat then add the onion. Cook for around 5 minutes until the onion softens.

Add the garlic and pumpkin puree and cook a few more minutes until it all softens.

Add the rice and cook for a minute or two then add white wine and simmer for one minute.

Add enough stock to cover the rice. Keep adding a little more stock (around ½ to 1 cup at a time) as the previous amount is absorbed, stirring now and then so that it doesn’t stick.

Once the last amount of stock is added, the rice should be about 3/4 of the way cooked. Add the cheese, nutmeg, sage and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Fill each roasted pumpkin with rice and top with more cheese, roast for 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and the risotto is cooked through.

Recipe and Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these other delicious recipes.

Savory Braised Apples

Roasted Squash Tartine with Honey Mascarpone

Twice-Baked Butternut Squash with Brie

Q: Why was the mummy so tense?

A: Because he was a wound up!

No need to stress over anything when you’re baking these little monsters. With a few store-bought ingredients, these cute Halloween pastries will leave everyone saying, “I want mummy.”

HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN PASTRIES RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

4 sheets pre-made pie dough

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup brown sugar1

tsp vanilla

1 egg

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 egg, for brushing

Googly eyes

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, egg and spice. Mix until evenly incorporated.

Cut pie dough into roughly 3” x 4” rectangles, reserving the scraps.

Fill each rectangle with 2 tbsp. filling and spread evenly, leaving 1/4 inch of the dough around all the edges.

Cut pie dough scraps into thin strips. Brush the edges of the dough with egg wash and arrange the pie dough scraps on top of each filled rectangle. You want them to be overlapping and irregular to look like a “mummy.”

Brush all the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar or sprinkles.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until dough is golden brown. Give each pastry a set of google eyes!

Recipe and Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these other Halloween recipes:

Halloween Candy Bark

Pumpkin Risotto

Earl of Darkness Chocolate Tart

Googly eyes on a candy surprise. With minimal instruction, kids can create this fun Halloween treat to share with the family.

HALLOWEEN CANDY BARK RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dark chocolate melting wafers

1 cup orange colored white chocolate melting wafers

1 cup white chocolate melting wafers

2 cups of your favorite candies, chopped

1/4 festive sprinkles (we love River Road!)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Place all 3 kinds of chocolate melting wafers onto the parchment paper, trying to keep them in a rectangle shape.

Place them into the oven just until they are melted.

With a spoon, swirl the chocolate to fill any gaps and to swirl the different colors together.

While the chocolate is still warm, top with candies and sprinkles.

Cool in the refrigerator for roughly 1 hour until the chocolate is completely set.

Crack the bark into irregular pieces

Recipe and Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these other Halloween recipes:

Halloween Mummy Pastries

Pumpkin Risotto

Earl of Darkness Chocolate Tart

Cookies are adaptable.

My usual M.O. is to make small cookies–you know, so you can take two and call me in the morning without too much guilt. But a houseful of teenagers may dictate saucer-sized cookies. You love oatmeal cookies but the thought of raisins makes you feel like you rode the Thunderbolt one too many times? Dried cranberries to the rescue; or chopped dates, or snipped apricots… You get the idea.

One of my favorite adaptable recipes is for snickerdoodles, those spicy, slightly old-fashioned, crunchy-along-the-rim-but-soft-in-the-middle treats that feel like a hug from your grandmother. My mother’s version when I was growing up included not just cinnamon, but a touch of ground clove, so obviously, they’re my favorite. But there are lots of other versions out there that I would be a fool to forego.

One such: Chai Snickerdoodles. I know, right? All the warm spice of a chai tea but in cookie form. Perfect for a blustery November afternoon.

CHAI SNICKERDOODLES RECIPE

(yield: 24)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1 cup butter, softened

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cardamomand allspice. Measure out a 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture in a shallow bowl and set aside.

3. With a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and remaining spiced sugar until smooth and whipped, about 3 minutes.Beat in eggs and vanilla.

4. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt onto a sheet of parchment or waxed paper; using the paper as a funnel, gradually add to the butter-sugar mixture and combine well without overmixing. Sifting is importanthere, as you really want the cream of tartar and baking soda to be evenly distributed amongst the dry ingredients before you beat them into the butter.

5. Using a #40 cookie scoop, portion dough into small balls and roll them in the reserved sugar mixture. Place 2 in. apart on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges begin to brown and set, but center remains soft. To ensure crunchy edges, cool for 2 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Store, covered, at room temperature.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

What makes these little gems so adaptable is the spice mixture. If you haven’t already overdosed on all things Pumpkin Spice by now, try subbing 1.5 tablespoons of your favorite PS mixture for the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, and allspice above.(I recommend making your own PS: 1 part cloves, 2 parts ginger, 2 parts nutmeg, 4 parts cinnamon).

Or how about this: skip the cinnamon, cardamom and allspice but add a heaping teaspoon of cracked black pepper, and you’re on your way to gingerbread or pfeffernusse. Or if you’re a purist, bump up to all cinnamon (although I’m telling you, a ¼ teaspoon of clove makes a world of difference…) .

Recipe and story by Doug Florey, aka Dr. Cookie/ Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these Doctor Cookie recipes as well.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Coconut Macaroons

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies

Cookies are timeless.

Like Labor Day barbeques, lemonade, and illegal backyard fireworks. Like fireflies in Mason jars.

Like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Or better yet, peanut butter eaten off the back of a spoon, while standing alone in a dark kitchen at 1 am. You know you’ve been there; we all have.

Peanut butter is timeless because it satisfies that troika of tastes: sweet, salty, and unctuously rich. Whether you prefer yours with strawberry jam, marshmallow fluff, or bacon and bananas, there is something about peanut butter that transcends time and returns us all to childhood.

You remember: sunny, hot September Sundays followed by long, gentle twilights, when your biggest concern was catching more lightning bugs than stuck-up Cousin Marigold, visiting from Connecticut.

Maybe cookies aren’t actually timeless–maybe they’re time machines.

PEANUT BUTTER SANDIES RECIPE

(yield: approximately 18)

Adapted from the New York Times

INGREDIENTS

1 stick butter, room temperature

¾ cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1 cup peanut butter–creamy or chunky, totally your call

1 egg

1 cup All-Purpose flour

Additional salt and sugar for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1.Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. With a hand mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and whipped, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the peanut butter and egg; mix until well incorporated. Add the flour and salt and stir just until combined.

4. Using a #40 cookie scoop, portion dough onto prepared pans. The cookie will be rough on the top, which is what you want. Since they don’t spread, and we aren’t using the tried-and-true fork crosshatching, the dough balls can be fairly close together on the cookie sheet. Just be sure to leave enough room between them to allow the air to circulate, so that they bake evenly.

5. In a small bowl, combine a tablespoon of sanding sugar (although regular white sugar works fine, too) with a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt. Using a pinch at a time, sprinkle this mixture over the top of each cookie. Don’t skip this step. Seriously.

6.Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until cookies are set and golden-brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for several minutes then carefully move them to racks to cool completely. Serve and store at room temperature.

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

By now, you know what I’m about to prescribe: chocolate. As always, use your favorite (in our house, that means a 4 oz bar of special dark) chopped into small shards and mixed by hand into the dough before scooping. Of course, you could always bake them unadulterated by chocolate, then dip the craggy tops into melted chocolate once the cookies have cooled. Or drizzle them with melted chocolate. Listen, it’s peanut butter and chocolate: you can’t go wrong.

Recipe and story by Doug Florey, aka Dr. Cookie/ Styling by Anna Calabrese / Photography by Dave Bryce

Try these Doctor Cookie recipes as well.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Coconut Macaroons

Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies