This week I wanted only one thing in a recipe: heat. I mean, when you can send a photo of the weather app displaying -8 F along with a message that says “I’m glad it’s warming up,” temperature is all that matters. Thank you to girlmakesfood.com for this hot, hot chili for a cold, cold night.

All kinds of special foods symbolize the New Year around the world, including sauerkraut, fish, and, yes, black-eyed peas. One of the great things about black-eyed peas is that they do not require pre-soaking. This recipe came to me this week from Jean Nadeau, who has been following YHIOYP since the very beginning. If you don’t happen to have any of these fancy little pasta, then just toss in some elbow macaroni, whole-grain if you can find them. Thank you, Jean!

Despite the calendar, it’s wintertime in Cleveland. Can’t get the chill out of your bones? This one-pot meal is the perfect remedy. It makes the house smell great and keeps you in leftovers for days. If you happen to be lucky enough to have a cast iron skillet, you can use it for this recipe. But if you (like me) don’t, any ovenproof pot will do.

Sometimes you’re just aching for something sweet, spicy and homey to warm you from the inside out. You know what I mean? If it sounds like I’m describing you, then try this recipe. Sundays are a great day for this one.

This week I’m channeling my inner Mark Bittman. Not sure whether it’s his common sense approach, or his love of old chefs and recipes, or the contented look on his face as a bit of fresh tomato sauce drips off his chin. This recipe is adapted from Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express.

Right now I’m guessing that there’s a turkey, or turducken, or tofurkey, or stuffed pumpkin in your house, being readied for your great big Thanksgiving celebration. You don’t need fresh ideas, just a good-sized oven. But come Friday, when you’re looking for things to do with your leftovers, this recipe will be a welcome choice. The original version, from which it is adapted, may be found at kitchenparade.com.

On the wall alongside my desk at work, I put up a bumper sticker that says “I ♥ Crock Pots!” And it’s no exaggeration. There is something about slow cooking that draws the best from ingredients, blending them together in a most extraordinary way, filling our home with scents so sublime that we have been awakened by them as they cooked through the night, and then warming us, body and soul, with complex flavors at once sweet, spicy, sour, and umami.

So this is a very good time to start thinking about what’s going to be on your Thanksgiving menu this year. Since I am a cranberry fiend, and I absolutely adore ginger, I consider it the perfect recipe!

If you avoid candy and sweets most of the time, the relish should be sufficiently sweet to eat by itself, as is, on your fork. If, on the other hand, you’re still working on taming that sweet tooth, then plan to spread it on a slice of turkey, or drop a spoonful in a bowl of squash soup. If it’s still really not quite sweet enough for you, add a few drops of warmed raw honey. Thank you to eatingwell.com for yet another opportunity to eat well.