Sometimes, deep in the season of winter comfort food, I just need a break. I crave a lighter dinner that doesn’t necessarily reflect the outside temperature, but makes me feel great.

This Shrimp and Grapefruit Fennel Salad is my favorite “reset meal” at this time of year.

Not only does it take advantage of peak season grapefruit and the natural flavor pairing of shrimp and citrus, but it literally comes together in 20 minutes or less. No exaggeration, just zesty culinary magic!

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It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a slow cooker recipe here on the blog. But behind the scenes, I’ve been using this versatile appliance for meals as often as I can (usually making crockpot soups like my chicken parmesan soup).

I like being able to get the minimal prep work for dinner out of the way in the morning (I work on it while my coffee brews), and then being able to sit down to dinner after a hard day’s work without much additional effort at all.

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On my Thanksgiving table, it’s a tale of two stuffings. There’s my recreation attempt of Jeff’s grandma’s stuffing, which I get a little closer to perfecting each year. And then there’s a secondary stuffing.

Well, I shouldn’t call it secondary, because in no way is this stuffing a second fiddle. It’s my chance to experiment. One time, I did a lentil & mushroom stuffing. Last year, I did a chorizo and cornbread stuffing. This year, I’ll be making this Apple, Bacon & Fennel Stuffing.

Side note: in Michigan, we call it “stuffing,” whether or not it’s stuffed into the actual bird (mine never is). I know it technically should be called “dressing,” but that’s just not what we say here. Moving on . . .

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In this monthly series, I commit to cooking whatever is on the cover of Bon Appetit, Saveur or maybe some other food magazine. There’s a reason these particular dishes are on the cover – they’re usually the best recipes in the magazine.

I guess you could say I cooked the Grandma pizza from the cover of Bon Appetit’s October 2014 issue, if you’re willing to overlook the facts that I didn’t make my own sauce, got lazy and didn’t make homemade crust (even though I know how to now, especially for Detroit style pizza), forgot to buy fresh mozzarella and just used the cheap stuff, and only used one type of soppressata.

I mean, sometimes life just happens. Also, many of Bon Appetit’s recipes are simply too complicated for me. And I’m willing to guess that if they’re too complicated for somebody who spends half her day in the kitchen, then they’re probably too complicated for the average Joe. Regardless, the combination of soppressata and fennel on this Grandma pizza was a winner.

Speaking of The Average Joe, I noticed while I was in Italy that there were A LOT of guys named Fabio around. Most of them were just totally average looking. So, I’m thinking that in Italy, The Average Joe = The Average Fabio?

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