Preheat That Oven

Now that it's cool outside, I'm psyched to cook again. (When your kitchen is just one teensy wall of your living room and your oven door doesn't quiiiiite shut, summer cooking really does make for an Amazon apartment.) Last year, in addition to leaving torn-out pages of Gourmet and Real Simple (because apparently I'm 40 and love reading the tips on alterna uses for wax paper?) around the apt., I embraced The Silver Spoon—and ultra-classic Italian cookbook that was first published in 1950 but didn't go English until 2005—and The Art of Simple Food—the latest from the Chez Panisse goddess Alice Waters. I also finally learned which vegetables and fruits actually grow in the winter thanks in a large part to Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: potatoes, squash, leeks, carrots, sweet potatoes, apples, brussels sprouts, pears. Yes, it's totally weird that at 24 I didn't grasp seasonality.

ANYWAY, two of my fave sweater weather recipes come from these two cookbooks.

Leeks Viniagrette, adapted from The Art of Simple Food
4 servings

12 small leeks or 6 medium leeks
-Trim 'em, clean 'em, and cut 'em up into pieces the length of your pinkie finger. Cook for 5-10 min in boiling salted water, depending on how much bite you want. Test like pasta, and—when they're ready—drain and rinse with cool water to stop the cooking.
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
-In the bowl you want to serve these puppies in, mix the vinegar and mustard and then whisk in the oil. I like dressings tangy, but if you don't use more oil and less vinegar. Add the salt and peps, throw in the leeks, and toss until everything is slicked with vinaigrette.

Glazed Carrots with Lemon, adapted from The Silver Spoon
4 servings

3 medium carrots
-Peel them and slice them into silver dollar-sized disks. If you have a mandoline, use it. Soak the carrots in a bowl of cool H2O for 15 min. w/ a pinch of salt and then drain them.
2 pearl onions
-Chop them up finely.
3 tablespoons butter
juice of one lemon
lemon zest of a 1/2 lemon (optional)
-In a skillet, melt the butter on medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 min., stirring now and then. Dump in the lemon juice and zest (if you're using) and cook for a couple min. Add the orange guys and cook for 10-15 min. (stirring regularly), depending on how soft you like your cooked carrots.