Whether it’s American (bourbon), Scottish (Scotch), or made in a pot still and aged at least three years in wood (Irish whiskey) it is beloved the world over. With St. Patrick’s day on the horizon it’s a good excuse to get to know Ireland’s national spirit: whiskey. Perhaps the first thing to know is that…

Indulging in Desserts this Valentine’s Day? Similar to love, it took the Heartwood team a few tries to get this year’s Valentine’s Day dessert just right. Chef Varin and Amanda Reed are constantly reworking recipes and adjusting the most minute flavors, textures, and ingredients to create an intriguing pairing. In this case, a yogurt panna…

With its easygoing nature, panna cotta—Italian for “cooked cream”—makes for a spectacular holiday dessert. The essence of simplicity, it can be altered to suit any occasion—built savory with cauliflower and morels in spring, created to uplift with spices and citrus in winter, or made sweetly with vanilla and strawberries in summer. Panna cotta provides a…

Recreating the Red Ryder cocktail has become one of my favorite holiday traditions. I came up with this recipe years ago for a holiday pairing dinner with cinnamon as the theme, and have made it for friends and family ever since. Not only is this cocktail seasonal and festive; it is also easy to make…

The stretch between roasted pumpkin seeds and pumpkin pie—the weeks between now and Thanksgiving—is ripe with opportunities to work with pumpkin. So, we tapped Chef Varin for a gourd-ish twist on desserts for the holiday season. He gave us an alternative to the standard pumpkin pie recipe: an effortless pumpkin cake. “As summer winds down and…