Your excellent profile, photos, and introduction letters have now paid off. You found a girl/guy that has piqued your interest, and you have been emailing back and forth for a while. That led to a couple of phone calls and now the two of you have planned your first date. However, let’s discuss a few things before you go out.

Here are three recipes from courtesy chef, media personality and food publicist Karine Backhoum, which are perfect for winter. We hope you take the time to try them out!

As the holiday winds down, think you can eat one more fried delectable? I offer you these tasty and simple homemade doughnuts. They puff up light and airy making it all the easier to scarf down more! Don’t worry, there is always next week to get back on the diet!

From wedding registry re-gifts passed down from the newly married to that ever-so-useful stash of Starbucks certificates, regardless of religious denomination or region, when it comes to gift giving singles might as well be on the receiving end of a bag of fake chocolate gelt. The holidays should be magical for everyone, so in the spirit of fairness, SingleEdition.com has assembled this Chanukah Gift Guide for singles to pass along to friends and family!

At your next Chanukah party, why stop at topping the fried crispy beauties with just applesauce or sour cream? Have a latke bar. Place a large platter of latkes out and add bowls of toppings. Let your guests customize their own latkes. Forget the stress and supplement the latke bar with store bought goodies as well. You can add purchased chutney, salsa, caviar, chopped onions, chopped chives and fresh herbs.

I recently fell in love. No, not with a match made on 100hookup (I am married) but with a relatively little known ingredient. I am absolutely smitten with Jerusalem artichokes. I am using them in EVERYTHING. I had toyed with them on menus in my restaurants and have written about them in my latest book, hookup Slow Cooker Recipes (John Wiley and Sons), but I have really fallen head over heels this season with these ugly ducklings of the vegetable world. (There is a lesson in this for everyone on 100hookup!) I am putting them to use in soups, gratins and purees, and next week for Chanukah I am putting them in my latkes – stay tuned for that recipe next week. Yum!

Something incredible happens the moment December arrives: streets and storefronts are suddenly illuminated, snow promises to fall and holiday party hopping begins in full swing. Yet what truly makes this time of year so magical is that deep down we all believe miracles can happen. If what you are wishing for is a little romance or a fling, odds are in your favor this time of year. Spirits tend to be higher and people get out more to travel, shop, socialize and play.

It’s the busiest travel day of the year. Millions of Americans will be boarding planes and trains or piling into their cars with one thing on the mind:  Thanksgiving – a day of touchdowns, turkey and talk. As you make your way through the crowded lines at the terminal and/or toll booths, you start to experience that uneasy and all too familiar feeling. And though you are heading home to be with family and friends for the holidays, the thought of it is already making your head spin.

Don’t want to find endless ways to use up turkey leftovers? Don’t want to babysit a whole turkey? Try a crispy-savory schnitzel. I love quick-easy to make schnitzels. I often make them out of the obligatory chicken and veal. Then, I got crazy one day and made duck schnitzel and it was a hit. See my first cookbook hookup COOKING FOR ALL SEASONS (John Wiley and Sons). So, why not turkey? Fast, easy crunchy and no troubling leftovers. I love it!

With Thanksgiving and Chanukah quickly approaching, many individuals, like suddenly single Sophie, confess to feeling outright panic. “I was supposed to spend the holidays with my family but due to salary cuts, I have had to put all my travel plans on hold” was how she put it when we tried to delve further.

One of the reasons that Sophie and other singles feel so stressed at this time of year is because the expectations are so incredibly high. It‘s hard not to feel overwhelmed but with the right frame of mind, time, and a plan of action, the time spent alone can be equally delicious.