Food news antipasto

People are probably tired of hearing about the coronavirus, but the severe fallout keeps making headlines. One that might be interesting to our Members is that the sun may be setting on California’s beloved Sunset Magazine. Due to a drop in advertising, the publication is laying off workers and its future is now in doubt.

Restaurants around the world are reeling, and some are switching gears to stay afloat. Even the world’s top eateries are not immune. Chicago’s Alinea is offering takeout service. On Wednesday, you could get a reheatable meal of comfort food – beef short rib Wellington – for $34.95 USD per person.

This week KitchenAid unveiled its latest color for small appliances. Named Kyoto Glow, the color is a cheery chartreuse yellow. KitchenAid describes Kyoto Glow as a “color bright enough to refresh, but balanced enough to provide tranquility”. If you have been planning an upgrade to your food processor or stand mixer, you now have another color from which to choose.

Speaking of stand mixers, I have been giving mine a workout with cooking and baking projects. Even friends who don’t normally bake have been dipping their toes into the water, but when you are new to baking it can be a bit overwhelming. If you are looking for an article to give you a few pointers in the baking arena, The Guardian (Australian edition) has just posted an excerpt from Natalie Paull’s new book Beatrix Bakes. The excerpt tells us eight ways we can all become better bakers.

If you find that spending so much time looking at gorgeous food on Instagram is causing you to overeat, do what I did and follow some great kitchen design professionals. That way you can still get your ‘kitchen fix’ without getting the munchies. One of my favorites is deVOL Kitchens. Their combination of old world looks with modern colors is inspiring (although it also makes me want to take a sledgehammer to our dated kitchen cabinets). Other great IG home/kitchen design accounts to follow are homepolish, Humphrey Munson, and Jersey Ice Cream Company.

Since it’s no longer prudent to run to the store for a single ingredient needed in a recipe, now is an excellent time to revisit substitutions you can make if you are missing one component of a dish. The Huffington Post recently published a list of food substitutions, listing items you can swap for ingredients like eggs, butter, and dairy products. Allrecipes.com has an even longer list of substitutes that includes leaveners, spices, and nuts. In addition, Jenny recently posted on how to create your own wild yeast starter.

Earlier this week we reported on companies that have taken to offering recipes or cooking lessons for free. In a twist, the latest announcement involves new classes that are not free – but that benefit restaurant employees. Sean Brock, James Beard Award-winning chef, is launching virtual cooking classes. He plans to use income generated by the classes to pay the staff at his shuttered restaurants.