The croissant revolution

You could say it started with the Cronut, Dominique Ansel's hybrid croissant and doughnut. That pastry sparked loads of imitators and innovators, with new croissant shapes and mashups springing up around the world. Many of these new takes are stunning to view, as The New York Times' Julia Moskin explains when she dives into the new takes on this flaky,… read more

Food news antipasto

Along the lines of "how many licks does it take to get the center of a Tootsie Pop", researchers at MIT asked another of food's most prominent questions: what's the best way to twist apart an Oreo? "I was personally motivated by a desire to solve a challenge that had puzzled me as a child: how to open an Oreo and get… read more

A brief history of brunch

When I was growing up, Sunday morning brunch was something I eagerly anticipated. It was always a family affair, when my mom would whip out the electric griddle and fry up bacon or sausage and pancakes, while hashbrowns crisped on the stovetop. Eggs of some sort always made an appearance, along with stacks of toast. Brunch happened at a reasonable… read more

Meeting food fears head on

Foods that some people adore can turn the stomachs of others, whether due to a prior encounter that did not end well or for other reasons. One of my friends cannot stand bananas, and won't even be in the same room if someone is eating one because the aroma makes her nauseated. Facing down an aversion like this is difficult,… read more

Union effort in food television gains traction

Although scripted television programs have long been highly unionized, the same is not true for reality and other nonfiction shows including most of the food programs on Food Network and other channels. That is beginning to change, as Eater reports. The workers behind two Food Network shows - Trisha’s Southern Kitchen and The Kitchen - have voted to form a union, the… read more

Don’t call it a comeback

In the late 2010s, Alison Roman was the "it" person in the land of viral food videos and was queen of cookbooks. Her debut, 2017's Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes and the follow up, 2019's Nothing Fancy: Unfussy Food for Having People Over, were NYT bestsellers and wowed EYB Members, with both landing in the top 70 books in the… read more

Food news antipasto

A recent TikTok trend has people boiling their wooden kitchen utensils in an effort to sanitize them. A video of someone giving her wooden spoons a bath in a vat of boiling water has over 49 million hits. One person who is not jumping on this bandwagon is Rachel Cooke. The daughter of microbiologists, she was taught that wood is… read more

GBBO announces new co-host Alison Hammond

In an Instagram post, the Great British Bake Off just confirmed who would be replacing Matt Lucas as co-host of the program along with Noel Fielding. Alison Hammond, the presenter of This Morning, will enter the tent for the upcoming season of the show. Hammond will be the first person of color to host or judge on the show since… read more

What’s the deal with all these ice cream flavors?

a single scoop of chocolate ice cream sits inside a waffle cone. The background is a blank white canvas so the cone stands out.
A few days ago an advertisement for Van Leeuwen's Hidden Valley Ranch-flavored ice cream passed through my news feed. I showed it to my husband who replied, succinctly, "No." This savory take on a beloved treat - matched with a major brand, in this case Kraft Foods - seems to be a growing trend. Not everyone is a fan, especially… read more

Mysterious food deliveries stymie L.A. neighborhood

Move over 'Murders in the Building' - there's a new mystery afoot, but it (thankfully) doesn't involve anyone being killed, just phantom deliveries from Uber Eats. Apparently a neighbor in Los Angeles is being vexed by a series of unwanted food deliveries from McDonald's and Starbucks - and no one can figure out who is ordering the food. The small… read more

Pi-e Day is a time to celebrate

I will always believe that today is the perfect date to celebrate pies because 3.14 (pi) is such an integral part of anything round. I noticed many people celebrating via posts on social media today, but even if you missed the "official" date, pie is so delicious that you can definitely have a makeup day. I ended up making a… read more

Food news antipasto

World Central Kitchen and José Andrés just announced that the organization is releasing a cookbook this September. According to an email, the WCK team has "gathered recipes from and inspired by many of the places our Relief Team has cooked following disasters and other crises worldwide, as well as sharing powerful narratives from the people and communities we’ve met along… read more

Movie-themed ideas for your Oscars party

The Academy Awards are coming up tomorrow, but it's not too late to make changes or additions to your Oscar party menu (or to start planning an impromptu get together if you haven't already done so). You might want to consider some of the recipes from The Washington Post, which came up with themed foods to match some of this… read more

GBBO making changes for 2023

While the Great British Bake Off musical may have received mixed reviews (at least one critic didn't think it was worthwhile but one of our Members and last year's winner Syabira Yusoff thought it was great), even die hard GBBO fans were a bit disappointed with the 2022 season. The show's producers have taken note of the criticism (and a… read more

Vintage cookbooks can fetch big prices

Do you have a pristine first edition Joy of Cooking or Mastering the Art of French Cooking in your collection? Or perhaps some older or more rare volumes? If so, you could be sitting on a gold mine, according to a recent article about vintage cookbooks. Says Nicole Sawyer, the co-founder of Chattic.com, an online community and marketplace for collectibles,… read more

Does the GBBO musical live up to the show?

The reviews are in for the musical adaptation of The Great British Bake Off, the series that bakers around the world adore. The big question is whether this stage show can live up to the fascinating charm of the television program, which is coming up on its fourteenth anniversary. According to Matt Wolf of The New York Times, the answer… read more

Food news antipasto

Looking for ways to get your kitchen better organized? Head over to The Kitchn, which recently posted about their favorite IKEA solutions to keep your cooking area tidy while also looking stylish. The products include utensil organizers, pegboards, and clip-on baskets. One of my favorite IKEA organizing products is their Hultarp series. I have three rails in my kitchen and… read more

Do chain restaurants deserve more respect?

My friends know that I love to cook, bake, and dine at nice restaurants, and sometimes this makes them self-conscious about food or dining out. If we are talking about a recent restaurant meal they enjoyed they might say something like "You probably wouldn't like that place, it's not very fancy, just a chain restaurant." While I have on occasion… read more

A 10-year scone sampling project

I admire dedication to a project, and if it involves food all the more so. This one features baked goods, making it rank even higher in my appreciation. Sarah Merker, from Isleworth, recently completed a 10-year quest to sample scones at every possible National Trust location, ranking each on her blog. Diana Henry's Easter scones from Diana Henry at The… read more

Yuzu is lemon’s mellower cousin

Yuzu is a form of citrus that has attracted fans well outside of its original East Asian place of origin. Cultivation of the fragrant fruit with floral overtones has expanded to the Mediterranean, New Zealand, and Australia, but whole fruits are still difficult to find in the U.S. However, it's fairly easy to find the juice, as Aleksandra Crapanzano explains… read more

Why refrigerators are bad for bread

You probably already know that storing bread in the fridge only hastens its demise, but freezing it is a good way to store it. That might seem contradictory - after all both are cold, right? It's not that simple, as Serious Eats' Dan Gritzer explains, providing us with the science behind the staling of bread. What causes that soft sandwich… read more

Food news antipasto

I found a lot of interesting tidbits this week, so let's just dive right in. First up is an edited excerpt in The Washington Post from a new book (not a cookbook) called Eat & Flourish: How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being by Mary Beth Albright. In the Wapo excerpt, Albright discusses how eating with others nourishes us in more ways than… read more

Massive air fryer recall issued

Cosori, a manufacturer of a popular brand of air fryers, recently announced a recall of over 2 million devices due to the risk of fire. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission informed people who own these appliances “should immediately stop” using them and contact the manufacturer to obtain a replacement at no charge. Cosori has created a website dedicated to the… read more

UK vegetable shortages could last weeks

UK shoppers looking for salad staples like tomatoes and cucumbers have been coming up short, as supplies of these produce items are extremely low right now. According to Environment Secretary Therese Coffey, these shortages could last two to four additional weeks. Supermarkets such as Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, and Tesco have imposed limits on how many of these vegetables customers can… read more

Celebrate National Margarita Day

Today is National Margarita Day in the United States. This is, of course, not an official holiday, but is one of the myriad food "celebration" days that highlight specific dishes, ingredients, and beverages. You can literally celebrate a different food every day if you so desire. These days range from National Cream Puff Day in January to Oatmeal Muffin Day in December. Pink… read more
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