Food news antipasto

Sometimes it is easy to identify when a food has passed its ideal ripeness and has become a food safety concern as the food gets dried out, moldy, or has other telltale signs of spoilage. For some items it isn't that easy - take pickles for example. How can you tell if your pickles are going bad? Epicurious has the… read more

Celebrity chefs take branding to the next level

Celebrity chefs and lifestyle gurus like Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray have created vast empires of branded products that include cookware and food products sold at various retailers ranging from K-Mart to Williams-Sonoma. More recently, this concept has expanded to include entire stores dedicated to a single chef's curated product selection. This allows these celebrities to become a presence not… read more

Best sleeper books of 2022

Last year was a tremendous year for cookbooks so there are a lot of books to be excited about. Between Jenny's monthly new cookbook reviews, our Best Cookbooks by the Experts, Best of the Best cookbooks, and the forthcoming bestselling books of 2022, we pretty much have our Members covered for the top books. As with anything, however, sometimes there… read more

Quality cookware can’t make bad food taste good

We've frequently posted swoon-inducing photos of the latest offerings from cookware manufacturers like Le Creuset and Staub. They make tremendous products that can make cooking easier and help you create better meals. However, the mere presence of a gorgeous enameled cast iron pot is not sufficient to conjure deliciousness from bad ingredients or a bad recipe. Case in point: my… read more

Idris Elba is working on a cooking show

It's not every day that a bona fide movie star decides to do a cooking show, but Idris Elba is not your everyday actor. Apparently he is working on a program that will explore his roots as well as African cuisine. What's more, the show has sparked a bidding war between streaming services who are all vying to produce it.… read more

Food news antipasto

As one year rolls over into another, looking back is a natural inclination. Not content to just review the past year, Food and Wine ambitiously gazed back at the past 45 years and made a list of the biggest food trends that happened since the magazine launched in 1978. Grab a fondue pot, knock back a Tequila Sunrise, and read… read more

New Year’s food resolutions

Another year has flown by and here we are standing on the precipice of 2023 (our Australia and New Zealand Members are already there!). That means it's again time to consider resolutions for the new year. The Washington Post's Aaron Hutcherson is here to help us with ten simple ways we can start fresh in the kitchen (this is a… read more

I keep forgettin’

There's a 1980s song by Donald Fagan about him "forgetting" that he is no longer in a relationship with his ex. The lyrics of the chorus are "I keep forgettin' we're not in love anymore \ I keep forgettin' things will never be the same again." I am reminded of this song every time I visit certain food websites that… read more

Bestselling Canadian cookbook author Jean Paré dies at 95

One of Canada's most prolific and beloved cookbook authors, Jean Paré, passed away in Edmonton, Alberta this week at the age of 95. Beginning in 1981 with the publication of 150 Delicious Squares (Company's Coming) through 2018, when she co-authored Instant One-Pot Cooking (New Original), Paré wrote 200 cookbooks. Paré ran the three-generation publishing business called Company's Coming. "My grandma… read more

Playing the leftover game

What to do with the leftovers is the question of the day for everyone who has hosted a large gathering, so we are here with the compulsory answers to this perennial issue. We might have a few go-to favorites, but sometimes it's nice to venture outside of our comfort zone. That's what the experts at The Guardian offer with their… read more

Holiday memories, made new

I looked back today at what I wrote during the holidays in December 2019, a few months before the world was turned upside down. The post, about favorite holiday food memories, was about the dish of nuts that my grandparents always put out during the Christmas season. That memory is more poignant today because not only were traditions put on… read more

Test your food knowledge with this BBC Christmas food quiz

BBC Food created what it titled "The great big festive 2022 food quiz", which I felt sure I would do well taking. As it turns out, my confidence slightly exceeded my ability. My score on the main part of the quiz was respectable if not great, although I definitely need to work on my food-related music and movie trivia. Watching… read more

Baby it’s cold outside

Tomorrow, the wind chill is forecast to dip below -30°F in my neck of the woods. When it gets this cold, the first thing I do is count my many blessings that include a warm house and a well-stocked pantry. The second thing I do is set out to prepare my favorite warming foods to help combat the frigid temperatures… read more

Pastry chefs wow with edible holiday decorations

Gingerbread houses across the nation are suffering from a serious case of envy over the creations showcased in a recent Forbes article about amazing edible decorations from talented pastry chefs. While these displays are made from gingerbread, chocolate, and other foods, they are not meant to be eaten. Some of them take months to complete, only to be viewed for… read more

Food news antipasto

This week we learned of the passing of Cara De Silva, an award-winning journalist and James Beard Award Nominee, who focused on a broad range of subjects that include food and food history. De Silva is the author of In Memory's Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin, a compilation of remembered recipes written down by malnourished women in Terezin,… read more

Tied up in knots – the history of the pretzel

Pretzels have always held a special place in my heart (and stomach), whether the thin, crunchy kind you buy in bags at the supermarket or the soft, chewy type you find at pubs, often accompanied by a gooey cheese sauce. Carbs and salt - what's not to love? I never much thought about the history of pretzels, although after reading… read more

Bittman interviews Claudia Roden

It was a delight to stumble across a podcast featuring two of the most influential cookbook authors in the world talking about our favorite subject, which I found in Mark Bittman's interview with Claudia Roden, who sparked Western interest in Middle Eastern food. (Skip ahead to 3:00 to avoid advertisements). Bittman talks to Roden about Hanukkah traditions, the changing nature… read more

Food TV in 2022 – the good, the bad, and the ugly

When the Food Network debuted in 1993, it quickly became a go-to for food loving people who flocked to their TV sets to see shows that celebrated their favorite pastimes of cooking and eating. The network (which owes a lot of debt to public television programming) then spurred other cable television channels to put forth their own shows. When streaming… read more

Food news antipasto

As we enter peak holiday baking season, even people who don't bake a lot will be firing up their ovens to make the festive cookies, cakes, and pies of the season. This will involve copious amounts of butter, flour, eggs, and sugar. The last ingredient comes in many different forms, including granulated, powdered, various shades of brown, and even as… read more

In defense of recipes

There's been a proliferation in recent years of a different type of cookbook, one that deemphasizes recipes in favor of a more relaxed style of cooking. It it isn't exactly a recent trend - Pam Anderson wrote How to Cook Without a Book in 2000 and there are even older books in a similar vein - but it has gained… read more

You can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs

carton of eggs
In cooking or baking, sometimes the smallest action provides the biggest challenge. As I discovered when watching my husband make an omelet, one of these actions is cracking an egg. His approach is to crack the egg on the sharp edge of the mixing bowl, and his method almost always results in small shards of eggshell that he has to… read more

Top food trends of 2022

As we approach the end of the year, it's time to reflect on all that has happened in 2022. Jenny keeps us up to date on all of the cookbook happenings, so I am looking more broadly at food trends. Food and Wine recently reminisced on the top TikTok trends for the year. We reported on a couple of these… read more

Matt Lucas is leaving the GBBO

Next year's Great British Bake Off is going to look a little different, as one of the show's co-hosts, Matt Lucas, announced that he would not be returning to the program in 2023. In an Instagram post, he said that hosting has “been a delicious experience and I can’t imagine a more fun way of spending my summers. But it’s… read more

Food news antipasto

Food is a significant contributor to cultural heritage, and UNESCO recognizes exceptional food items by adding them to its Cultural Heritage List. The latest food to officially become part of the "intangible cultural heritage of humanity" is the French baguette. President Emmanuel Macron described the baguette as "250 grams of magic and perfection in our daily lives.” Dan Leader's 4-hour… read more

Can The Great American Baking Show match the GBBO?

The Roku Channel just launched the first episode in its new series The Great American Baking Show. It is a celebrity-baker, holiday-themed program so we don't yet get to meet the bakers who will be competing in the 'real' program, but it does give us a flavor of what to expect. I watched this first episode and so far I… read more
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