Cookbook authors don’t have it easy

Even though cookbook sales surged during the first year of the pandemic and were growing at a crisp pace even before then, cookbook authors still face many challenges. At Tasting Table, Jill Barth runs down the obstacles that would-be authors will encounter as they look for that gold mine of a publishing deal. Cookbooks may be selling like hotcakes, but… read more

Ice cream’s cool history

a single scoop of chocolate ice cream sits inside a waffle cone. The background is a blank white canvas so the cone stands out.
With the temperature in my area hovering around triple digit mark, eating only cold foods sounds like a splendid plan. Ice cream ranks near the top of the list of enjoyable cold foods - nothing beats a waffle cone heaped with scoops whatever flavor calls out to me that day. The origin story of ice cream, like many foods, is… read more

Exploring the softer side of celery

Most of us experience celery as a garnish to wings or a Bloody Mary, or perhaps as an afternoon snack loaded with peanut butter or squeeze cheese. But this fibrous vegetable offers a lot more than crunch (and strings in your teeth), explains Michael Harlan Turkell. He provides ideas for showcasing the rich and earthy flavors that cooked celery offers.… read more

Food news antipasto

Jane and I have returned home following a whirlwind weekend in Chicago, where we attended the James Beard Media Awards ceremony. Today the JBF announces the winners of its Restaurant and Chef Awards and yesterday they honored recipients of the 2022 Leadership Awards. I was a little star struck when the elevator doors opened and standing right in front of… read more

James Beard Cookbook Award winners

The James Beard Foundation announced the winners of its 2022 Cookbook Awards tonight in a ceremony held in Chicago which Jane and Darcie attended (Jenny had to cancel at the last minute and is here working on this post that Darcie set up for her). EYB is proud to say that Jenny was selected to be on the James Beard… read more

Favorite road foods

Jane, Jenny, and I will be attending the James Beard Foundation Cookbook Awards ceremony this Saturday in Chicago. This will be my first major trip in two years, and I am looking forward to it - not only because I will be seeing two of my favorite people and attending the JBF ceremony, but because I will be able to… read more

The fascinating career of Freida DeKnight

Freida DeKnight holds the distinction of being the first food editor at Ebony Magazine, but the journey that brought DeKnight from Topeka, Kansas to this prestigious career is a fantastic story in itself. You can learn about it, and about DeKnight's influence on cooking that extends to this day, in a short podcast by The Sporkful. The episode is the… read more

2022 Gourmand Cookbook Awards

This year marks the 27th Anniversary of the Gourmand Cookbook Awards. The awards are split into Food Culture Awards and Drink Culture Awards. Each category contains four winners, considered the “Best in the World” for their respective topics or regions. The list is sprawling and contains worldwide submissions for various cities, countries, and subjects, including Food Books Fighting Covid 19,… read more

Food news antipasto

If you are over 50 and lived in the United States from the 1960s to 1980s, chances are good that you ate at a Howard Johnson's restaurant or stayed in a Howard Johnson's motel. The orange-roofed buildings are part of Americana - or at least they were, since the sole remaining Howard Johnson's restaurants has closed its doors for good.… read more

The foods that inspired chefs

Many chefs tell stories about the foods that led them to become interested in a culinary career. Sometimes it involves cooking with their mother or grandmother, while other times the inspiration came from outside the home. CNN recently profiled four chefs - two famous and two relative newcomers - about the foods that made them embark on their culinary journey.… read more

Dive into vintage Neighbor Lady cookbooks

If you love regional cookbooks from the post-war era, it's your lucky day. I recently stumbled across a trove of vintage pamphlet-style cookbooks that a dedicated fan has recently scanned for free viewing and downloading. The cookbooks are part of a series published by WNAX Radio, based in the small town of Yankton, South Dakota. The AM-radio station broadcast over… read more

When there are too many notes

There is a scene in the 1984 movie Amadeus when the Emperor tells Mozart that while his new composition was good, it did suffer from a flaw: there were simply too many notes. My husband feels the same way about recipes. Whenever I rattle off a long recipe title when pitching something I might want to make for dinner, he… read more

Another warning about self-cleaning ovens

A hand in a yellow cleaning glove wipes across the face of an oven
A couple of years ago I wrote about one person's screed against self-cleaning ovens, an article that attracted a lot of comments on the subject. The post I took issue with was filled with hyperbole (“The self-clean button opens a portal to hell”) but lacked substance. I said pish-posh and stated that I would continue to use my self-cleaning oven… read more

Food news antipasto

If you live in the UK or are planning a trip there, The Evening Standard has just published a list of the best food festivals happening this summer. Highlights include the Kew Gardens' Food Forever Event which "is an art exhibition, food festival and sustainability lesson rolled into one," and a picnic social at Lincoln Castle. Jean-Georges Vongerichten's influence on the world… read more

A lazy person’s guide to smoking

My husband is one of those old-fashioned "lump-hardwood-charcoal-is-king" kind of barbecue smoking dudes. There is no denying that his old-school methods turn out wonderful smoked chickens, turkey breasts, ribs, briskets, and pork butts. However, the work involved is not insignificant, there is a lot of fussing and fiddling to be done, and that means we do not get to enjoy… read more

Debunking myths about cheese

Assorted cheeses on a rustic wooden board
As with many foods, there are some "old wives' tales" about cheese that persist despite factual evidence to the contrary. I'm not talking about the myth that the moon is made of cheese, which I hope no one believes (although some people still think the earth is flat so....). Janet Fletcher of Planet Cheese, an expert on all things cheesy,… read more

Comfort food isn’t always enough

You have all probably heard the heart-wrenching news out of Texas, where another mass shooting took place at an elementary school. Twenty-one families mourn an unspeakable loss, and a nation again grieves. For those outside the US who are aghast at the frequency with which these events occur, I wish I could explain why we have done nothing to prevent… read more

Food news antipasto

Chef and philanthropist José Andrés is always in motion. Whether he is flying to the latest disaster scene or hosting a bipartisan gathering of Senators to discuss ways to solve world hunger, he is busy trying to find solutions to seemingly intractable problems. Veteran Hollywood producer Ron Howard followed the globetrotting chef for a year to make a documentary on… read more

Have you Phoodled yet?

If you have been living on a remote island isolated from all social media you may not have encountered Wordle, the word game recently purchased by The New York Times (and still free - so far). The simple game has amassed a huge following and has spawned many knockoffs including Heardle (featuring sounds), Quordle (play four Wordles at once with… read more

Keep your edge in the kitchen

Keeping your knives sharp is one of the best things a home cook can do to make their cooking tasks faster and more precise. For instance, a sharp blade will allow you cut thinner slices of onion and help keep you from crying (because fewer cells that release the pungent aroma are crushed). With all of the gadgets available and… read more

The history of to-go container art

Over the last two years, it seems as though I have eaten more takeout orders than I did in all pre-COVID years combined. So many of us were eating to-go orders that restaurants ran out of containers and had to scramble to find something in which to put their food. One Mexican restaurant near me went through four different types… read more

Guild of Food Writers announces 25th Anniversary Awards finalists

The UK Guild of Food Writers has published the list of finalists for its 25th anniversary annual Awards. The winners will be announced at an in-person event at London's Royal Institution on Wednesday, 22 June 2022. Below is a selection of the finalist categories and nominees. There is a fair amount of overlap between this list and the Fortnum and… read more

Food news antipasto

Mario Batali's trial for sexual misconduct wrapped up this week in Boston, with a jury issuing a not guilty verdict. The charges stemmed after a woman accused Batali of forcibly kissing and groping her at a Boston bar in 2017. Batali still faces a civil trial in the matter, but he will not face any jail time. Will the former… read more

Fortnum & Mason Food Awards 2022

The Fortnum & Mason Food Awards celebrate their tenth anniversary highlighting the best in food and drink writing and broadcasting in the UK. In a blurb on the awards home page, F&M CEO Tom Athron's noted the milestone by saying "In 2022 we celebrate ten years of discovering and championing the achievements of the UK’s writers, editors, publishers, photographers and… read more

The Art of Eating Prize for 2022

The Art of Eating magazine first appeared in 1986 in the form of an eight-page black-and-white newsletter written by Edward Behr. After three decades in print, it transformed into a digital-only, advertising-free magazine with subscribers and contributors around the world. The magazine is about the best food and wine – what it is, how it is produced, and where to find it… read more
Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!