How to support local businesses (including cookbook stores)

March 18, 2020 by
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The restaurant industry is reeling during this chaotic time. Also feeling the pinch are independent booksellers, many of which have been forced to close their doors as cities institute strict policies on which stores can remain open during the pandemic. Many stores and restaurants are shifting how they do business in order to stay afloat, as most of them operate… read more

Food websites offer free access

March 17, 2020 by
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As more and more of us are staying home due to the coronavirus outbreak, people will be reversing the trend of eating out and will be making their own meals. Some of us are more accustomed to doing a lot of cooking at home but others will struggle. And after a few days, even those of us who like cooking… read more

The best spring cookbooks according to Epicurious

March 16, 2020 by
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While Jenny provides us all with great reviews of upcoming books, she is only one person and can't possibly review every new volume that is hitting store shelves. To help fill the gaps, occasionally we report about other sites that also provide us with insight on upcoming releases. Today we'll take a look at what Epicurious thinks are the 55… read more

Food news antipasto

March 15, 2020 by
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This week's news cycle has been dominated by measures being taken by countries around the world to slow the spread of the coronavirus. If you are staying home to avoid contact with others, you might want to take note of the recent Salon article on how to use citrus peel scraps to make better cocktails. Resourcefulness rules during times like… read more

Celebrate Pi(e) Day

March 14, 2020 by
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Today is the perfect day for bakers to celebrate both pi and pie due to the natural synergy between the two. Bakers use pi when scaling pie and cake recipes to determine the proper pan size, and of course, they also love to make pie, whether filled with fruit, custard, meat, or vegetables. Pie is universally appealing to everyone from… read more

Coronavirus takes its toll on the food industry

March 13, 2020 by
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While people have wiped the shelves bare of toilet paper, the concern about the spread of coronavirus has affected other areas of the economy as well. Several restaurants, including NYC's Le Bernardin, San Francisco's La Taqueria, and dozens more have closed their doors for at least a couple of weeks. Alinea's Nick Kokonas explains how many restaurants are facing a… read more

Renowned chef Michel Roux dies at age 79

March 12, 2020 by
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Michel Roux, the famed French chef who along with his brother Albert revitalized fine dining in the UK, has died at the age of 79. The Roux brothers restaurants, Le Gavroche and The Waterside Inn, attracted Britain’s upper crust and provided a training ground for many of the country's top chefs, including Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing. Even though… read more

Buzz about the Great British Bake Off 2020

March 11, 2020 by
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I think we are all in need of some good news and something to look forward to, which is why I was excited to see a blurb about the Great British Bake Off in my news feed. In January we reported that GBBO host Sandi Toksvig was not going to be a co-host on the upcoming season of the show… read more

Jessica B. Harris receives JBF Lifetime Achievement Award

March 10, 2020 by
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Today the James Beard Foundation announced the recipient of its 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowing that honor on Jessica B. Harris. The award is given to those "whose body of work has had a positive and long-lasting impact on the way we eat, cook, and think about food in America". Harris is the author of twelve cookbooks documenting the foods… read more

Where there’s smoke…

March 9, 2020 by
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Plenty of recipe writers will tell you to make sure you don't heat an oil past its smoke point, or dire consequences will occur. This raises the dual questions of what kind of consequences and how bad are they? The answers are complex, says Becky Krystal at The Washington Post. She explains the ins and outs of smoke points in… read more

Food news antipasto

March 8, 2020 by
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Our first news nugget for this week falls under the 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' department: Anna Sanders, a reporter for the New York Daily News has an unusual and interesting food-related hobby. She likes to paint portraits of bagels. Food & Wine recently caught up with Sanders to discuss her bagel art. We have some sad news… read more

Missed opportunities

March 7, 2020 by
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One evening several years ago, I was walking along Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis and passed by the Dakota Jazz Club. There were a lot of people standing outside, and when I looked at the marquee, I understood why. Prince was playing that night. Amazingly, there were still tickets available, but they came with a steep price tag. I pondered the… read more

Diving into the deep end

March 6, 2020 by
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Ideas for quick, satisfying weeknight dinners are always welcome. When you've logged in a hard day at the office, in the field, or in the house, the last thing you want to do is tackle a recipe with a laundry list of ingredients, multiple complicated steps, and the potential for dirtying every saucepan and mixing bowl you have. However, on… read more

How to stock up for a quarantine

March 5, 2020 by
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Somtimes I discover information that, while practical, is something that I hope I will never have to use. Today is a case in point, and it surrounds the growing concerns over COVID-19. While it might be too soon to think about a potential quarantine, that hasn't stopped people from emptying store shelves of supplies like hand sanitizer and toilet paper.… read more

How the Sugarcraft Guild made an historic cake replica

March 4, 2020 by
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When then-Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, the entire world watched. The post-war euphoria, combined with a first-ever televised ceremony, created an atmosphere of celebration that reverberated around the globe. To honor the couple, bakeries from near and far sent cakes to London. One of the most elaborate came from the now-defunct Peek Freans biscuit company. As Gastro Obscura… read more

‘Classic Indian Cooking’ turns 40

March 3, 2020 by
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We live in what has been described as a golden age for cookbooks. There are thousands of cookbooks published each year, and of those thousands, hundreds are noteworthy. But will they still be discussed after forty years has passed? Only the best and brightest books can claim to be relevant and inspiring decades after their release. Julie Sahni's Classic Indian… read more

The rise of private restaurants

March 2, 2020 by
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Getting a table at most of the world's top restaurants is not easy. Most of them are booked months ahead of time or have limited seatings that can only accommodate a relatively small number of diners. A new wave of eateries is making fine dining even more limited. Some chefs and proprietors are turning to private restaurants to control costs… read more

Food news antipasto

March 1, 2020 by
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Remember all of those stunning cheese boards that popped up on Instagram a few years ago? The idea behind these sumptuous displays is now taking root for other foods, as The Washington Post explains. They explore how people are putting everything from deconstructed salads to French fries and even pancakes on boards. The reason this type of display is so… read more

Bonus recipes

February 29, 2020 by
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I spent the better part of my day reorganizing my cookbook collection, adding the new volumes I purchased over the last few months. I had to do some serious rearranging because 2019 was such a great year for books that I ended up with more than I had planned. As I was moving items from one shelf to another, some… read more

Food Network has a new reality baking show

February 28, 2020 by
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Martha Stewart wearing an all-white outfit smiles at the camera. The background is an off white just darker than Stewart's outfit.
If you enjoy reality baking programs, this news is for you. Food Network recently announced a new reality baking program, hosted by none other than the doyenne of domesticity Martha Stewart. Called Bakeaway Camp with Martha Stewart, the show puts a new twist on the standard competition format. The show will feature six amateur bakers vying for the prize, which… read more

Politics and cooking have a long history together

February 27, 2020 by
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If you are following the US presidential candidate primary, you may have seen Pete Buttigieg's controversial salsa/ranch dressing mashup, or perhaps viewed Stephen Colbert talking with Elizabeth Warren over a meal featuring traditional foods of South Carolina. Combining food and politics did not begin with these events, of course. There is a long history of food and politics being intertwined,… read more

Art of Eating prize winner announced

February 25, 2020 by
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Today the magazine Art of Eating announced the winner of its annual prize for best food book of the year. It's the sensational Black Sea by Caroline Eden. In her review, Jenny noted several reasons to love this book: the author’s gift for the written word which spirits the reader away to the locales rich with historystunning photographs of the… read more

Behaviors that drive chefs batty

February 25, 2020 by
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With a plethora of websites that allow people to rate their dining experience, everyone has the ability to be a restaurant critic. Most of the time chefs and restaurateurs do not react outwardly to the negativity that inevitably seems to be hurled at them. The Guardian thought it would be fair to turn the tables, so to speak, and let… read more

A new show called ‘Dishing with Julia Child’ coming to PBS

February 24, 2020 by
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Julia Child has been getting plenty of posthumous love. Last fall we reported on an upcoming documentary featuring the legendary cook and author, and now we have another show to tell you about. This one is coming to public television as a six part series in which chefs and food personalities provide commentary on a different episode of The French… read more

Food news antipasto

February 23, 2020 by
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It's almost physically impossible for me not to click on a social media post that touts a great new 'kitchen hack' video on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. Apparently I am not alone, as many of these posts go viral and get millions of clicks. However, some of them turn out to be duds, and a great number of them are… read more
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