Determining the best Pepperidge Farm cookie

September 24, 2012 by
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We're sure that many of you (esp. those whose mothers didn't bake) regard Pepperidge Farm cookies with a certain nostalgia. While a daily store-bought cookie might have been Chips Ahoy or Oreos, Pepperidge Farm cookies were always just a cut above. More elegant names (Tahiti, Milanos), more elegant packaging, even more elegant looks. With Pepperidge Farm's 75th birthday, Serious Eats… read more

A dream kitchen where money is truly no object

September 23, 2012 by
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The Guardian is profiling a new kitchen for the home that costs over 250,000 British pounds (over $350,000). So what do you get? "An arsenal of blast-chillers, sous-vide vacuum packers and ovens powered by computer hard drives."..."Cupboards, drawers and work surfaces are your own business, adding upwards of £100,000 for the best finishes, say designers." If you love molecular gastronomy,… read more

It’s Hobbit Day!

September 21, 2012 by
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We have to admit we're devoted fans of all things Lord of the Rings, and the upcoming movie version of The Hobbit may be the most exciting thing of 2012. In that spirit, we can't forget that tomorrow is Bilbo and Frodo's birthday, known around the world as "Hobbit Day." To help everybody get prepared, we're linking to Buzz Feed's… read more

150 Cover Issues of Saveur

September 20, 2012 by
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To celebrate its 150th birthday, Saveur has produced a gallery with every cover published since its beginning in 1994. Saveur has always celebrated food in its photography and we consider their images to represent the best food photography out there. So take a few minutes to enjoy this trip and luxuriate in their classic view of food. And then come… read more

Tasting whole chickens

September 19, 2012 by
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Cook's Illustrated has a strong reputation for its taste tests and occasionally makes one available for the public at large. Recently, they conducted a national test on whole chickens, looking for "meat that was rich, clean-tasting, tender, and moist." They also took a hard look at labeling and production, determining that air-chilling (vs. water-chilling) can make a large (positive) difference.… read more

New Zealand has thrown down the cereal gauntlet

September 18, 2012 by
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Somehow in the excitement of the Olympics last month, we didn't notice that 648 New Zealand school children honored their Olympic team by tackling a special challenge. 648 children, along with their teachers, ate more than 300 boxes of  Weet-Bix cereal, soaked with 106 gallons of milk, thereby earning the world record for most cold breakfast cereal consumed. (Weet-Bix, for those of you… read more

How to spot a fake restaurant or hotel review

September 17, 2012 by
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  Yelp and other similar similar review sites are enormously popular with people looking to venture into the unknown. And most people are aware that some reviews are planted or, even worse, created by extortion. So how do we screen reviews to find out what genuine consumers really think? NPR's The Salt tackled the issue in their article "Five Ways… read more

Great cooks rate 5 new important cookbooks

September 14, 2012 by
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Food & Wine asked 5 noted chefs with about-to-be published cookbooks about each others' cookbooks (for the most part) and why they regard them as both important and worthwhile. Specifically: Bruce Aidell talks about Burma: Rivers of Flavor  by Naomi Duguid ("simple home dishes from real families"); Adam Roberts reviews Bouchon Bakery  by Thomas Keller & Sebastien Rouxel ("both the recipes and… read more

Rhubarbgate & the great caviar heist

September 13, 2012 by
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Well we've tried to stay above the political fray, but this story by Marian Burros Food Fight: Current And Former White House Chefs Dish On Their Presidential Service, was just too good to pass up. Burros writes about a panel presentation given by former White House chefs at the Association of Food Journalists. Some of the chefs were notably discrete and… read more

2-Ingredient (no yeast) pizza dough

September 12, 2012 by
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Our friends in Australia have once again shown culinary innovation with this recipe for 2-ingredient pizza dough, which the kidspot kitchen site describes as: "This fast and easy pizza dough is perfect for when you don't have time to wait for dough to prove or to play around with yeast ." While it may never replace  great hearth-baked pizza, and Peter… read more

Abusing jello vs. respecting it

September 11, 2012 by
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Sometimes nostalgia for home-baked goods, old-fashioned roast chicken, or home-canned tomato sauce can make us a bit guilty for not spending the requisite time in the kitchen. So it's good to remind ourselves of some old-fashioned foods that were once considered good homemade food and are not deserving of resurrection. This collection by BuzzFood of "39 Things That Should Never… read more

The $1 million recipe

September 10, 2012 by
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We have a sneaking suspicion that most of our members have a soft spot for the Pillsbury Bake Off contest. Certainly anyone who's ever made a bundt cake should be grateful to the 2nd place winner of the 1966 contest: The  "Tunnel-of-Fudge" cake inspired an explosion in popularity for bundt cakes. Ditto anyone who's ever unrolled crescent dough and added… read more

Two tips: Storing cut avocados and substituting parsleys

September 9, 2012 by
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Here are two helpful tips for the kitchen. First up, what to do when you have leftover avocado. Avocados are double trouble - they're expensive to start with, and then are problematic to store as they brown so easily. The ideas of: a) keeping the pit in while storing, and b) sprinkling a little lemon juice over the cut portion… read more

The absolutely best way to dry herbs

September 7, 2012 by
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About this time of year (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) gardens are beginning to show wear and tear. And that's especially sad for those who love just plucking fresh herbs when you need them -  or buying them in bunches at the markets - and dread having to use store-bought dried herbs that are drab and may be musty.… read more

“Shades of Grey” inspired food

September 6, 2012 by
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Huff Post Food has an article titled, "'Fifty Shades of Grey'-Themed Cooking Class Has Us Cringing" that also left us a bit disconcerted. In particular, it was the part about the mother-daughter duos that attended this class in a California strip mall. We appreciate that cooking and food should  bring families together, and we do see the humor in it… read more

Two approaches to food writing: Memoirs and Cookbooks

September 5, 2012 by
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We know that our members share our fondness for food writing - after all, many of us love to read cookbooks as much as cook from them. So we thought these two articles from Dianne Jacob's blog, Will Write for Food, would be fun to point out. In the first article, Dianne challenges her readers to "Go On a Quest:… read more

A Stanford Univ. study finds no advantage in organic

September 4, 2012 by
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The New York Times  today is reporting the results of a mega-study conducted by Stanford University on organic produce and meats, looking at four decades of results. The over-all study concluded "that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, which tend to be far less expensive. Nor were they any less likely… read more

Can you eat food dropped on the floor?

September 3, 2012 by
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One of our favorite apps comes from "Fooducate." The app, (available for both iPhones and Androids) , allows users to scan a product's bar code, immediately see nutrition information, and get suggestions for a healthier alternative. Each item is graded and clearly marked why it earned that grade.  It's free and easy to use, recommended by the Wall Street Journal,… read more

Ingredient substitution guide

September 2, 2012 by
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The Kitchn has a useful Quick Guide to Ingredient Substitutions for last-minute kitchen replacements or "if you're trying to modify a recipe out of dietary necessity (shifting it to be dairy or gluten-free, for example)." Find the best gluten-free flour substitute, or what to replace for cake flour, buttermilk, vinegar, bananas, and much more. And make sure you read the comments… read more

Overcoming preservation fears

August 31, 2012 by
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The Washington Post is highlighting four books that can help ease you into preserving and/or canning some of that wonderful excess produce at the Farmers' Market. Titled "This could be your year, first timers" they mention:  The Preservation Kitchen: The Craft of Making and Cooking With Pickles, Preserves, and Aigre-doux, by Paul Verant & Kate Leahy The Pickled Pantry: From Apples… read more

54 winning healthy lunchtime entries from kids

August 30, 2012 by
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Sometime ago Epicurious announced The Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. They asked kids between the ages of 8 and 12 to submit healthy lunchtime dishes. They received over 1,200 entries and a distinguished judging panel chose a winning entry from each state and territory. Last Monday, the winners were hosted by Michelle Obama for a "Kids' State Dinner" (actually lunch).  This was… read more

Bon Appétit’s “Most Insane” Recipes

August 29, 2012 by
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It's always commendable when an organization laughs at itself, and Bon Appétit is doing just that with its article, The 15 Most Insane Vintage Recipes Published in Bon Appétit. And they include not only descriptions, but also photographs - which truly do have to be seen to be believed. So for a reminder that we all can get truly carried… read more

Are these inventions awesome or ridiculous?

August 28, 2012 by
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BuzzFeed has a fun article called "20 Odd Inventions That Might be Awesome." Not all of them concern food, (though food does seem to bring out the most creativity) but they're all amusing and do pose the question, "Do some people just have too much time on their hands?" Check out motorized ice cream cones, anti-theft lunch bags (they make… read more

Confessions of a Nigella Lawson addict

August 27, 2012 by
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In a recent article in The Observer, Viv Groskop confesses to being a Nigella Lawson addict. In a world where the Kardashians and other non-notable celebrities receive far too much press, we're happy to find someone who adores a celebrity for all of the good things she brings (besides her photogenic qualities). For example, Groskop writes: "Her approach to food… read more

Opening a stubborn jar – and keeping it open

August 26, 2012 by
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At America's Test Kitchen Feed they have a quick video with three different approaches on how to open a stubborn jar lid: Improve your grip by using a piece of plastic wrap, a rubber band, or wear a rubber glove Tapping the jar around the edge to release air pockets to break the vacuum Inverting the jar into warm water… read more
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