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

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

Food news antipasto

Molly Yeh, an EYB Member favorite author, branched out from her cookbook writing in 2018 with a series Girl Meets Farm. This week we learned that Yeh recently inked an exclusive two-year deal with Food Network for additional episodes of the Midwest-inspired cooking show. Production is set to begin in March. How to make a king cake for Mardi Gras… read more

Kitchen mishaps can leave a lasting mark

If you cook often enough, you are going to have a kitchen injury. Knives, mandolines, hot oven racks, boiling liquids - all are potentially dangerous and most cooks have a scar or two that tells a tale of kitchen woe. So too does The Guardian's Jay Rayner, who writes that "Making dinner means dicing with danger." While not exactly proud… read more

Food news antipasto

We start off the week's news with a tidbit from Epicurious about one of my favorite KitchenAid mixer attachments. Just like Grace Elkus, I've discovered that this tool is perfect for making flaky pie crusts. Although it looks unassuming, it does a great job of cutting cold butter into flour without overheating the butter like a food processor can. It… read more

Food news antipasto

This week we learned that cookbook author Jean Anderson has died at the age of 93. The winner of five best cookbook awards (Tastemaker, James Beard, IACP) and a member of the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame, Jean Anderson has written for Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Cottage Living, Gourmet, and other magazines. She published over twenty cookbooks, among them The Food… read more

Boiling water the right way

Everyone's an expert on social media. At least that's what it seems like when you read the comments section on almost any post about politics, warfare, climate, constitutional law, or even food. I can't tell you how many posts I've seen that claim "you are cooking xxx wrong." This goes from complex dishes all the way to the simplest: boiling… read more

Is this the next kitchen fashion?

A few years ago, we asked EYB Members if they wore aprons while cooking, and many responded with a resounding yes. The latest sartorial suggestion from Epicurious might not get as many people replying in the same way, however. Wilder Davis recently posited that wearing a jumpsuit in the kitchen is even better than wearing an apron. Davis suggests that… read more

Food news antipasto

carton of eggs
After three years of having only virtual events, Michelin will launch its 2023 guide for Great Britain and Ireland at an in-person celebration on 27 March 2023. The ceremony will be held at the Silverstone Circuit in Northampton. Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides said: "After two years without being able to organise a physical event in Great… read more

Keeping it real

I've seen a lot of promoted posts in recent days informing me that I could write blog content faster and easier by using AI (artificial intelligence) writing tools. While it was tempting to see what the automated system would gin up with only a slight prompt, I didn't want to give my information to these companies nor do I want… read more

Pastry chefs find a new home – at home

Even before Covid-19 hit, US restaurants were undergoing change. One of the most notable shifts was in the dessert menu, or perhaps more accurately, the lack of such in many locations. Pastry chef jobs were on the decline, and the number of retail bakeries was likewise dwindling. Then the pandemic significantly disrupted restaurants even further. Despite these setbacks, a growing… read more

Food news antipasto

Vox Media, the parent company of a string of websites including Eater and Grub Street, recently laid off 130 employees (seven percent of its workforce). One of those getting the ax was Eater senior correspondent Meghan McCarron, whose work we have linked to many times. Jim Bankoff informed employees of the cuts in a memo Friday, citing “the challenging economic… read more

Tips for being vegan in 2023

The number of people embracing vegan or vegan-adjacent diets continues to grow. Whether you are participating in Veganuary, are moving toward being vegan, or just want to eat more plant-based meals, Tasting Table has an article that might interest you. They have assembled their top 15 tips for being vegan, and these tips go beyond merely substituting tofu for meat.… read more

How DIY are you?

It stands to reason that people who are cookbook lovers have at least a modicum do-it-yourself tendency, because few things in this modern era are more DIY than cooking foods from scratch. We've discussed this before in the context of making your own pantry staples like ketchup or mayonnaise, but for some the DIY concept goes even farther. For instance,… read more

Food news antipasto

Finally, a piece of good news we can pass along regarding restaurants: menu prices slowed substantially in December. While year-over-year numbers had climbed about 8.3%, the monthly figure was down to a range of .1% to .4% depending on the type of eatery. Inflation as a whole slowed too, giving hope that the relentless prices increases we have been experiencing… read more

Best practices vs. reality

As I made a chocolate Bundt cake today for a friend's birthday (the Chocolate ganache bundt cake from Zoë Bakes Cakes), I couldn't help but think of how many ways I was not adhering to best practices when baking. According to the experts, you shouldn't separate eggs using the shells (I did), and you should crack each into a separate… read more
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