Determining if baking soda and baking powder are dead

December 13, 2012 by
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During this heavy baking season, here are ways to tell if the baking powder and baking soda you're using are still healthy and active: For baking powder, stir 1/4 teaspoon into 1/2 cup of very hot water. The powder will immediately bubble if it's still usable. For baking soda, do the same thing as for baking powder,  but add 1/4 teaspoon of… read more

The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

December 9, 2012 by
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It's that time of year when the gift lists are prepared and the inevitable "What do you want…?" questions start. If you have friends or family members who love to cook from great recipes - consider giving them an Eat Your Books gift voucher to help them organize their recipe collection.  Here are a few suggestions for the perfect gift… read more

Mint confusion: spearmint vs. peppermint

December 6, 2012 by
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Peppermint is a popular holiday flavor - where would we be without candy canes? And spearmint can also be a popular candy flavor  - think gum. Most of us would  regard these two flavors as quite different, yet most recipes just call for "mint." So which type should you use? And which flavor do you get when you buy undifferentiated… read more

Fixing over-softened butter

December 3, 2012 by
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Here's a quick tip from America's Test Kitchen, via the Kitchn, that should come in particularly useful during this period of intense cookie baking. When a recipe calls for softened butter, and we've forgotten to leave it at room temperature, most of us go to our microwave to do a quick fix. But it's hard to calculate exactly how much to… read more

The one kitchen app that rules them all

November 26, 2012 by
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Since we ran a Black Friday gift article with ideas from Michael Ruhlman and others last week, it's only appropriate that we acknowledge Cyber Monday - the time that everyone goes online to shop. Of course, now it's perhaps even more appropriate to acknowledge that an EYB membership is the perfect cyber gift, but we also wanted to bring up… read more

The best holiday gift of all, plus 2 additional gift guides

November 23, 2012 by
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Here in the United States, there is a tradition that the day after Thanksgiving is the best day to go shopping. On "Black Friday" (so-called because for many retailers it's when they finally go black - i.e. earn a profit - for the year) stores bring out their supposed best deals. As these things often go, matters have admittedly become… read more

Marcus Samuelsson’s 10 ways to use up Thanksgiving leftovers

November 21, 2012 by
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We're sure all our non-U.S. members are getting a little tired of our Thanksgiving blogs, but we promise this is the last one - it's hard to overlook the one holiday truly devoted to eating. And for our final blog, what is more appropriate than one dealing with how to use up Thanksgiving leftovers? There's a lot on the web… read more

Introducing the Thanksgiving Cherpumple and the Sir Plumple

November 20, 2012 by
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Now that a Turducken has become almost mainstream (we even wrote a serious blog about it), we're very pleased that Serious Eats has taken up the gauntlet of producing a new, outlandish Thanksgiving treat - and not just one, but two. The Cherpumple is described thusly:  "First there was an original Cherpumple (yes there was a forefather Cherpumple who spawned derivative… read more

An assortment of food-related apps

November 19, 2012 by
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In their article, Six tablet apps for making the perfect Thanksgiving dinner, TechHive has some great apps for iPads and other tablets that are applicable not only for Thanksgiving but for all holidays and even everyday cooking. As they write: "These apps will help you at every step, from picking recipes and planning a menu, to cooking multiple dishes at… read more

Happy national bundt cake day!

November 15, 2012 by
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It seems that every day is a "national" day (or week or month) for some sort of food item. It's easy to ignore most of them,  but every now and then a "national day" comes along that should be celebrated. We feel that way about "national bundt cake day." Bundt cakes are awesome - they seem to feed a million… read more

Two alternatives to brining a turkey – steaming or dry salting

November 13, 2012 by
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Fifteen or so years ago, brining - soaking a turkey in a salty water solution for 24 hours - was introduced as the best way to insure a moist, flavorful turkey. But brining has now come under assault. It always was a problem in that it required a large container and refrigeration - difficult for anyone who didn't have an… read more

Turducken or not to turducken?

November 11, 2012 by
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Over the past several years, Kenji Alt, the science guru at Serious Eats, has tackled the intriguing problem of how to cook the perfect turducken. In The Food Lab: How to Make the Perfect Turducken, he gives us the benefit of all that experience. For those of you who aren't aware of this Cajun dish, Kenji describes it thusly: "Ever… read more

Potato ghosts on the march

October 29, 2012 by
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Over at Gourmet Live they're getting in the Halloween spirit and we were happy to see these little potato ghosts come front and center. They first appeared in the 90's and due to both how  easy they were to make and incredible cuteness factor, they were an instant hit. In The Story behind the Potato Ghosts Kemp Minifie describes their origin… 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

Celebrating the Olympics

July 27, 2012 by
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We're celebrating the beginning of the Olympics with two articles from our friends at Serious Eats. Kenji Alt has concocted a "A Ring Shaped Meal for the Olympics" including recipes for Homemade Bagels, Guinness Onion Rings, Ring-Shaped Pasta with Broccoli and Tomato, Ring-Shaped Meatloaf, and Orange Blossom Bundt Cake with Peaches.     And for anyone lucky enough to be in… read more

Recipes worthy of a diamond jubilee

June 1, 2012 by
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This weekend marks  Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, celebrating her 60th year as the constitutional monarch of England. In honor of the occasion, the Braiser has gathered recipes from 5 distinguished British chefs that were designed to celebrate this amazing accomplishment - only the second Diamond Jubilee ever celebrated, Queen Victoria having celebrated the first. Strawberries come to the forefront in… read more

A Cajun shrimper, 1st day of culinary school, and ironing with Jim Beam

May 10, 2012 by
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It's May 10 - National Shrimp Day. And what a better way to celebrate than with this fun story. To set the scene: It's the first day of culinary school in New Orleans, and the chef instructor informs the class in no uncertain terms that they must show up everyday in full uniform, including pressed and clean jackets. One student,… read more

Great kitchen gifts for under $25 and for under $10

May 2, 2012 by
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Our friends over at theKitchn.com have been compiling some great ideas for kitchen presents -- in time for Mother's Day, anniversaries, shower gifts, birthdays, or just because... They have two lists: Smart Food Gifts for Under $10 and Beautiful, Useful Kitchen Gifts for Under $25. We especially liked the filled chalkboard spice jars in the first category, and the ultra-thin scale… read more

What to eat after a little too much celebration

April 23, 2012 by
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As we approach May and lots of reasons for parties and celebration - graduations, anniversaries, weddings - we thought this advice from the Huffington Post on Hangover Foods: 7 Ways to Ease Hangover Symptoms - might come in handy. And, no, hair of the dog that bit you isn't one of them (although if it works...why not?).  read more

Fusion recipes for Passover and Easter

April 5, 2012 by
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 Many of our favorite sites have inviting recipes for Easter and Passover. Just to single out a couple, The New York Times has a  wonderful collection of Passover recipes and, for Easter, Food 52 has a dream dinner that begins with two of our favorite vegetables, artichokes followed by asparagus. Given the bounty of recipes available, we thought we'd take just… read more

Holiday food traditions

December 19, 2011 by
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Just for fun this morning, I ran a little EYB search (Occasion: Christmas; Course: Main Course)  to see what holiday proteins our cookbooks feature.  The results read like some kind of crazy, carnivorous 12 Days of Christmas (I know I'm leaving out our vegetarian friends here):  85 beef joints82 whole turkeys81 pork joint77 whole ducks or geese62 hams, cooked or… read more

Thanksgiving sides–some better ones.

November 22, 2011 by
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If you haven't yet drawn up your menu for Thursday, you've still probably made it as far as pinning down which turkey recipe you're going to use.  A lot of us, though, don't bother worrying about the vegetables because...they're vegetables!  It's enough work dealing with the bird, the stuffing, the pies.  The same goes for starchy sides. But with so… read more
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