Keep that fancy wine out of the fridge, say experts

December 20, 2023 by
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Because most of us don't have the space or money to install a dedicated wine cellar, we resort to storing at least some of the wine we buy in a refrigerator. If the fridge is one meant to store wine that's okay, but if you just popping the bottles into your regular refrigerator, you could be harming the wine, says… read more

Food news antipasto

December 17, 2023 by
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Fans of Mark Bittman probably already know this, but he has moved The Bittman Project from Substack to a new website. The site houses a new, recipe archive that offers searching and notes features (although far from as robust as what we have on EYB). Bittman promises that "what's now a database of almost 400 recipes will soon be thousands." We… read more

How important is the tablescape to your holiday dinner?

December 15, 2023 by
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Holiday meals when I was a child included a cacophony of conversation, crowded tables, mismatched chairs and silverware, and a gluttonous amount of food set amidst a halo of cigarette smoke. If the table contained decorations, none of them were memorable enough to recall, although I doubt there was room for anything among the bowls piled high with goose, ham,… read more

Sizing up ingredients

December 14, 2023 by
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A thread on the EYB Member Forum about differences between metric and Imperial measures got me thinking about how recipe writers (along with editors and publishers) treat the measurement of ingredients. I do a lot of baking and have appreciated the trend to include weights in recipes because it leads to more consistent results. I understand, however, that some editors… read more

Savoring every bite

December 12, 2023 by
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You would expect someone who has hundreds of cookbooks and writes about food nearly every day to linger over meals, relishing each and every bite of food, reveling in the joys of wonderful kitchen aromas, and generally enjoying food to the max. I fit the first part of the description but not the last. Many times dinner is a bowl… read more

Food news antipasto

December 10, 2023 by
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'Tis the season to make lists. Vice brings us its list of the best cookbooks of 2023, The Guardian's Rachel Roddy chimes in with her picks for the top five food books of the year, and food writer and chef Kathy Gunst weighs in on her choices for the three best cookbooks released in 2023 (with recipes from each). The… read more

Which came first, the chicken or the recipe?

December 8, 2023 by
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There are two types of people in this world: those who go grocery shopping armed with a meticulously developed list because they have all their meals for the next week perfectly planned, and those who shop based on sales, whims, and random thoughts, who have no idea what they are making for their next meal, let alone the rest of… read more

What’s in that supermarket sourdough?

December 6, 2023 by
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When you purchase a loaf of sourdough bread at the grocery store, are you sure that is actually what you are getting? It might be labeled as sourdough, but apparently that may be a misnomer, at least according to the folks at the Real Bread Campaign. They have been campaigning to get major retailers such as Lidl to rename their… read more

Celebrating National Cookie Day

December 4, 2023 by
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Yesterday I prepared four different kinds of cookies, all in anticipation of National Cookie Day. Okay, okay, it was just part of my holiday baking, but it's an occasion I'm happy to celebrate (and what a coincidence that this falls around the time that everyone is baking their holiday treats). I wish I could say I hit all of the… read more

Food news antipasto

December 4, 2023 by
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I picked up a copy of Jane Grigson's English Food at a thrift store several months ago. It has remained in my "to read" stack of books since then, but after reading Aimee Levitt's fascinating article about Grigson, it is getting moved to the top of the pile. Levitt provides a detailed account of Grigson's intriguing backstory, providing the reasons… read more

The humble ramekin is a kitchen workhorse

November 30, 2023 by
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In a world brimming with an endless variety of kitchen gadgets baking pans, one of the items I turn to the most is a small ramekin. It performs many different tasks and it's a rare day when I don't use one at some point in my cooking or baking. I'm not alone in my love for these useful ceramic cups… read more

Food bucket lists

November 29, 2023 by
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People often make "bucket lists" of things they really want to do before they die. For some it's a vacation destination they want to visit, for others it's a personal challenge like running a marathon. While I don't have a bucket list, if I did it would probably revolve around food, and by extension, cookbooks. For example, I recently read… read more

Exquisite holiday creations

November 29, 2023 by
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Nearly every year for the past decade, I've made a bûche de Noël for a holiday dinner. I try to vary the design - some years it's been a white chocolate paper birch log, other years a more traditional dark chocolate. Meringue mushrooms, pistachio crumb moss, cake crumb sawdust, and other trompe l’oeil items have made an appearance. This year I think… read more

Food news antipasto

November 26, 2023 by
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Living in the northern United States makes one keenly aware of the changing of the seasons. Today was cold and blustery and sunset came way too early. Observer Food understands this, because today they posted about the best food and drink to have when it's dark outside: think hot chocolate, mulled wine, and soul-warming soup. Rainbow rippled meringues from BBC… read more

The Great British Bake Off/Baking Show – Week 9 – Patisserie – Semi-Finals Recap

November 25, 2023 by
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It is the semi-finals and the theme is patisserie. Signature: 2 different batches of 12 financiers A financier is a small French almond cake, flavored with beurre noisette, usually baked in a small mold. Light and moist with a crisp, eggshell-like exterior, the traditional financier also contains egg whites, flour, and powdered sugar. The molds are usually small rectangular loaves… read more

When the feast is over

November 23, 2023 by
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The feast is over and our bellies are full, and perhaps we ate a little too much but oh it was so tasty. However, in a couple of days we’ll be as weary of Thanksgiving food as our non-US members are of hearing about our feast day. Very soon we’ll be standing and staring into the refrigerator wondering what to… read more

Food news antipasto

November 20, 2023 by
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We start off this week's recap with some good news - Saveur just announced that it will be returning to print in 2024, just in time for the magazine's 30th anniversary. They are starting off slow, with only two issues planned for next year. In the announcement, editor Kat Craddock said that Saveur is "committed to offering you an affordable… read more

Celebrating ‘grape’ discoveries

November 15, 2023 by
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When a friend offers you a laundry basket full of ripe Concord grapes, what do you do? If you are me, you say "thank you" and proceed to the open EYB Library tab on your computer to find recipes that use them. I knew I wanted to make grape preserves and already knew where to look for that recipe, but… read more

Food news antipasto

November 12, 2023 by
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It is amazing how 2023 has flown by, and now it's that time of year to make our lists and check them twice. If you have been nice, you might want to check out the kitchen equipment year in review for 2023 at Epicurious. The editors have compiled their list of "Kitchen MVPs" which are those products that they found… read more

What are your favorite make-ahead recipes?

November 11, 2023 by
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After three years of not hosting, my spouse and I are back in the hot seat and will have a group of about eight people at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. I have been tinkering with the menu for a few days and have decided to make as many items ahead as I can because my work schedule is hectic… read more

Say hello in Brooklyn

November 9, 2023 by
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I'm attending a panel on 'The Future of Cookbooks' on Saturday at the Cherry Bombe Cooks & Books event at the ACE Hotel in Brooklyn, New York. If any EYB member is planning to attend, please do say hello. I will be loitering in the hotel lobby in the afternoon (the panel doesn't start until 4:30pm). You can recognize me… read more

Does everything need to be zhushed?

November 7, 2023 by
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Does anyone remember the commercial for Rice Krispie treats that aired in the late 1980s? The commercial opens with a woman reading a romance novel while her child (in another room) asks if the treats are done yet. "These things take time!" the mother replies. Donning an oven mitt, the woman dips the mitt into the flour container, flicking flour… read more

Food news antipasto

November 6, 2023 by
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The Seattle restaurant scene lost one of its legends this week as acclaimed chef Thierry Rautureau died at the age of 64. Widely known as the 'Chef in the Hat,' the French-born restaurateur helped Seattle cement its reputation as a location for fine dining. Rautureau won numerous awards for his restaurants, including a James Beard Award in 1998. In culinary… read more

NYT interviews Tieghan Gerard of Half Baked Harvest

November 2, 2023 by
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Half Baked Harvest is the one of the most popular blogs indexed in the EYB Library, and the corresponding books written by Tieghan Gerard, who is the heart and soul of HBH, have also generated loads of positive feedback from our Members. That is one reason I thought that Julia Moskin's NYT profile of Ms. Gerard (gift link) would be… read more

Why don’t cookbooks talk about the cleanup?

November 1, 2023 by
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When you read a recipe in a cookbook (or online, for that matter), the final instruction usually revolves around how the dish should be served. Left unmentioned is the mess that remains. If a recipe discusses washing up, it's to claim that it is a simplified or "one-bowl" affair that will leave fewer dishes to be washed. Occasionally the preface… read more
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