GBBO gets the message

September 5, 2023 by
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After a few years of poorly conceived country-based theme weeks, the producers of the Great British Bake Off have finally seen the light. They have eliminated these types of themes and are returning to the basics that made the program an international success. The show's producer, Kieran Smith, acknowledged the missteps in an interview with The Guardian. “We didn’t want… read more

Food news antipasto

September 4, 2023 by
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First up this week is a delightful interview with Jürgen Krauss, a semifinalist in the 2021 Great British Bake Off. Krauss discusses how his childhood in Germany's Black Forest region influences his baking, and why he doesn't hold a grudge against GBBO for his shocking exit from the program, which spurred over 100 to make complaints to the UK's communications regulator.… read more

Raw milk is back in the spotlight

September 2, 2023 by
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Raw milk is getting a lot of attention again due to a plethora of TikTok videos and endorsements by celebrities touting the alleged health benefits of drinking the unpasteurized dairy product. Tom Parker-Bowles recently wrote that raw milk has endured “no pasteurisation, homogenisation or standardisation, meaning it still contains the full complement of vitamins, minerals and natural digestive enzymes, as… read more

It’s pumpkin spice season, but it doesn’t feel like it

August 30, 2023 by
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Starbucks released its seasonal drinks, including the famed Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL), on August 24. While the flavors scream autumn, the weather does not in most people living in the US. Part of this discrepancy stems from the fact that Starbucks has pushed up the release date since the PSL debuted 20 years ago in October, 2003. As the years… read more

Food news antipasto

August 27, 2023 by
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First up this week is a fun little quiz to test your knowledge of pantry staples. It starts off pretty easy by asking what are the ingredients in pesto, but it gets more difficult after that. There were some foods I hadn't encountered, although because it's multiple choice most answers become clear even if you don't have a jar of… read more

In the bag: how packaged salad took over the supermarket

August 26, 2023 by
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If you time-traveled back to the 1970s and told the average supermarket shopper that 50 years hence there would be entire supermarket aisles devoted to bagged salad greens and kits, and that twenty percent of all vegetable sales would be spent on salads, you would probably be met with skepticism. At that time you would have been hard pressed to… read more

The celebrity endorsement

August 25, 2023 by
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As I was scrolling through Twitter today, an advertisement featuring chef Gordon Ramsay appeared in my feed. Ramsey was extolling the virtues of Triscuit crackers, something the chef has been doing since February, according to AdWeek. The advertising campaign "features Ramsay as his authentic and unfiltered self and celebrates the wholesome but crunchy things in life that are full of… read more

The rise of the orange yolk

August 22, 2023 by
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When I was growing up I had the luxury of eating only farm fresh eggs because my grandmother raised chickens. Of course, when you're a child you do not recognize the luxuries you have; I wanted to get the pure white eggs from the supermarket that didn't have pieces of straw and dirt (and worse) on them. Now I would… read more

Food news antipasto

August 20, 2023 by
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As if people in the US didn't have enough to worry about with oppressive heat in multiple locations, hurricanes AND an earthquake in California, and tornados in the South and Midwest, now we have to be careful about foamy, exploding watermelons. What's next, locusts?! If you are the kind of person who will take a chance on a foamy watermelon,… read more

Putting a lid on it

August 18, 2023 by
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stainless steel pan lids of varying sizes overlapping each other
Kitchen storage is a source of endless fascination and often frustration for people who love to cook. Most of us are not blessed with enormous kitchens that have bespoke cabinets to house anything and everything imaginable, nor do we have picture-perfect cookware or bakeware sets where all the pieces conveniently stack or fit together like Russian nesting dolls. The vast… read more

All about induction

August 16, 2023 by
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My first exposure to induction cooking occurred way back in 1995. The company I worked for at the time had previously ventured into selling appliances but rather quickly decided it was not a good fit for its business model. A few odds and ends remained on a clearance rack in one of the company's retail stores, and among those was… read more

Echoes of kitchens past

August 16, 2023 by
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The Roma tomatoes in my garden are going gangbusters right now, despite highly variable weather this summer. The bounty led to an early canning session that resulted in six pints of whole tomatoes. As I prepared the tomatoes by coring, scalding, and peeling, my mind's eye flashed back several decades to the times when I "helped" my grandmother with her… read more

Food news antipasto

August 13, 2023 by
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How old is too old to bake? Minnesota's Marjorie Johnson believes there is no upper age limit, because the spry 104-year-old is busy baking up a storm. She will be entering baked goods into the Minnesota State Fair later this month, something she has been doing since the 1970s. She has racked up scores of blue ribbons and hopes to… read more

Do you make the ‘orphan recipes’ in cookbooks?

August 11, 2023 by
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A white book opened to see the blank inside pages, on a white background
Food writer Bee Wilson recently posed a question to readers on her blog, asking if they were more or less likely to make a recipe in a cookbook where some recipes have photos and others do not. She called these 'orphan recipes' and feels that they are overlooked by most people because they lack an accompanying image. Wilson thinks she… read more

Food news antipasto

August 6, 2023 by
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Peeking inside celebrities' kitchens and pantries is a source of fascination for people. It may be so popular because it's a way to relate to the celebrities (they're just like me because they have [insert your favorite item] in their fridge!) or perhaps because it offers a glimpse into a lifestyle few of us can afford (think Kim Kardashian's enormous… read more

Increase your cooking intelligence with RecipeIQ

August 4, 2023 by
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One of the things I miss about the recipe app that I once used (now defunct) is that it quickly calculated nutritional information based on the ingredient list. While there are a handful of websites that offer such calculations, they are tedious to use and have all manner of annoying pop-up advertisements. However, I've recently learned about a new app… read more

Brouhaha over burrata

August 2, 2023 by
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Food writer Tammie Teclamariam (winner of a Best Emerging Voice award from the James Beard Foundation in 2022) stirred a hornet's nest with her recent opinion piece for Grub Street titled "A Big Fat Blob of Boring: Can we cool it with all the burrata balls?" As quickly as you could say "comment", a division emerged between those who agreed… read more

Food news antipasto

July 30, 2023 by
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In a surprise move, Cher recently said that she is getting into the frozen desserts game with a line of gelatos under the brand name Cherlato. The singer said the launch was years in the making. In the Instagram post announcing the new project the New Zealand based ice cream and gelato supplier Giapo Kitchen was tagged, indicating that it… read more

Some (in the UK) like it hot

July 29, 2023 by
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In the United States, hot sauce has been a favorite condiment for many years (remember Hillary Clinton talking about keeping a bottle in her purse?), and the love for spicy food has likewise been around for a long time. Until recently the love for fiery foods has not taken root across the pond in the UK, but that seems to… read more

No Famous Chocolate Wafers? No problem.

July 28, 2023 by
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Nabisco recently roiled home bakers by announcing that they were discontinuing their Famous Chocolate Wafer cookies. People relied on these dark, crumbly cookies for no-bake cakes and crumb crusts, and bakers lamented the loss so much they started a petition for Nabisco to change its mind. Whether or not this petition is successful, you may want to have a backup… read more

Will the Le Creuset factory sale live up to the hype?

July 25, 2023 by
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It was Sea Salt that hooked me. For many years I owned but one Le Creuset item, a 7 quart Dutch oven in white that I purchased as a factory second from a now defunct distributor. Le Creuset's revolving palette of colors was enticing, but not enough for me to fork over a considerable sum to purchase another piece. That… read more

Food news antipasto

July 23, 2023 by
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GBBO finalist Crystelle Pereira just released her first cookbook, Flavour Kitchen, to rave reviews. She recently sat down with The Independent to discuss life after Bake Off, the decision to quit her day job and focus on cooking and baking, her Goan-Portuguese roots, and her upcoming food plans. Despite loving French pastries, Pereira admitted that she doesn't love French food.… read more

July 2023 EYB Cookbook Club Summary

July 23, 2023 by
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Each month we offer at least four cooking options in our Eat Your Books Cookbook Club. This month our selections were: Cookbook: Tenderheart: A Book About Vegetables and Unbreakable Family Bonds by Hetty McKinnon or any Hetty McKinnon title and Milk Street Noodles: Secrets to the World’s Best Noodles, from Fettuccine Alfredo to Pad Thai to Miso Ramen by Christopher Kimball… read more

Will the Instant Pot end up in the graveyard of kitchen fads?

July 19, 2023 by
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Air fryers are the kitchen gadget du jour, and the poor Instant Pot, which recently dominated Amazon Prime Day, is now relegated to second class status. Both appliances promise to tremendously streamline your cooking and reduce the amount of time and effort involved in meal prep, plus make it easier to eat a healthy diet. Claims like these are not… read more

Food news antipasto

July 16, 2023 by
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We start out this week's recap of culinary happenings with sad news of two deaths in the cookbook community. Acclaimed British writer Colin Spencer has passed away at the age of 90. Grub Street Publishing (UK - not related to the US Grub Street website) posted a remembrance about him yesterday. Spencer wrote numerous cookbooks and food-related titles including British… read more
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