Battle of the Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie

March 16, 2019 by
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Levain Bakery, hands down, creates the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever tasted. Yes, I make that statement without fear of backlash and differing opinions. When we lived in New York, we would venture into the city or out to the island to get our Levain fix. And now when I travel back to New York, if I do… read more

Giving parsley its due

March 15, 2019 by
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For years, I only knew parsley as a throwaway garnish found at the edge of the plate in small-town restaurants in the rural area where I grew up. It was only after I began exploring the world of cooking through cookbooks and websites that I discovered it had uses beyond an afterthought decoration. The herb is often overlooked in favor… read more

How are you celebrating Pi(e) Day?

March 14, 2019 by
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Today is 03/14, and that can only mean one thing: it's time to celebrate National Pi(e) Day! My social media feeds are replete with one stunning pie after another: sweet, savory, and even pizza pie are featured. I'm always looking for an excuse to fire up the oven and make a delicious dessert or sensational main course pie, so you… read more

Are you ready to “refrigerdate?”

March 12, 2019 by
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Dating apps have, with wildly varying degrees of success, attempted to match people based on a variety of characteristics, from religious beliefs to location to astrological signs to love of the same sports teams. Now there one based on something far more telling of what lies inside the soul. Samsung, maker of a bevy of smart appliances, is debuting a… read more

Recipes that break the rules

March 11, 2019 by
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Ask anyone who bakes well the secret to their success and you are likely to get an answer that involves being precise and following the rules. You will also likely hear the old saying that cooking is closer to art while baking is more akin to science. While it is true that for many baked goods success hinges on adding… read more

The Piglet 2019 has launched

March 10, 2019 by
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The Piglet is back! The oft-times controversial bracket style cookbook competition kicked off its first round this week. Sixteen cookbooks are paired head-to-head, with the winner of each matchup facing another winner in the next round, until only one remains.  As in year's past, this competition features some head-scratching competitions, with books from very different genres going against each other. … read more

Which vegetables should you be refrigerating?

March 9, 2019 by
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Where should you store your vegetables? There is no one answer to that question, as each type of vegetable has its own requirement for the best results. There is a lot of confusion about where certain types of vegetables should reside, but as Bob Granleese of The Guardian explains, where the vegetables grow provides a clue as to how they… read more

Paying the cookbook love forward

March 7, 2019 by
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As I have written before, I enjoying browsing for cookbooks at thrift shops and secondhand stores, delighting when I discover classic or out of print books for mere pennies. Some of my favorite volumes were found tucked away among faddish diet books from the 1970s, in tiny thrift shops in equally tiny towns that I've visited. Even though I love… read more

Uses for leftover egg yolks (whites too)

March 6, 2019 by
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I like to bake. A lot. Which means I use an extraordinary amount of eggs. Since my go-to cake icing is Italian meringue buttercream and since I prefer white cake to yellow, this means I'm frequently faced with a dilemma of what to do with the unused egg yolks. Luckily for me, Elazar Sontag of Serious Eats also experiences this… read more

Italian mayor spouts off on spaghetti bolognese

March 3, 2019 by
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Millions of people around the world have tucked into a hearty dish of spaghetti bolognese over the years. But according to the mayor of Bologna, Italy, the dish that bears the name of his city has nothing to do with the dish. Not only does he disavow spaghetti bolognese, he's recently started an online campaign to raise awareness of the… read more

How much story do you want with that recipe?

March 1, 2019 by
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We've all been there: after finding the perfect online recipe in the EYB Library, we click through to the website only to be confronted with what seems like a novel preceding the recipe. We scroll, scroll, and scroll further until we finally reach paydirt. When you are in a hurry this can be a minor inconvenience, but apparently some people… read more

Celebrating National Pistachio Day

February 26, 2019 by
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After a long day that included a lot of meetings and a snowy drive in the dark, I settled in to catch up on the food tweets and posts that I had missed by being so busy. Every other tweet seemed to be a reminder that I had not properly celebrated National Pistachio Day. I was disappointed, because pistachios are… read more

The food sample code of conduct

February 22, 2019 by
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If you live in the US and have a warehouse shopper's card, you understand the power of the free sample. Samples can also be snagged at most large grocery stores and even smaller establishments are getting in on the game. Some of us even go so far as to schedule our Costco trips around peak sample times so we can… read more

Finding unexpected uses for garlic

February 17, 2019 by
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While some ingredients rotate in and out of my pantry and refrigerator, other items maintain permanent residence. Garlic is one such ingredient, and it finds its way into a large portion of my mealtime plans. However, I have never used it in the sweet side of the menu, although apparently some chefs do. That's one takeaway from a recent article… read more

The history behind everyone’s favorite chocolate and hazelnut spread

February 16, 2019 by
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Few food products enjoy as large of a following as Nutella, the chocolate and hazelnut spread. It has devotees across the globe who clamor to buy the product, sometimes even getting into fights when the product goes on sale. If you count yourself among Nutella's fan base, you should head over to Serious Eats, where Emily Mangini dives deep into… read more

Cider’s long and rich history

February 14, 2019 by
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Hard cider once reigned supreme amongst the drinking public, but over the centuries it became relegated to the 'kiddie menu' of most bars' beverage lists. Cider was one of the first alcoholic drinks that mankind perfected, so what happened? You'll find the answer to that question, plus a whole lot more, over at the blog Great British Chefs. There Jane Peyton,… read more

Shattered cookware prompts a lawsuit

February 11, 2019 by
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Pyrex is one of the most well known and well respected brands of bakeware in the United States. It's been the go-to for affordable yet quality made oven-, microwave- and freezer-safe baking pans for generations of cooks., and Vintage Pyrex dishes are collector's items. The brand's sterling reputation has become tarnished in recent years, however, as reports of 'exploding' bakeware… read more

The new food emojis you’ll be seeing later this year

February 6, 2019 by
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On Tuesday,  the Unicode Consortium revealed 230 new emojis, including several food-related items, that will make their debut this fall. Will there be another "bagel-gate" in 2019? That's unlikely, says indexed blog Food52, which has ranked all of the new food emojis.  photo from Emojipedia Some of our very favorite ingredients have made the class of 2019, including garlic, onions, and butter. The… read more

Can you overcook mushrooms?

February 4, 2019 by
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Mushrooms occupy a unique place in the world: neither animal nor plant, these fungi share characteristics of both. Frequently used to boost flavor to meat-based dishes and add umami to vegetarian foods, mushrooms have earned a high-status position in the arsenal of cooks worldwide. Even though they are used by chefs and home cooks alike, there is still plenty of… read more

A limited edition Joy of Cooking goes luxe

February 1, 2019 by
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Joy of Cooking was the 'gateway drug' for many cookbook collectors, myself included. Before cookbook publishing exploded, it stood alone as a paragon of the genre, teaching multiple generations how to cook for their families. Plenty of people hang on to their grease-splattered and dog-eared copies of Joy, passing them down to their children and grandchildren. New editions continue to… read more

Cooking confessions

January 27, 2019 by
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I consider myself an experienced, adventurous, and up-to-date home cook. I've embraced new appliances and gadgets that promise to improve and streamline my cooking - I have an Instant Pot, a Thermpen, a spiralizer and a sous vide circulator. Although I enjoy trying all manner of new dishes and flavors, I have a confession to make. There is one trend… read more

Escaping to the Great British Bake Off Tent

January 26, 2019 by
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Darcie wrote a post today entitled "Small things bring huge satisfaction" which encouraged me to write this piece that has been inside my head for a couple weeks. Trust me, it is very crowded inside there and I am happy to let these words go. While thousands of Netflix viewers are holding a dusty relic that they unearthed from the… read more

Small things that bring huge satisfaction

January 26, 2019 by
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Today I celebrate a birthday ending in "0" that is large enough to result in serious introspection. As I take stock of all of the blessings and struggles I've encountered, a few moments stand out with enduring meaning. I wrote about one such event in one of my first blog posts here at EYB, nearly five years ago. Since that… read more

The behind the scenes work that makes cookbooks great

January 21, 2019 by
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When you crack open a freshly purchased cookbook, it can be like opening a window into another world. Everything you need is laid out before you, and you can just follow along on a journey of discovery. If the book is well written, this journey will be pleasant and satisfying. Writing a book that achieves that goal is tricky, and… read more

Singapore’s famous street food markets face an uncertain future

January 20, 2019 by
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Since the 1950s, Singapore has had a vibrant street food scene that draws on the many cultures of its varied inhabitants. While early on the city had vendors dotted on the street corners, they eventually consolidated into over 100 hawker centers, where stalls offer enticing foods ranging from Cantonese barbecued pork to Javanese tempeh to kopi tarik (sweet and rich pulled coffee).… read more
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