Treats to make with leftover Halloween candy

November 1, 2015 by
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It's probably safe to say a few kids are having candy "hangovers" today after trick-or-treating last night. If you want to reduce your child's candy stash, or if you have leftover candy from the giveaway bowl, you can find inspiration for using it to make some decidedly grown-up treats. Paste Magazine starts us off with five ways to use leftover… read more

The Splendid Table turns 20

October 23, 2015 by
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Last night I had the pleasure of attending The Splendid Table's 20th Anniversary Celebration at the historic Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. The Splendid Table radio broadcast debuted in 1995, and host Lynne Rossetto Kasper has since received numerous accolades, including two James Beard Foundation Awards for Best National Radio Show on Food. Kasper has also written several highly regarded… read more

Alice Medrich’s advice for bakers

October 22, 2015 by
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We have discussed the advantages of weight measures over volume measures previously on this blog. Acclaimed author Alice Medrich buttresses the argument in favor of scales in a recent article for The Washington Post. Medrich notes that in most of world, bakers have embraced scales, but not in the United States: "American home cooks have resisted the scale in favor… read more

Non-cookery books that inspire our cooking

October 18, 2015 by
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  Avid cooks often read cookbooks like novels, with the books always within easy reach: perched on the arm of the sofa, stacked on the nightstand, tucked into the ever-present totebag. We learn so much through these books, about technique and flavor combinations and the personalities of the chefs and authors who wrote them. But sometimes we learn about cooking… read more

Who invented the pavlova?

October 17, 2015 by
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  The question of the pavlova's origin has long been contested. While there is little doubt that it was named for Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, there has been controversy about where the dish was invented. Australia and New Zealand both claim to be the country of origin. New Zealanders thought they found definitive proof in 2008 that the pavlova was invented in… read more

Wine pairings for the season

October 13, 2015 by
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  Wine pairings can be serious business: a good wine can be a let down when it's paired with the wrong food. But taking pairings too seriously can be no fun, either. To counteract such overly critical thinking, Travel + Leisure magazine takes a lighthearted approach, as they offer wine pairings for popular Halloween candy. Since your kids don't need… read more

Two food museums set to open in October

October 12, 2015 by
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Despite food's central importance to history and culture, there hasn't been a museum dedicated solely to food. That is about to change, as two new food museums are set to open this month, one in London and the other in New York. London's British Museum of Food (BMoF) claims the prize for being the first to host visitors, with an… read more

Why you should be drinking hard apple cider

October 11, 2015 by
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Whether you call it apple beer, apple wine, afpelwein or hard apple cider, Martha Stewart says you should be drinking it. The alcoholic beverage made by fermenting fresh apple juice has different names depending on where it's produced, but "all you need to know is this apple-based drink is the absolute perfect beverage to transition from late summer into early… read more

Kitchen art

October 9, 2015 by
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When you think about designing a kitchen, most of the thoughts revolve around the mechanics of it: what kind of cabinets do you want, how should you arrange the workspace, which countertop materials do you think will work best, and so on. Colors and textures play a role, too. But once it's all done comes another topic that doesn't usually… read more

Food styling pro tips

October 5, 2015 by
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It's been said that the internet was made for sharing photos of cats. For foodies, it seems like it was tailored for sharing food photos. Most of us have uploaded a photo or two to social media, whether as part of a blog or more informally. If you've ever wanted to make those food photos look like the ones in… read more

How terroir influences wine

September 26, 2015 by
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The influence of terroir, the environmental conditions (like soil and climate) in which wine grapes are grown that contribute to a wine's flavor and aroma, has been debated  for centuries. People have argued that terroir greatly influences a wine's flavor but no one could quantify what, exactly, led to any alleged flavor differences. Now scientists say they may have discovered the answer, reports… read more

Shortcuts that don’t shortchange

September 23, 2015 by
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Kitchen shortcuts are a lifesaver for busy cooks. Some of them can leave you with less than desired results, but some can save you a lot of time and effort without much reduction in flavor, as indexed blog Serious Eats explains with top tips from their staff. Using the freezer was one favorite resource. Says Maggie Hoffman, "I know it's… read more

Using a variety of grains adds dimension to baked goods

September 20, 2015 by
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From rye to polenta, non-wheat flours have been used around the world, but now they are finding their way into Western-style bakeries. Chef Claire Ptak of London's Violet Cakes uses buckwheat, rye, polenta and other flours in her baked goods, and she encourages bakers to experiment. "Understand what you're using, and see what works," she says.  Rye flour, for instance,… read more

Personal narratives among cookbook trends

September 19, 2015 by
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Julie Bennett, vice president and editorial director at Ten Speed Press recently spoke with veteran food writer and editor Dianne Jacob to discuss the latest trends in cookbooks. Ten Speed Press publishes a disproportionate number of bestselling cookbooks for its size, and is set to release 70 new books this year.  Julie has edited  best selling cookbooks like  Super Natural… read more

Pumpkin, pumpkin everywhere

September 17, 2015 by
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You don't need a calendar to know that it's fall in the Northern Hemisphere. Just head to any coffee shop or bakery and you'll be reminded of the season, as everything has pumpkin spice in it. Every year, what I'm calling "pumpkin spice creep" makes the flavor appear in more and more foods and beverages. We can credit this trend partly to… read more

The intriguing work of salt shepherds

September 13, 2015 by
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  Many recipes get their final flourish from a sprinkling of special salt, and one of the most vaunted of all finishing salts is fleur de sel. Jamie Feldmar of indexed magazine Saveur takes us on a journey to the south of France to view the harvest, performed by a small group of men known as salt shepherds. The use… read more

Food pilgrimages

September 12, 2015 by
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Scrolling through my news feed today I spied a link from Food Republic on the best places to eat pizza in Naples, Italy, described as "pizza's spiritual home." The article claimed that the pilgrimage was worth the trip. While I am not entirely convinced that spending thousands of dollars to eat a pizza, no matter the provenance, is worth the… read more

Cookbook aims to help refugee relief effort

September 10, 2015 by
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Interlink Publishing has just announced a humanitarian cookbook project aimed to help food relief efforts for Syrian refugees. Profits from the book, Soup for Syria, will be donated to the refugee agency UNHCR. The book, authored by food writer and cookbook author Barbara Abdeni Massaad, features recipes from the world's most famous chefs. The need for food relief for the hundreds of thousands of… read more

Eating a piece of history

September 8, 2015 by
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Go to any farmers' market and you are bound to see plenty of heirloom vegetables with colorful, historical names, like Cherokee Purple tomatoes or Fordhook acorn squash. But did you ever wonder why we are drawn to these old-fashioned varieties? Sure, many are more flavorful than their store-shelf counterparts, but there is more to it than that. Jennifer Jordan, professor… read more

Fool me once…

September 6, 2015 by
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In these days of celebrity chefs, it should come as no surprise that people are influenced by a chef's take on a dish. Just how much influence a chef can have is illustrated by a recent experiment in which diners overwhelmingly chose an inferior food product just because a chef described it. The study, conducted by a Hong Kong-based advertising… read more

Creating food memories

September 1, 2015 by
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  Many of us cherish our early food memories, whether it's standing on a chair by the stove watching our grandparent cook or the first time we experienced a certain family food tradition. But what do you do when you don't have a food tradition memory but want your children to experience their family's culinary heritage? Keith Pandolfi addresses this… read more

Out with the new and in with the old?

August 29, 2015 by
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Modern recipes usually include a detailed list of ingredients accompanied by explicit instructions, both painstakingly assembled to ensure that your finished dish is the best it can be. These recipes are often written in a very direct manner, with the ingredient list at the beginning, followed by straightforward, workman-like instructions. In the past, recipes used to be written in more… read more

The food that takes you home

August 23, 2015 by
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No matter how old you get or how long you've lived away from home, you will probably get a little homesick from time to time. This is especially true if you have moved far away from whatever location it is that you call home. I haven't lived in the town in which I was raised since I graduated from high… read more

The icing on the cake

August 22, 2015 by
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What's even better than cake? Cake with frosting! Unless that frosting turns out to be a goopy or curdled mess, that is. You can avoid these problems by following the tips and tricks to from indexed magazine Bon Appétit to make your frostings look and taste their best. One key to icing success is choosing the right one for the… read more

Test your fair food knowledge

August 21, 2015 by
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State fair season is ramping up across the US, and among the many attractions at these end-of-summer festivals perhaps none is more celebrated than the food. People flock to stands selling a variey of goodies, more often than not deep fried and served on a stick. Some of the offerings are quite far-fetched, which led the St. Paul Pioneer Press to develop a quiz to test your state fair… read more
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