Tips for perfect sugar cookies

December 15, 2014 by
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If you haven't started your holiday baking yet, there is still time to make plenty of treats. Iced sugar cookies are a classic holiday treat, and they are tons of fun to make and decorate. However, they can be a little fussy and if you're not careful you can end up with misshapen, broken, greasy, or burnt cookies. Don't panic,… read more

Returning the star

December 14, 2014 by
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A Michelin star rating can put a restaurant on the map. It can also put it in a straitjacket, which is why a number of chefs are giving back their stars, says Fortune magazine. Another issue plaguing starred restaurants isn't the constraint placed upon them, but rather that diners have come to expect a certain type of atmosphere. Some avant… read more

Going on a food safari

December 9, 2014 by
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Ever wonder where chefs find ideas for inventive new menu items? One source of inspiration comes from visiting other restaurants in diverse locations, as Chef Kevin Binkley of Phoenix, Arizona does. He goes on find-dining 'safaris' to be inspired. Most recently he, along with other chefs from his own and nearby restaurants, traveled to Austin, Texas for a whirldwind tour… read more

Peace via spice

December 8, 2014 by
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Much of the news coming out of Afghanistan in recent years has been gloomy, so an inspiring story from the region is quite welcome. NPR's The Salt has one such tale of how enterprising veterans from the decades-long conflict are working with farmers to cultivate the saffron trade. U.S.-based Rumi Spice, a small, enterprising company from Massachusetts, is attempting to… read more

Freeze right there

December 7, 2014 by
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Yesterday's post may have pointed out the downside of refrigerators, but today's post is all about the advantages. We're moving from the fridge to the freezer today, as Epicurious provides us useful tips on freezing cookie dough. The holidays can be a very busy and stressful time, but you can use your freezer to get a head start on your… read more

Eat your words

December 4, 2014 by
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The following scenario may sound familiar to you. You are reading along in a cookbook or magazine article when you encounter a word that sounds familiar but you aren't quite sure what it means. Of course you can Google it, but you can also check out a feature on the The James Beard Foundation's blog called Eat This Word. Most EYB Members… read more

Avoid slow cooker mistakes

November 30, 2014 by
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Slow cookers are a godsend to the busy cook. They're so useful that even Grant Achatz of Alinea & Next uses them in his restaurant. As good as they are, slow cookers can't do everything well, and indexed blog The Kitchn provides advice on how to avoid common mistakes when using your slow cooker. One thing the slow cooker isn't… read more

Add some color to your cocktails

November 28, 2014 by
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We are heading into the holiday party season, and you can bet that many of the parties will feature cocktails. While many classic cocktails are delicious, some of them are very drab: various shades of brown or nearly clear. Some of the most brightly colored cocktails are pretty yet far too sweet. Lucky for us the EYB Library contains many… read more

Bleak year for olive oil producers

November 26, 2014 by
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If you're a fan of good olive oil, prepare to pay more next year for what is quickly becoming a precious commodity. 2014 is being called "The Black Year of Italian Olive Oil," as the olive harvest throughout much of Italy down a sizeable 35% from last year. Spain's production is also down an estimated 20%. Even California's olive oil output has been affected by the lingering… read more

Catalogs, gadgets, and apps

November 23, 2014 by
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As the holidays approach, one thing is almost guaranteed--a glut of catalogs in your mailbox. No sooner are the Halloween decorations down than the Christmas sales promotions begin (whether you like it or not). Even if your kitchen is very well stocked, there is a certain allure to the stunning images of beautiful serving vessels, cookware, and gadgets. In addition… read more

Carve out some time to sharpen your knives

November 22, 2014 by
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Thanksgiving meal plans are coming into focus and you've probably starting a few make-ahead items. When the big day arrives, you'll have more work, up to and including the turkey carving. But before you dice the first onion, there is one important task to complete: sharpening your knives. Whether it means a trip to the kitchen store to let the… read more

It’s hard to let go

November 21, 2014 by
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It's a sin that most cooks are guilty of committing - buying an unusual herb or spice, using it once (if at all), then leaving it in the spice drawer or cabinet, neglected. A recent study by kitchen electronics company Kenwood shines some light on just how much this happens, at least in Britain. It turns out that Brits keep… read more

A beef between countries

November 18, 2014 by
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An outspoken French butcher is making waves in his home country by suggesting that English beef is superior to French beef. In a new documentary, Yves-Marie Le Bourdonnec, a well-known French butcher, insists that grass-fed British beef is the best in the world. "We have lost the notion in France of what a good steak is. In fact, we simply don't… read more

You’ll go nuts for this tip

November 17, 2014 by
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This is the time of year where many of us are deep into our holiday meal planning. The most organized cooks are making lists and setting schedules. Over at indexed blog Serious Eats, J. Kenji López-Alt has discovered a way to shave a chunk of time off our packed to-do lists. He's mastered a quick and easy method for toasting nuts. Toasting nuts… read more

Tips to spotting bad recipes

November 14, 2014 by
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Finding recipes online is easy, but ensuring that they are great isn't always as simple. Of course the EYB Library is full of well-tested recipes from trusted sources, but occasionally you may stumble across a recipe whose provenance isn't well known. For these recipes, Epicurious (through Yahoo! Food) has provided a list of five signs that indicate a recipe won't work.… read more

The great holiday meal debates

November 12, 2014 by
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In a recent Epicurious article, the writer opines that it doesn't matter what you put in your stuffing. Rather, she instructs that whatever flavoring agents you choose, you should put in more than you think you need to avoid a bland dish. That being said, the author notes that friendships are formed and "families torn asunder by painful debates over what ingredients belong in… read more

The surprising history of culinary trends

November 8, 2014 by
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  Did you know that maple syrup was promoted as an alternative sweetener decades before high-fructose corn syrup was even invented? Or that "Meatless Mondays" date back 100 years? A new video series out Tuesday from American Food Roots explores these and more fascinating culinary insights. The series focuses on "profiling the food of World War I and the lasting… read more

The resurgence of dinner parties

November 5, 2014 by
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In the last few years, news articles have repeated a theme that the dinner party is dead. Various explanations have been offered for the dinner party's demise, from frenetic schedules to the trend toward casualness to social media. However, recent encouraging articles and interesting new websites lead me to believe that the dinner party is making a comeback. A frequently… read more

An answer to the question “How much do I serve?”

November 2, 2014 by
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Holidays meals are wonderful occasions when family and friends come together to share festive foods and celebrate. Since U.S. Thanksgiving is less than a month away, with the other major holidays not far behind, it's time to start contemplating those delicious meals. One of the major components to planning is knowing how much food to make for your crowd. Whether… read more

Happy birthday, Reuben!

October 27, 2014 by
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As with any iconic food, the origins of the reuben sandwich are a bit fuzzy. Legend has it that the combination of Irish corned beef, Jewish rye, German sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing was created in 1914 at the long-shuttered Reuben's Delicatessen in Manhattan. That makes the sandwich an even 100 years old. "There's lots of evidence that the… read more

Culinary trends for 2015

October 25, 2014 by
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Colorado-based Sterling Rice Group, a consulting and advertising firm, has issued its predictions for culinary trends in 2015, reports Elaine Watson of Food Navigator USA. The trends range from new foods to twists on cuisine to restaurant incubators. If their forecast is accurate, here's a sample of what we can expect to see next year: Regional grains - health conscious… read more

Artisanal meat alternatives?

October 20, 2014 by
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Until recently, meat alternatives were mostly shunned by foodies, because many of the products were highly-processed, bland, had weird textures, or a combination of the three. That's changing, accordng to an article posted on Civil Eats. Kristina Johnson reports that as demand for meatless protein grows, it has spurred the creation of companies devoted to foodie-worthy meat alternatives. One of these… read more

Fried foliage

October 17, 2014 by
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Nothing says fall like the return of pumpkin spice--it's in everything: lattes, desserts, quickbreads, and even salads. But if you get bored with pumpkin spice and want to try a new fall treat, you may want to look to Japan, says Svati Kirsten Narula of Quartz.  She writes about an unusual snack from Japan's Minoh Park, a tree-covered valley and tourist destination near Osaka. The… read more

Belly up to the (fictional) bar

October 16, 2014 by
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It looks like life really does imitate art. Real-life versions of Central Perk, the fictional coffee shop from the American television series Friends, are popping up worldwide. According to The Guardian, "to celebrate Friends' 20th anniversary, a pop-up Central Perk has had fans queuing for more than an hour for free coffee and a chance to look at 'Joey's ceramic white… read more

What if you hate cooking?

October 14, 2014 by
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Why is it that some people really hate to cook? It's a question that Michael Ruhlman tackles in a thought-provoking blog post. He approaches the subject as a response to an article in the NYT Magazine by Virginia Heffernan, in which she judges the call for people to cook for their families as being unreasonably difficult. She asserts that besides being… read more
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