CookShelfLast weekend I spent a couple of hours stripping leaves from thyme, oregano, and mint stems that I had dried, preparing a stock of herbs to carry me through the long winter months ahead. I also assessed my spice…
We begin this week's run down of food news with the sad news that Cecilia Chiang, credited with bringing authentic Chinese food to the U.S., has died at age 100. Chiang's pioneering Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco…
On the heels of Halloween is the Mexican celebration Día de Muertos or Day of the Dead, celebrated November 1-2 each year. Day of the Dead celebrations can be traced to the ancient Aztecs, who felt that instead of…
Until I had been out on my own for a few years, my only experience with cranberries came during Thanksgiving, involving a tin can and a wobbly cylinder with ridges encircling it (all the easier to cut even portions). I…
For many of us, the holidays are not going to be the same this year. Diwali and US Thanksgiving are just a few weeks away, with Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa following soon after. Instead of large feasts and gatherings…
A champion of Canadian cookbook authors, Taste Canada is a national not-for-profit that aims to inspire readers to discover delicious recipes and diverse food stories written from a Canadian perspective. Over the past…
Last week we shared the sad news that the 3,800-volume cookbook collection of California chef Cindy Pawlcyn was destroyed in the Glass fire that swept through the Napa Valley. As news of the devastation circulated,…
When Danny Bowien started Mission Chinese Restaurant, he was looking to create a working environment free from the abuses he experienced as a young chef. From the outside, it seemed that Bowien was achieving his goal of…
With the IACP going digital like so many other conferences (and the fact that one Blursday runs into another), I almost missed the IACP Cookbook Award winners announcements, livestreamed on Twitter. But luckily my…
Some cookbooks on my shelf have splashes and splotches in many places, worn dust jackets, and other signs of being well-used in the kitchen. Others are pristine, with stiff spines and immaculate covers. This does not…
A lot of people dislike bagging their own groceries, feeling like it is disenfranchising workers and pushing work on shoppers without giving them any benefit in price reduction. I, on the other hand, often volunteer to…
As Jenny has noted in her weekly recaps, the Great British Bake Off seems to be lacking its usual charm and it seems more difficult to engage with the bakers this season. It is difficult to put a finger on what about…
