Hats off to grocery workers
Due to the pandemic, I have finally succumbed to doing some of my grocery shopping online. This service has been offered for a few years at my supermarket, but I haven't been interested in it before. Grocery shopping is…
Darcie
Historic Mexican recipes now available as e-books
In February we reported how the University of Texas in San Antonio was in the process of digitizing hundreds of historical Mexican cookbooks. The pandemic has delayed this effort, but instead of just putting the whole…
The three essential baking pans everyone needs in their kitchen
I recently made several pound cakes in this Nordic Ware loaf pan to give to friends and neighbors. One neighbor, witnessing the Facebook posts of my pandemic baking spree featuring myriad layer cakes, breads, Bundts,…
All about eggplants
Some foods get an undeserved bad reputation because it is all too common to encounter them in badly prepared dishes. Eggplant (aka aubergine) is one such food, and its very mention can conjure images of a soggy, slimy,…
To the restaurants I never knew, and those that I love
At the beginning of March, I wrote about missed opportunities to eat at some of the world's finest restaurants that had closed their doors forever. My motivation for that article was not, as you might think, the impact…
Food news antipasto
Kitchen cleaning hacks are constantly being shared on social media, and one that has been making the rounds lately involves a trick for cleaning your glass oven door - use a dishwasher tablet. There are some nuances to…
How to clean up a floury mess
The coronavirus pandemic might have made bakers out of us all, but once the bread is in the oven, the hard part of baking begins: clean up. As Margaret Eby of Food and Wine explains, combining flour and water is…
Making the most of tomato season
Peak tomato season is here for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere. Home gardens and farmers markets are flush with heirloom varieties in a rainbow of colors. You can find delicate yellow orbs, huge meaty beefsteaks,…
Browned butter is the best butter
Earlier today I took two sticks of butter from the fridge, plopped them in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and walked away. No, I did not have what my husband refers to as a "space cadet" moment, I just wanted to make…
On not reinventing the wheel
One of my favorite pastimes is to find recipes that recreate classic American snacks like Oreos and Twinkies. I look for recipes that are not exact duplicates, but rather better versions of these iconic treats (this is…
Transporting pie can be as easy as, well, pie
Before I discovered my secret to transporting cakes, pies, and other delicate food items safely, I went through a lot of trial and error. I tried various types of containers and boxes, built up "dams" around the object…
The GBBO has been secretly filming its next season
With much of the world in lockdown for the spring, when The Great British Bakeoff (known in the US as The Great British Baking Show) is usually filming, most GBBO fans probably thought that there would not be a 2020…