Gifts for cookbook lovers
These gifts would be a delight for any food or cookbook lover to unwrap. If you know of any sites that we've missed, let us know in the comments and we'll add them to the post. UK Yotam Ottolenghi - Gift hampers and…
Darcie
Cooking and baking are good for your mental health
At the end of a stressful week, I look forward to the weekend so that I can relax in the kitchen with a baking project. To paraphrase a popular saying, a bad day in the kitchen is better than a good day at work. Baking…
A cookbook 'starter library'
Cookbook lovers not only read, collect, and cook from cookbooks, they also love to share their passion with others by giving cookbook gifts. Whether the gift is for a holiday, wedding, graduation, or other important…
All about black cocoa powder
Don't you love it when you learn something about an ingredient that you have been thinking about trying? That happened to me today, when I followed a link posted by David Lebovitz on Facebook. The link was to an article…
Getting to know Fernet-Branca
The Italian amaro Fernet-Branca is riding the wave of increased interest in bitter liqueurs. Introduced in 1845 in Milan, Fernet-Branca has been made by the same family ever since. You can learn more about the popular…
Is the demise of restaurant guide books imminent?
In the days of Yelp and instant reviews, printed dining guides are in danger of becoming irrelevant. As John Lethlean points out in The Australian, the combination of not including recent restaurants, poor writing, and…
How many kitchen gadgets is too many?
Recently I have gone through kitchen cabinets with ruthless determination to downsize. Not being able to close some of the doors due to the surfeit of gadgets and appliances led me to do a KonMari-style clean out. Some…
Pears are the royalty of fruit
In his book Sweet Simplicity, Jacques Pépin praises pears, noting that in his native France, "pears are the king of fruits." There are thousands of varieties of pears, although supermarkets usually only stock a handful…
Roasting vegetables wasn't always popular
With all of the photos of slightly charred, deeply roasted vegetables on Instagram today, it is difficult to imagine that this method of preparing vegetables was seldom used just a generation ago. Slate.com takes a look…
Antipasto Holidays & Celebrations
Post-game analysis
The dust is now settling (along with the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pie) on Thanksgiving 2016 in the US. As we sit in our turkey-induced stupor, we should resist the urge to take a nap and instead do a 'post-game…
A new way to make Swiss meringue
Meringue is a pastry kitchen staple. Not only is it good as a topping for pie, it's also the foundation for many other sweets, including pavlova, macarons, and buttercream icing. There are three basic types of meringue:…
Antipasto Holidays & Celebrations
The stress of cooking for multiple diets
If you are like me, you obsess over holiday meal planning, attempting to design a delicious menu that will please everyone. That is stressful enough on its own, but throw in a family member with special dietary needs or…