All about salt
When I first learned how to cook, I was aware of only one kind of salt, the stuff that came in the cardboard can that featured the iconic girl with an umbrella. It was Morton's iodized table salt, and it's all I used…
Antipasto
How much should little annoyances matter?
One thing I love about cookbooks is that every author lends their own voice to the recipe through the instructions and notes. This gives every book its own vibe and personality, and I will sometimes pull a book off the…
Food news antipasto
Dina Begum's Made in Bangladesh: Flavours and Memories in Six Seasons explores the delicious, but underrepresented, food of her home country. Saveur recently interviewed Begum (they are featuring Made in Bangladesh in…
This recipe writer makes $15,000 per recipe
Caroline Chambers may not be a well-known chef or author like Yotam Ottolenghi or Ina Garten, but she is one successful food writer. She has one of the top ranked food newsletters on Substack, with over 131,000…
Life's uncertain, order dessert
Everyone who has eaten with a group of people at a restaurant has encountered the following scenario: after finishing the main part of the meal, the server returns and asks "Did anyone save room for dessert?" People…
Food news antipasto
Two stories about Trader Joe's hit my radar this week. The first, from Food & Wine, is a recap of the annual survey that the grocer undertakes about its customers favorite products. Landing at number one on that list is…
The art of eating snow
A new trend has popped up in recent weeks with viral videos showing people eating snow in a number of ways. Many involve making desserts or drinks containing or topped with freshly fallen snow. Reese Witherspoon…
The top 100 most popular cookbooks owned by EYB Members
In Darcie's Food News Antipasto yesterday, she mentioned The Zuni Cafe Cookbook as being one of the top books on Members' bookshelves. A Member thought it would be interesting to learn which books are "tops" in our…
Food news antipasto
While some recent celebrity chef deaths have come at ages far too young, the news about the passing of chef and author Ronald Kinton reflects a long life, well-lived. The chef and author died in December at age 102. In…
Looking backward for inspiration
As each year ticks by with a bevy of new cookbook releases, it amazes me that so many of them continue to be fresh, exciting, even groundbreaking. I excitedly bookmark recipes that I can't wait to try, to add to an…
What's the best way to store knives?
Consumers spend billions on home organization every year. It might be part of their New Year's resolution to get more organized, or spurred by an organizing expert like Marie Kondo, but whatever the reason, people buy a…
It is the best of times, it is the worst of times
Reading the headlines about restaurant openings and closings these days can give you whiplash. One moment we are lamenting all of the closures that happened over the past year, and the next we are cheering the opening…