I'm as adventurous an eater as just about anyone, but some foodie trends leave me scratching my head and wanting nothing more than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But sometimes the trends become trends because they're, well, brilliant.
Mother Nature is one creative entity, especially when it comes to fruit. Let's face it: most major supermarkets stock only the most common fruits like apples, pears, and grapes, but they're so basic. Why not explore other options, from the stinky-yet delicious durian to the captivating citrus caviar that is finger limes?
I love making stock. It's thrifty because you get extra use out of poultry bones and vegetable peelings, plus having homemade stock on hand makes so many things taste better, from soup to stews to pasta sauces. If you deglaze a pan, homemade turkey stock, booze of some kind, and butter will create an eye-rollingly good sauce in mere moments. One task I do not love? Figuring out how to skim the damn fat off the stock (or soup) after I've made it. It's necessary to skim the fat as you boil down...
Doritos Locos Tacos were the brilliant concoction of a man named Todd Mills who never worked for Taco Bell, and never made any money from his creation. He originally pitched the idea to Frito-Lay, and when they said no, he took matters into his own hands by creating a Facebook page.
Rock-hard ice cream is the bane of my culinary existence. If I try and scoop it out with a spoon, the spoon invariably bends. If I use a traditional ice cream scooper, I end up with a torqued wrist and one or two pathetic curls of ice cream for my efforts.
You're never too old to join in the fun. A 99-year-old woman helped Bismarck, North Dakota, recapture a snow-angel-making world record. Learn how to make snow angels.
Ever wanted a large scale abstract painting for your home or office? Learn how to create your own abstract masterpiece in this free online video series about painting abstract murals taught by expert painter David A. Clemen.
Augmented reality has produced some incredible innovations that have revolutionized modern technology. From helping with live surgery to changing the game in marketing and businesses. But without a doubt, the most important thing that augmented reality and ARKit has ever brought us is an AR version of A-ha's iconic "Take On Me" video.
Android has a permission that allows apps to draw on top of other apps, but as fun as that may sound, it has mostly been used to create floating multitasking utilities. While these can certainly be useful, it would still be nice if this permission were taken literally and we could actually draw on top of apps.
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me!" That iconic quote from the 1987 movie RoboCop was repeated by kids like me for years. The 2014 reboot introduced the baddest robot-cop on the planet to new audiences worldwide. While it didn't live up to the amazingly high expectations set by its predecessors, RoboCop 2014 did show off some newly upgraded gear. The modern look is cool and all, but rolling to a party rocking the 1987 helmet with the retro visor cannot be beat. With Halloween coming up, i...
iOS 8's third-party keyboard functionality is one of the best new additions to Apple's mobile operating system, allowing us to use swipe gestures, custom backgrounds, minimal designs, and many other features that the stock keyboard lacks.
When most people think of stained glass, the first thing that comes to mind is a church, but it's become more popular in home decor as well. The biggest downside is that high quality stained glass pieces can be insanely expensive—and it's not an easy project to take on yourself.
If you played with K'Nex as a kid (or still do), you know that it can take a lot of those tiny little pieces to build something. Just imagine how many it must have taken to make this full-sized, fully functional, coin-operated skeeball machine with a mechanical score counter. Instructables user Shadowman39 (aka Kyle) spent an entire year building this masterpiece. It's the same size as the ones you see in arcades, and it's coin operated, too. But don't try to feed it your pennies, it knows th...
Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure novels? If your school was anything like mine, they were so popular you were lucky to find one to check out at the library. But there's no worries now, thanks to this handy HTML5 app, which makes it easy to write and share your own 'choose your own adventure' novels. inklewriter is a free tool designed to make writing interactive stories simple. Basically, you start typing and inklewriter helps you organize your story, making it easy to add, remove and...
You don't have to sweat it out when you remodel your kitchen. Check out this easy and inexpensive way to update your culinary space.
This recipe from Holiday Kitchen shows you their impressive, celebratory dish that satisfies the most discriminating crowd. Beef Wellington will leave your party guests grinning and wide-eyed as you present and carve this spectacular meal at the table. This masterpiece of meat is worth the effort! But don't worry— there's no foie gras here.
Eating vegetarian isn't just for vegetarians. There are plenty of reasons, health and economics-wise, to consider forgoing the meat for a meal or three. Rather than get deep into the world of fake meat (although there's many a tasty alternative to be found there, to be sure), you should consider getting to know your humble-seeming fungal friend: the mushroom. Thanks to their hearty flavor, cooks tend to treat mushrooms like meat, albeit one with its own unique characteristics. Mushrooms are e...
Graffiti— do you have the guts to get out there and tag some property? There's a whole lot more than just spray paint involved. To be great, you'll need things like a sketchbook, pencils, pens, markers, spray can tips, latex gloves, legal (or illegal) wall, and most importantly… creativity. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be an urban graffiti artist, follow these steps to become da ’hood’s next da Vinci.
This tutorial for Sony Vegas 7 helps you utilize keyframes and create even better masterpieces!
Enjoy the taste of a summertime potato salad? Then you can't pass up this masterpiece of Southern glory. This video recipe will show you the perfect way to make a delicious, soul food potato salad. This potato salad is creamy with the perfect balance of ingredients and seasoning. It's easy, simple and a real crowd-pleaser. It can easily be customized to suit your liking.
This blueberry crumb cake is practically a masterpiece, if you dare try too make it. If you're up for the challenge, this moist and tender crumb cake packed with fresh blueberries and a delicious crumb topping will never last a day in your home. This yummy cake is hard not to like. It's irresistible. Check out this video recipe for baking buttermilk blueberry crumb cake.
A slow cooker can be both your culinary companion and your go-to gadget in the kitchen. That's right: the idea of slow cooking is no longer for Southern housewives or purveyors of the Ladies' Home Journal anymore. The times, they are a'changing!
Painting doesn't get any easier than this. Paint by numbers kits come with a drawing ready to be filled in with paint. Each section of the drawing is matched to a number on a paint pot. Use the right number for the right section, and voila, a foolproof masterpiece. Watch this video painting tutorial and learn how to paint. By numbers.
Lego has shipped several apps and products that add an augmented reality dimension to their playsets. But it has taken a reality TV show from Fox to allow brick fans to build with virtual bricks in augmented reality.
Fast-food chain Jack in the Box has decided to put an augmented reality twist on the traditional sweepstakes promotion by employing the immersive powers of Snapchat.
Snap is turning to some light bribery to boost adoption of its new Lens Studio software. The January Jumpstart Challenge encourages artists to create and share a Lens that celebrates the New Year. One selected winner will take home a Lens Studio Swag Bag that includes an iPad Pro. In addition, the Lens could be featured in the Lens carousel for others to experience.
If you've ever wanted to be a graffiti artist, but you also frown upon vandalism, then augmented reality is for you.
Disruptor Beam just soft launched The Walking Dead: March to War in the Philippines. It's not officially available in the US yet, but there are ways to play this take on Robert Kirkham's post-apocalyptic masterpiece regardless of where you live.
Netmarble's Lineage 2 Revolution has finally soft launched in the Philippines, giving mobile gamers hope that a worldwide release isn't too far off. What many don't realize, however, is that this game can be had for free right now — with a little digital elbow grease, that is.
Ben & Jerry's addicts rejoice: Microsoft just won a patent for AR glasses that could help to combat overeating. Physical restraint is still needed to keep me away from that ice-creamy goodness, but a little virtual voice saying 'DON'T DO IT' could definitely help when the cravings come.
Dreaded are the days when you're working on a masterpiece, then all of a sudden, your Windows computer crashes, loses power, or an app just gets up and quits. Well, now there's an app for that.
Pennies may only be worth $0.01, but if you want a coin with everyone's favorite donut-eating dad on it, you're going to need to shell out a little bit more.
From fungi to foie gras, the weird ingredient cocktail game across the nation is growing by leaps and bounds. We had our hesitations about trying some of them out, and especially about attempting to make any ourselves, so we did a bit more research and realized the flavor profiles aren't as unfathomable as one may think.
Koji is a culture made up of a certain fungus (mold) called Aspergillus oryzae, which has been used to ferment rice and soybeans in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean kitchens for centuries. Koji can actually have other involved fungi, but Aspergillus oryzae is the most common, and therefore the names can be used interchangeably. Its end purpose is to enhance the flavor of items like soy sauce, sake, and miso.
Pokémon GO has become a cultural phenomenon. Finally, we can do what we always dreamed of back when we were kids—catch Pokémon in real life!
The cool tang and citrusy taste of a margarita in the summer is refreshing, to say the least. But when making margaritas at home, many of us opt for the ease of store-bought mix when it's actually really simple to make it instead.
We used to saunter into the grocery store and gaze longingly at the pre-made roasted chickens, wistfully thinking of things we could do with the golden fowl if only we didn't already have dinner plans.
I'm a sucker for sushi, both in its traditional forms and its modern fusion creations. When the infamous sushi burritos surfaced, I'm not ashamed to admit that I waited in a ridiculously long line for what is essentially an uncut sushi roll. (As for whether it was worth it or not, well... that's another story.)
Pickling isn't rocket science. In fact, anyone can make their own speciality pickles using just about any fruit or vegetable. For example, I've pickled everything from lemons, watermelon rinds, and apples to red onions, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers.
Several years ago, I moved to Brooklyn, New York, just outside a Spanish neighborhood. It was here that I was introduced to chayote. Fast-forward to present day: I live in Los Angeles and buy several chayote squash a week to cook with—yes, I said several. It's so versatile and healthy! For the uninitiated, chayote (chai-YOH-tee) is a light green squash shaped like a pear originating from central Mexico. Although it's considered a fruit, chayote is a member of the Cucurbitaceous (gourd) family...
