Cakes. They're delicious and we eat them at birthdays, weddings, and wakes (that aren't ours). In the splendorous world of culinary creations, there is no comestible that allows for such decorative flexibility as the cake. It can be simple, it can be complex. It can be amazing, it can be disastrous.
Lumpy gravy? Gluey mashed potatoes? Dry turkey meat? So many things can go wrong when you are bestowed the honor (and burden) of cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Thankfully, some culinary mishaps that you encounter in the kitchen can be reversed or craftily disguised right before your guests sit down to eat.
Food is the meeting place of left and right brainers: Culinary arts call for creativity, but is also deeply rooted in the What, Why and How of basic science—baking powder vs. baking soda, the rising of dough, the falling of a cake, etc. Below, two plays on left brain principles—the Möbius strip and the law of gravity—both executed with right brain flair.
Whoever said crime doesn't pay? Norway's luxury Halden prison may very well be nicer than your home.
The latest culinary trend? How about breaded and fried deer balls. That's right, you heard me. The Atlantic makes an interesting point about the political correctness of "nose-to-tail" eating:
I can't resist Luxirare's decadent, over the top food tutorials... even when it involves making white chocolate egg molds covered in edible gold leaf and injected with egg nog.
Rube Goldberg meets Cool Hand Luke. Arguably pointless. Arguably quite satisfying.
Obama's inauguration may have been Tuesday, but why not party to the weekend. Here's a lesson in the Napoleonic art of Champagne sabrage.
Making bread from scratch is extremely difficult. Painstakingly following instructions does not necessarily guarantee successful results. Baking delicious homemade bread takes practice, skill, and frankly, a level of real culinary artistry.
For most Americans, the bane of the hangover is typically remedied by lots of water, painkillers, greasy food, and a day wasted on the couch. But if you're tired of potato chips and fried eggs, perhaps it's time you enter unfamiliar territory. Below, a combination of unorthodox methods for taming the beast, derived from science, sparkly Whole Foods new ageism, and the far East.