How To: Make Amazing Affogato with Ice Cream Cubes
In Italian, the word affogato means "drowned." Kind of a morbid name for such a delicious goodie, right? But there's a reason it's called that.
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How To: 5 Ingredients That'll Take Your Potato Salad to the Next Level
No summer season would be complete without potato salad, an essential side dish. The flavors and textures of a simple potato salad can be totally satisfying as is, but add in a few items and you can have a dish that is absolutely extraordinary.
How To: Making Gorgeous Avocado Ribbons Is Easier Than You Think
Avocados have been the darling of the food world for quite some time now—so you'd think that we might have already exhausted the ways in which to enjoy this amazing fruit.
How To: 9 Savory Ways to Use This Season's Strawberries
In many places, May has given way to a surplus of strawberries cluttering the produce aisle. These sweet berries are great in a wide variety of delicious baked goods, from pies to cakes and everything in between.
How To: Mug Cake Tips That'll Change How You 'Bake' Cakes Forever
There are countless recipes for mug cakes (and breads) on the internet, but not all of them are good. Mug cakes promise a warm, moist, and fluffy cake after a few minutes and with minimal work... but sometimes, all you end up with is a chewy, rubbery mess.
How To: Potato Mashers Are So Yesterday: Mash with a Mug & Save Money
The potato masher is one of the most dreaded tools in my kitchen; it always gives me flashbacks to when I had to mash potatoes for Thanksgiving dinners while growing up.
How To: Cook Dried Beans in 1 Hour Flat
When given the choice between canned and dried beans, many of us are guilty of reaching for cans. They're much more convenient than investing 5-6 hours of your time to make dried beans edible.
How To: These 5 Recipes Prove That Tea Is a Delicious Addition to Anything
A cup of ginger tea with lemon first thing in the morning, a pick-me-up cup of green tea (or matcha) to fight off the afternoon slump and a soothing cup of chamomile tea to help me unwind before bed—I would be lying if I said I weren't a major tea enthusiast.
How To: Make Perfectly Crispy Hash Browns at Home with This Trick
Delicious hash browns are ridiculously easy to make at home. So skip the diner and save your money—use this salad spinner trick instead to make crispy and seasoned hash browns quickly and with ease.
News: Leaked Pics Just Revealed the Samsung Galaxy S7
There have been plenty of rumors and lots of speculation about the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, and now we're finally getting our first look at Samsung's newest flagships—in the form of two images.
How To: These Two Items Make the Only Meat Marinade You'll Ever Need
My father never cooked a meat without some kind of marinade. He always used a slew of ingredients: salt, pepper, Season-All, Cajun seasoning, vinegar, olive oil, liquid smoke, Worcestershire, hot sauce, onions, lemons... I'm pretty sure this isn't a complete list, but I've honestly forgotten the rest! It always tasted amazing, but the long list of ingredients was definitely a detriment whenever replicating the marinade.
Polenta vs Grits: Why Grits Wins (Even When a Recipe Calls for Polenta)
Polenta can cause risotto-like anxiety for the most experienced cook. First of all, making polenta is time-consuming—it can often take upwards of 45 minutes (unless you use this shortcut). And in the midst of this long cooking time, you're constantly stirring to keep the polenta from becoming lumpy. Even after taking the utmost of care, the polenta can still turn out too loose, too firm, or too grainy.
How To: Why You Don't Actually Need Any Pans to Bake Like a Pro
If you're anything like me, the urge to bake comes in waves. Winter constitutes an especially large wave; when I need to put on a few extra pounds for insulation, I go a bit carb crazy and take any opportunity to make breads, pies, and cakes.
How To: Save Time Prepping Veggies with These Insider Tricks
Vegetables are perhaps the most important part of our diets, but often times they're an absolute pain to prepare. Cleaning every fleck of dirt off of dozens of leafy greens takes ages, and eliminating the more fibrous parts of certain veggies can be extremely tedious.
How To: Make Gatorade at Home with No Artificial Ingredients
I'm not ashamed to admit it: I love Gatorade. It's probably from all of those times I watched Michael Jordan chug it during basketball games when I was a kid. But I'm not the only one that loves Gatorade—a large percentage of people who work out regularly choose to replenish their electrolytes with sports drinks.
How To: 3 Easy Methods for Making Gourmet Chips at Home
As the days get shorter and the weather cools down, I prepare to "hibernate." I add piles of blankets to my bed, wrap myself in layers of flannel, and—most importantly—eat as if I'm storing energy for winter.
How To: The Only Way to Make Buttered Popcorn in a Bowl
It's easy to grab a box of pre-prepared microwave popcorn at the grocery store. Yet with so much salt, butter, and other unpronounceable ingredients, microwave popcorn can go from a healthy snack to a complicated one.
Get Creative: Make Dumplings with Cheeseburgers & Kielbasa
Dumplings have been around for centuries in various forms; spätzle, as well as chicken and dumplings, are dough-y dumplings with no filling, whereas Russian pierogis and Chinese jiaozi are dumplings that contain meat, vegetables, or both.
Velveting Meat: The Best-Kept Chinese Restaurant Secret
One of my favorite things about American Chinese food is how easy it is to eat: the pieces are bite-sized, the flavors are addictive, and the meat is always tender and easy to chew. But if you've ever tried to replicate any of your favorite takeout in the kitchen, you've likely noticed that the high heat required for most recipes thoroughly dries out the meat that you're trying to cook.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: The Magic of Pork Dust
A no-carb, gluten-free substitute for breadcrumbs. Sounds and probably tastes like cardboard, right? Unless you're talking about Pork Dust. Yes, you read that right. Pork. DUST.
How To: Turn Boring Ol' Cauliflower into Delicious Pizza Crust, Chips, & Fried 'Rice'
Many of you have heard of "ricing" cauliflower. If you haven't, you're missing out making this one-note vegetable into a variety of main and side dishes. The ricing process is so simple, fast, and easy that even the most novice cook can swing this. One you complete this prep step, you will have an ingredient so versatile that you can easily fool your kids into eating their veggies without them ever knowing it.
How To: 5 Ways to Make Your Vegetables Taste Better
I like to think of myself as a pretty calm and even-keeled person. I rarely get angry or annoyed, and I don't even get peeved very frequently.
Tuiles: The Coolest Food You're Not Using (Make Them in Only 10 Minutes!)
My favorite finishing touch to any dish is a tuile. Small, elegant, and simple—even its name makes it sound delicate. Tuiles are garnishes that are malleable when directly removed from the oven and crisp up as they cool down. I love them because they complement both savory and sweet dishes and can add a nice alternative texture to creamy dishes. Read on to learn how to transform this warm, workable dough into a variety of crispy, light accents.
Skip Scented Candles: Make Scented Light Bulbs with Flavored Extracts Instead
Do you ever walk into a nice boutique, a friend's house, or a fancy restaurant, and think, “I wish my house smelled like this”? Because I sure do.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Bone Marrow, the Food That Tastes a Lot Better Than It Sounds
I was a vegetarian from age 6 until age 23. When I started eating meat again for the first time in 17 years, most people I knew (including me) expected me to be pretty conservative about it: chicken breasts, hot dogs, and all the other "basic" meats that everyone loves.
How To: Make Naturally Colored Pasta with Beets, Spinach, Squid Ink, & More
Although pasta is a remarkably simple dish, I find it to be one of the most aesthetically appealing foods. The noodles—especially thicker iterations, like linguine and fettuccine—are graceful and luxurious. Add in some sauce coating the noodles, and a sprinkle of Parmesan or a drizzle of olive oil, and pasta single-handedly reminds us of a basic tenet of cooking: sometimes keeping it simple is the perfect way to go.
Food Tool Friday: Pour & Strain Perfectly with a Silpoura Spout
Although I love a good kitchen gadget just as much as the next food writer, the truth is that my drawers are bursting with unused tools. I usually like to take the simpler approach to cooking and prepping, and for everyday cooking, I find that the best gadgets are usually the ones that do more than one thing.
How To: Make Homemade Nutella (That's Better Than the Real Stuff)
It is a universal truth that Nutella is the nectar of the gods. It takes the already delicious (e.g., sandwiches, cupcakes, or even bacon), and turns it into something magical. Everyone also knows homemade is always better. So if you're looking to step up your baking game, follow these instructions from Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio and make your very own Nutella!
Food Tool Friday: Meet the Big Green Egg—The Ultimate Cookout Machine
At first glance, the Big Green Egg looks like it was created by Dr. Seuss or some other whimsy-driven being, like Zooey Deschanel. And while this earthenware cooker may look cute, it produces serious results that can rival the best barbecue or grill. In fact, it's got quite a large cult following. Entrepreneur and former Navy serviceman Ed Fisher fell in love with the taste of food cooked in kamodos (traditional domed, covered earthenware vessels in Japan) and began to import them for sale in...
How To: Make a Caramel Popcorn Bowl You Can Eat
This easy "recipe" requires just two ingredients: popcorn and caramel bits. Caramel bits are made for melting, and they take all the work out of making caramel-based anything. If you've ever made caramel before, the result is delicious, but it's often hot and sticky work—in most cases.
News: Make Grilled Cheese in Your Toaster with No Mess
Grilled cheese is one of my favorite foods, ever. However, there are times in my life when I haven't had access to a full kitchen, and it's pretty hard to make a good grilled cheese sandwich without one.
How To: Turn Your Favorite Snack Food into Seasoning
You know how when you finish a bag of potato chips, Cheetos, or some other glorious savory junk food snack, there's always some bits and crumbs in the bottom of the bag? And you know how you pour those into your mouth, making sure to get every last speck of dust, because it's the most delicious part?
How To: The Secret to Making Strawberries Taste Like Candy
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.
How To: Why You Should Always Keep Canned Pumpkin in Your Pantry
Canned pumpkin is something I always stock up on and keep in my pantry, because it's endlessly useful when cooking or baking. Sweet, creamy, and mild, pumpkin can be folded into baked goods and savory dishes with ease.
News: DrinkTanks' Growler & Kegulator = Your Very Own Portable Beer Keg
With all due respect to the fine folks at DrinkTanks, it's a little surprising that no one came up with their idea sooner. After all, last I checked, beer was pretty darned popular.
Food Tool Friday: Meet PancakeBot, the World's First Pancake Printer
3D printing is getting closer and closer to becoming an everyday reality—which means revolutionary things are going to start happening for the home cook. Already there's a 3D printer that can produce edible tailored fruit and the Foodini, which can print full meals, including spaghetti and burgers. However, neither are available for purchase, and most likely won't be within reach of the average cook for years.
How To: Cut Back on Calories with These Easy, Tasty, & Healthy Cheese Alternatives
Cheese might be one of the most satisfying snacks around, whether you prefer a slice of snappy Irish cheddar or a creamy, rich portion of Brie. It's been called "dairy crack" by a respected physician and for good reason: eating cheese produces casomorphins, which effect the human body like opiates. It also contains trace amounts of actual morphine.
Dating by Profession: Retailers Don't Say No; Students Can't Get a Date
Are you a lawyer who's married to a computer programmer? Chances are you might not have even dated if you first met online.
Food Tool Friday: A Flexible Fish Spatula Is the Only Spatula You'll Ever Need
Most people who cook end up having at least three or four different kinds of spatulas in their drawers. I personally have at least five. However, if I had to do it all over again, I would purchase only one, and that would be a flexible fish spatula.
Food Tool: Jaccard Beats All Other Meat Tenderizers
Meat tenderizers are absolutely necessary when dealing with leaner, tougher cuts like flank or skirt steaks. And while fruit like papaya, kiwi, and pineapple contain enzymes that can tenderize meat, the results can be hit-or-miss, and impart a fruity flavor that you may not always want.