Fast food is a guilty pleasure in which we all indulge. When you're short on time and long on hunger, being able to whiz through the drive-thru or run 'in and out' of a fast food joint can be a real lifesaver.
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...
Frozen fruit is always in season at your local grocery store, so you don't have to wait until the farmers market starts again to enjoy delicious baked fruit desserts. Peach pie, blueberry muffins, raspberry scones... all of these delicious baked goods can be just as delectable when using frozen fruit, too.
The way in which cooking can be used to both illustrate science and create a beautiful bite of food is fascinating to me. And emulsions, the results of combining liquid fat and water, are a fantastic example of science in harmony with great cooking.
Even those of us most comfortable in the kitchen can be daunted by the idea of cooking for a whole houseful of people. Whether you have a large, well-equipped kitchen or a small one with just the essentials, it can prove to be quite a task to prepare food for a dozen or so people. It takes a certain type of recipe that allows for mass production, in respects to both technique and ingredients. And what I've provided below includes several recipes that you might normally make for just a family ...
Unquestionably, one of the best parts of Hanukkah is the prevalence of latkes during the 8-day celebration. But even the most dedicated spud fanatic can get a little "latke'd out" as the week drags on. Here are some alternative preparations for latkes that will give you some variety in your celebratory food choices throughout the Hanukkah season.
Cake decorating is one of those activities that used to leave my hands sticky and my spirits dampened. No matter what I seemed to do, the final result always ended up looking like a preschool art project.
Everyone and his mother (and grandmother) has a chocolate chip cookie recipe that he swears is the absolute best recipe, guaranteed to produce a chocolate chip cookie so good it will make you weep with joy. The problem with that is that everyone—relatives included—has a different idea of exactly what constitutes a perfect chocolate chip cookie.
I may be in the minority when I say this, but I love leftovers. Whenever I'm cooking for less people than the recipe calls for, I cook the full yield anyway. And when I go to a restaurant, I order whatever I want—regardless of how much I can actually eat in one sitting.
Homemade ice cream is so good and you can make it with just a few ingredients and no special equipment. Most cookbooks and magazine recipes expect you to have an ice cream maker at home, but you can imitate the churning effect of an ice cream maker by shaking or tossing around the ingredients inside a tightly sealed ziplock bag.
Ice pops are like summer on a stick, with all the sweetness and stickiness of July and August. Store-bought popsicles, although refreshing, are never as good as homemade. So it's time to up your popsicle game with some of these beautiful creations, including some boozy pops (poptails) for adults.
Rather than reaching for aspirin the next time a headache strikes, try grabbing a drink of lemonade instead. Not only can it help ease your head pain, but it can also help relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. But not just any old lemonade will do the trick—reach for the lavender lemonade.
Mushrooms are glorious: they're nutritional powerhouses, add meaty savor to just about any dish, and are cheap and plentiful (mostly). But just when you thought you knew best how to use edible fungi (in gravies, as portobello burgers, stewed and served over pasta, just to name a few uses), you learn something new: there's a mushroom out there that tastes like maple syrup. Yep, maple syrup.
Cooking rice, pasta, and other grains in water is so boring. There is a much better way to guarantee they will have your mouth chewing something seriously tasty: cook them in something that isn't water. Alternative liquids such as stock, milk, juice, or even tea will give bland dishes a fresh new flavor boost. If you're not sure how your dishes might taste, never fear: we tested them out. Before getting started, be sure to read this article first so that you know why it's important to rinse y...
Are you stranded in a hotel room with no kitchen, but craving the comfort of a home-cooked meal? Fear not, I have found some interesting ways to cook food without the luxury of an oven, stove, microwave, or even a toaster!—also known as "hotel room cooking."
Christmas is just around the corner, which means holiday wreaths are decorating many doors across the nation. While we're always fans of a practical DIY, we especially love the edible kind, which are great for last-minute decorations.
Alcohol is a marvelous thing. It might even be responsible for saving civilization. And we're always fans of hacking our booze intake, whether it's learning how to drink all night long without getting drunk or how to discreetly get your drink on without anyone knowing.
In my opinion, the greatest food hacks are the ones that help you cut way, way down on dishwashing. That's especially true when it comes to baked goods, which usually involves dirtying up a couple of mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons, some kind of stirring implement, and the baking pan itself.
You know how you can go to those little Mexican restaurants that have the refreshing drink machines full of that sweet rice drink, horchata? Did it ever seem like some kind of arcane powdered mix or a secret recipe you would never know? If you've ever found a recipe, did you imagine it needing all these crazy ingredients that you can't find for cheap at your local supermarket?
Mashed potatoes are universally beloved, and for a good reason — they're cheap, tasty, and relatively easy to make. What's more, they're adaptable to just about every dietary regimen, whether you're vegan, gluten-free, or lactose-intolerant. And they're a staple for holidays such as Thanksgiving.
To steal a quote from Mean Girls, Halloween is the one night when a girl can dress like a total slut and no one can say anything about it—but why do girls get to have all the fun?
If there's anything the Internet has taught us, it's the fact that, just because two things shouldn't go together, does not under any circumstances mean that someone won't find a way to make them go together.
If you've ever wondered what exactly goes into a McDonald's sandwich (or what the heck that secret sauce stuff is anyways), you might be a little surprised to learn that all of the ingredients are readily available at your local grocery store. In an interesting move, McDonald's has released a video featuring Executive Chef Dan Coudreaut showing, step by step, how to make your own Big Mac sandwich at home. Here is the video, and if you'd like to read along with Coudreaut's instructions, you ca...
El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is, despite what its name may imply, not a spooky holiday. The Mexican celebration takes place two days after Halloween, on November 2nd, and involves visiting the graves of your loved ones and communing with them through "shared" food.
Bettie Page was the ultimate pin up girl. Naturally curvaceous and blessed with batty eyes and full lips, Page was adored by men all over and had women copying her every hairstyle and makeup look. It's no wonder, then, that we still see so many interpretations of her signature pompadour hair look today.
In this how to video, you will learn how to draw a witch. First, draw three oval shapes for the head and body. Next, draw the basic out line of the witches and legs. From there, you can add the arms, cape and broom. You can also add a bat and cat if you want. From here, you can go back into the drawing with more detail. Add the buckle and band of the witches hat. Next, draw in the curls of the hair and the eyes, nose, and mouth. Next, add in the folds of the cape. If you drew the cat, add fur...
How to make cool paper claws:Flameboy2202 shows us how to make cool claws with paper. They are really simple and can be used at Halloween. All you need is a eight and half by eleven sheet of paper. Take the paper, fold the top right corner; try to make it as even as possible. Now, take the top point and fold it to make a pyramid kind of formation. Now take the bottom two corners and fold them in. Fold the bottom upwards so that you have a perfect triangle. Flip it over and see, you have a per...
Pumpkins are not just for Jack-O-Lanterns! Pumpkins very inexpensive right now since it is after Halloween! You can use pumpkins to make pumpkin soup, roasted pumpkin, roasted pumpkin seeds, etc. First, we will show how to properly cut a pumpkin. You'll need a big knife (the bigger the better), due to the vast diameter of the pumpkin. You also will want two buckets, one for seeds and one for flesh. Also, keep a garbage bag handy as a lot of garbage comes off of a pumpkin. They are messy, but ...
Begin by painting your full nails orange. Any orange will work for this design; just keep in mind that more than one coat of nail polish may be needed to get a bold and opaque shade. I did two coats of orange to get the coverage shown in the photograph.
This is a very cute look and if you like pink you will like it especially if you are a girly-girl that really loves pink.
This Is It... Your next Halloween costume: The King of Pop, Michael Jackson. What you'll need: A black suit and black tie, red collared button-down shirt, and a pair of white socks and black shoes. Accessorize with a black rimmed hat, a pair of aviator sunglasses, and a dust mask. Seem pretty easy? Well, with this tutorial, ThreadBanger sheds light on a few extra touches you can add to make your MJ costume more authentic than the rest.
The cost of acrylic paint and corn syrup? Minimal. Freaking out your friends beyond all reason? Priceless.
The witch is the blue-chip stock of Halloween costumes — reliable return, low risk. You Will Need
Whether you're a sinner or a saint, making a nun costume for Halloween requires no divine intervention.
Anytime you hit the grocery store you can find an entire aisle dedicated to quick fixes, meals-on-the-go, and pre-mixed cake batter. While these options are great if you're looking to add polysorbate 60 and red 5 to your diet, if you're looking for a more natural foodstuff then you should make it at home.
Walk on water? Impossible. Walk on cornstarch? You bet! Check out this video to see what happens when you mix up a tub of cornstarch and water. It's goopy cool fun. Mix cornstarch and water in this classic experiment to form a gooey liquid and solid material that behaves like quicksand. Some people refer to this as the Oobleck recipe, others call it a Non-Newtonian fluid. After watching these video segments, you'll call it a great science lesson as your students learn about the amazing proper...
Acne sucks - or, more correctly, acne oozes. Which is why it's so important to take care of your skin with oil-reducing, calming products. Most anti-acne medications you can buy are severely drying and irritating, meaning they can cause the adverse effect of making your skin compensate by producing even more oil.
We all love cupcakes, but some of us don't tolerate gluten, and other of us have peanut allergies. Imagine this scenario times 30, the average number of students in a class, and you can see where things would go wrong.
There's nothing like a few margaritas to survive the holidays without strangling your relatives and having a complete meltdown mid present wrapping. But don't just take the easy way out by purchasing a maragarita mix and adding some liquor - we all know that never ends up giving you that flavor kick you're craving.
Very often during the holidays we desire a drink that both warms our belly while offering us a nice escape from our perverted uncle Sam who's visiting up til New Year's. While a few Cosmos would work, why not add some holiday cheer to your drinking by mixing up this chocolate hazelnut cocktail?
