Every once in a while a recipe takes flight – on the internet, that is. The recent posting of Grace Parisi’s Speedy Skillet Ravioli Lasagna at Food52, and from the new cookbook, Lasagna: A Baked Pasta Cookbook by Anna Hezel (available fr…
For this Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fun to learn how to make natural pink frosting for cakes and cupcakes. My kids are at the age where they love the baking process almost ( almost ) as much as the finished treat, and our rec…
Squeezing juice out of a lemon isn’t difficult. Or is it? I would love someone nerdier than myself to test, on average, how much juice most of us leave behind in our citrus fruits after squeezing. It pains me to toss even zested rinds kn…
It never fails: every year at Thanksgiving I run out of space or equipment to get everything cooked on time. Then we have cold stuffing or gravy that has separated -- and a frustrated cook. So this year, I've read every single Thanksgivi…
I'm always trying to recreate the tacos I buy at my local taco truck, but I'm foiled by the tortillas. (Okay, I don't have a huge vat of lard to make real carnitas either, but one day!) Unlike the fresh-off-the-griddle handmade tortillas…
Even the most skilled cooks -- professional chefs included -- experience mishaps from time to time. It's not beyond us pro cooks for the soup to turn out too spicy, salty, bland, or thin. Or for the birthday cake to be stuck in the pan. …
If you're already thinking that you can't bear to hear about one more "foolproof" technique for how to cook eggs so that they peel perfectly, let me say that I UNDERSTAND. In fact, I was recently schooled by someone at the American Egg B…
Sometimes people assume that because cooking is a part of my work, I must love everything about being in the kitchen. Unfortunately, that's not true. While I do love cooking and often find it relaxing, sometimes it can feel like a chore.…
Hands down, the reason restaurant food is better than home cooking is that chefs know how to properly use salt. It is the essential ingredient in every meal–in every bite, really–that knocks your socks off. Chefs aren’t afraid to let it …
You've probably seen the food blog headlines: Ripen an avocado in just minutes! or How to ripen an avocado in the oven! Given that a) I love cooking with avocado since it's an easy, nutrient-dense fruit that I can serve as a kid-friendly…