Cooking Articles

Kitchen Lessons From Reality TV

Reality TV is full of important life lessons. #1: If you are a D-list celebrity with a faltering career, your best opportunity for a comeback is to learn ballroom dancing (Dancing with the Stars). #2:...

Geometry Pizza

A picture is worth a thousand words. Such a common maxim, eh—and yet one we succumb to while advertising works its magic on us. And food is no exception. Appetizing photos of food can whet our appetite...

Another One From an Elder Bachelor

As I reported last week, I've been traveling quite a bit lately. My second stop was at the Minneapolis home of my graduate school advisor, Bob Scott, who has developed quite the repertoire of single-guy...

Easy Mediterranean Easter

Christmas has prime rib roasts, pork crowns, and the occasional goose. Easter has lamb and ham. And Thanksgiving, well, everyone knows what bird is front and center on that holiday. Why is it that...

Kale By Any Other Name

There exists a real and logical reason why, at a recent dinner party, I out-ed myself as something of an expert on black kale. After all, I can’t remember the last time someone found such information...

A Dinner to Transition With the Season

With the weather making a gradual transition from winter to spring, so changes my cooking. The winter, though not particularly cold this year, was enough so to warrant those heartier dishes that stick...

Will It Be Lamb Or Ham This Easter?

The two most popular centerpiece dishes of an Easter Sunday dinner are roast lamb or glazed ham. An informal survey reveals that these are equally well-liked choices, and opinions run strong about having...

A Quicker, Cooler Casserole

At what point in time did the casserole get a bad rap? If I recall correctly, it was somewhere between the introduction of canned tuna to the mix and the invention of boxed one-dish meals ending in "Helper."...

Brown Baggin' It: Sandwich Salads

So how’s the brown baggin’ going? �Have you come up with a variety of sandwiches or combinations that work for your kids? �You know, when we make sandwiches at our house, the favorite is ham and cheese....

Hard Boiled Hangover

The Easter holiday is over, and now all those pretty eggs you dyed with your nieces and nephews are sitting around the house. What do you do with these things? I remember growing up, the week before...

Spring Kitchen Organizing

I’ve been on an organizing kick lately. After overbuying groceries and pantry staples all through the winter, I realized it’s time to pare down to get ready for all the fresh foods and farmers market...

Big Flavor, On a Budget

It seems in many marriages, for every Ricky there’s a Lucy. The age old tug-of-war between the sensible and the spontaneous can affect every aspect of marital life from vacation planning to nightly...

Easter Eggs With A Twist

Spring is here and it’s time for the family fun tradition of dyeing Easter eggs. Coloring eggs in pastel hues and then having the Easter bunny hide them each year is a ritual that many families cherish....

Slow Food For a Fast World

Your dinner tonight is going to be really “slow,” but you will have it on the table from start to finish in under half an hour. Sounds crazy, right? Normally “slow” is not a word people want...

Cookies For Breakfast: Recipe For Disaster?

Have your kids ever asked to have cookies for breakfast and you said NO WAY?! Hey, I hear ya. I’ve got a dessert lover and sweet tooth, and just the other day that was the scene at our house. But—get...

Tapioca for Easter, the Easy Way

Who doesn’t love tapioca? It’s one of those foods—comfort foods, really—that just about everyone likes. Did you grow up knowing it as "fish eyes?" That’s what my dad used to tease us with....