Cooking Articles

Here to Stay: Whole Grain Snack Ideas

My kids have a joke about my favorite bread: it’s that 12-plus multi-grain bread with all those crunchy seeds and grains. They say “the more, the better for Mom!” and wonder if there will ever...

Living La Vida Local

They call themselves locavores or lacalvores and commit to eat foods grown or raised within 100 miles of their homes. Some are strict and forsake even salt and pepper while others are more flexible and...

Eggspert Advice, Part III

By request, I am offering the third installment of "Eggspert Advice." �Thanks to your feedback, this week we will tackle boiling, coddling and poaching. The fourth and final installment of "Eggspert Advice"...

Walkin' the Hog

As I was picking beans a few weeks ago, I looked up and saw my neighbors walking with three hogs down the center of our gravel road. Their little jiggly butts (point of clarification--the hogs’ butts,...

Slow Cooker Cravings

Over the last couple of months, my eating habits have changed dramatically. It is as if my body has been taken over by a force not entirely within my control. And this is for a very good reason— I...

There's More to Melon Than Fruit Salad Filler

Some call it “fruit salad filler”. I call it one of the world’s most underrated fruit categories. Whatever you call it, chances are there is more to the humble melon than meets the eye. With flesh...

French Toast Joie de Vivre

French toast seems to be all the rage these days. �I've seen it not only on brunch menus lately, but interestingly enough, dessert menus too. �Finally someone has had the good sense to get people to eat...

Bye-Bye to Bacon?

Living a healthy life is important to me and important to my primary employer, The Republic of Tea, as well. As such, they recently offered us a free health screening that involved a more in-depth blood...

The New School Lunch "Box"

Do you remember the old school metal lunchbox that came with its own thermos bottle? Embellished with a favorite TV show character, action figure, or comic strip superhero, these sturdy workhorses lasted...

Eat More Apps, Add Spice to Your Life

If variety is the spice of life, then there is nothing spicier than an entire meal of appetizers. All it takes is one look at the prevalence of restaurants featuring small plates to realize that this...

The Extreme Teens Taste Test

Just before school started, my son had a good friend over—they’ve been friends for about ten years now, and it never fails that, even if it’s been awhile since they’ve spent time together, they...

Hot Dogs, The Taste Test

It was one of those spontaneous happenings … and that, as you probably have noticed by now, is one of the beauties of life with kids. Especially when it involves food, cooking or any type of taste test....

Pizza Is What It's All "Crocked" Up To Be

In middle school, I had a friend who lived in Italy for three years. Her dad was in the military, and he had an opportunity to accept an assignment overseas. For three years, she sent me letters about...

Homemade Ethnic Dishes Made Easy

As the weather turns chillier, and stormy for some of us, my thoughts turn to hearty cooking and bold flavors. At the end of a long early September week of rain and unseasonably cold weather, I want to...

A New Approach For Eggplant

They’re here! And they brought friends. Lots of them. This time of year I could be talking about the bushels of zucchini or baskets of tomatoes. But I’m referring to a vegetable far more daunting:...

My Big Fat Greek Dinner

I've been eating a lot of Greek food lately. Maybe it's because I've recently discovered two fabulous Greek restaurants in my neighborhood on different ends of the Fancy Restaurant Spectrum. Maybe it's...