Tips and Techniques

[Editor's Note: Lemon curd is one of those tangy, wonderful treats that I love to eat, but have never tried to make. It's a great ingredient to use in other baked goods, but is also lovely drizzled on toast, or, well, just eaten with a spoon, if you're decadently-inclined. This recipe makes homemade lemon curd sound just easy enough that I am now dying to try it myself! --Genie]  Read more

[Editor's Note: There are some very basic kitchen skills that every cook should have in their repertoire, and properly separating eggs is definitely one of them. This post includes an incredibly helpful photo tutorial that explains just how to do this so you end up with the eggs in their separate components, and the shell in the compost or trash, rather than in your egg mixture. --Genie]  Read more

[Editor's Note: Here's a great way to take a traditional appetizer and make it more convenient for your guests, while making it prettier along the way, too! I love the idea of these small cups of dip, which both provide excellent portion control and give everyone a better view of the layers that make this distinctive appetizer what it is. --Genie] Individual Seven-Layer Dips  Read more

As summer approaches, it's great to have some new ideas in your back pocket for non-alcoholic coolers to serve to guests. This set of flavored lemonades is a terrific start—each one is fresh and flavorful, and they can be made with a base of either lemonade mixed up from concentrate, or the homemade variety.  Read more

[Editor's Note: I'm part French-Canadian, and so I choose that fact as plenty of reason for me to love poutine, a Canadian dish of French fries topped with melted cheese curds and gravy. But I have also pledged my allegiance to the humble grilled cheese. Could the two comforting, cheesy, fatty dishes be merged together into something even more sublime? Apparently, the miraculous answer to this question is a resounding yes. Read on. --Genie]  Read more

This week, Mario Batali made news as he announced how hungry he has been while taking the Food Stamp Challenge, an effort to make it through the week while spending no more than $31 total for all 21 meals and any snacks. Batali and his family are discovering how hard it is to fit meat into one's diet at the low price-per-meal covered by food stamps, and they're reportedly eating lots of rice and beans and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. But Rachel Bolden-Kramer of Hip Dhamma is also taking the challenge alongside Batali and his family, I love her approach, which focuses on whole and healthy foods, as well as on guaranteed money-savers like looking beyond the grocery store.  Read more