Category: Food

Give the Perfect Toast

Being asked to present a toast is both a great honor and a very serious responsibility. Your words need to be meaningful, memorable, and heartfelt. To make your toast epic, it needs humor. To keep the audience happy, it needs to be brief. Keep It Brief We’ve all seen toasts given in movies and on…


Cooking Broccoli? Forget the Oven and Stovetop, and Try the Air Fryer

I invested in an air fryer for the sole purpose of serving restaurant-style tater tots and french fries from the comfort of my kitchen. But as I quickly learned, the true value in the trendy countertop appliance is in cooking vegetables of all kinds. The air fryer is actually better than the oven for turning…


The Secret to Perfectly Cracked Crinkle Cookies

These deep, dark, chocolaty cookies are also known as “earthquakes” because of all the cracks that break through their snow-white surfaces during baking. The key to creating these crinkly cracks is rolling the formed dough first in granulated sugar and then in confectioners’ sugar. The granulated sugar helps create that crackly, crusty exterior and keeps…


The Family Table: Nut Horns by the Platter, Best Made With Helpers

Submitted by Diane K. Brewer, Apalachicola, Florida Nut horns are cookies that have been in my family and enjoyed by them since the 1950s at least. They’re irresistible! I always thought that they were Slovak, from my father’s family perhaps, but my Polish godmother made them, too. I read on the internet that Hungarians claim them…


Spread Cheer Into the New Year With Homemade Wassail

You’ve undoubtedly heard the “Wassail Song,” or “Here We Come A-wassailing,” which seems to be on replay throughout all of December. “Love and joy come to you, / And to you your wassail too,” begins the refrain. With verses that celebrate food, drink, generosity, and merriment, it’s a cheerful tune intended to bring blessings to…


How to Get Washed Salad Greens Perfectly Without a Spinner

I was way off base when I guessed “egg-gathering basket.” Leslie Hindman, host of the TV show “Appraisal Fair,” held up this round cage contraption with folding sides and asked us to guess, “What the Heck Is It?” Salad spinner was the right choice, but who knew people were wasting their money on needless pieces…


A Taste of the Alps: How to Throw Your Own Fondue Party at Home

When the rural inhabitants of Swiss and French mountainous villages devised a warming winter dish incorporating their local cheese and white wine, little did they know it would become an international dinner party hit. It’s no wonder why this dish has crossed borders. During the cold and dark months, it’s universally appealing to hunker down…


Dreamy Meringue Cookies for Your Christmas Platter

These light, airy, and slightly chewy meringue cookies are like chocolatey clouds studded with mini chocolate chips. They’re flavored with a touch of almond extract and dusted with freeze-dried strawberry powder (easily made by whizzing up strawberries in a spice grinder) for a subtle tartness to counteract the sweetness. But they’re highly adaptable. If you’re…


Cornbread Gets Dressed Up for the Holidays

Cornbread gets a festive makeover in this recipe with the addition of fresh and dried cranberries. If you like your cornbread on the sweeter side, increase the honey to 1/2 cup. Cranberry Cornbread Active Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Serves 10 2 cups fine whole-grain cornmeal 3/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour or white…


Food Running Out, Philippine Typhoon Survivors Warn

MANILA—Philippine officials and residents of areas that bore the brunt of Typhoon Rai pleaded for food, water, and shelter on Tuesday as damaged roads, flooding, and severed power and communication lines hampered relief efforts. Rai struck last Thursday, the strongest typhoon to hit the archipelago this year, killing nearly 400 people and affecting 1.8 million,…