Here's what's new, noteworthy

Patagonia's jerky a wild idea

Bittersweet lessons learned from the candy expo

The first thing that occurs to you upon entering the annual Sweets & Snacks Expo at McCormick Place, the annual international...

Craig Claiborne cooked up a new recipe

The late Craig Claiborne introduced many things to North Americans as food editor of The New York Times. The list, according to the jacket...

April frosts devastate cherries

The ruby-red sour cherry, the fruit of choice for a classic lattice-topped summer cherry pie, suffered from an all-too-early growth spurt in...

Around the world with 330 sausages

If you're a sausage aficionado, you'll want to get your hands on "Sausage." If you don't have an appetite for sausage, this book might...

A look at what's new, noteworthy

So sweet, so fancy

Simple sauce reductions

Time to concentrate, not on recipes with lots of ingredients, but on reductions.

What to sip with ...

Vegetable eaters take heart; lots of wines taste great with foods cooked outside the animal protein corral. Stick to lighter reds, fuller-...

New, noteworthy food products

Clever quick quinoa

Why the sense of touch matters

OK, admit it: The only carrots you eat are pre-peeled and bagged. You've been buying chicken tenders so long you've forgotten that the...

Culinary giants: Fannie Farmer

Fannie Merritt Farmer was an influential New England cooking teacher with a flair for marketing and promotion whose 1896 "The Boston...

Pairing wine with pizza

Forget the simply adorned pizza; this one is as busy as an oven at Thanksgiving. But that also makes it delicious with a range of wines.

Tribute to Japan's quake region

"Kibo: Brimming With Hope; Recipes and Stories from Japan's Tohoku" By Elizabeth Andoh (Ten Speed Press, $3.99)

The chef who revolutionized French cuisine

Proclaimed the "king of chefs, chef of kings," Georges Auguste Escoffier was a French-born chef and restaurateur who revolutionized both his...

Help in the kitchen

We're all for parenting advice that extols the virtues of less work. Which is why we love the idea of handing off meal prep to the kids.

Cookbooks that bring comfort

At first glance, the story in the local paper seemed to have been written for me: "Decorating With Books." My house is swamped with...

More cookbooks doff their jackets

Have you noticed? More and more cookbooks are going jacketless these days. It's a trend that has little to do with saving money or being...

The sunny side of winter

How discontented would our winters be without the glorious summer promise of oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes?

'Games' fans hunger for recipes

There hasn't been a book series with such passionate following and evocative descriptions of food since Harry Potter.

Girl Scouts mark 100th year with new cookie

Been pondering this year's Girl Scouts cookie buy? You know, the annual:...

Recipes, tips for romantic dinners

"To Romance, With Love" by Dave Valletta (To Romance With Love) $30

Second helpings

Before we push ourselves back from the metaphorical table of 2011, we've got to have one more taste of our favorite recipes. If you missed...

Holiday cookbook haul

The Art of Living According to Joe Beef

Holiday cookie decorating 101

Maybe you don't have the time, energy or inclination to whip up a 3-D gingerbread wonderland, complete with snowy Christmas trees, red-...

Adventures in bird land

A whole, oven-roasted turkey is the Thanksgiving ideal for most people, whether they really have the appetite for such a big bird (and an...

Turkey buying tips

The centerpiece of so many Thanksgiving feasts, a plump turkey can confound even savvy cooks with label lingo (Bourbon Red? Free-range?).

Price of Thanksgiving dinner up 13 percent

Diners might not be in a thankful mood as they sit down in a few days to a Thanksgiving dinner that cost 13 percent more than it did last...

Five great cookbooks for kids

Children gain so much from cooking. There's the confidence achieved from accomplishing a task; science, math and reading skills; patience;...

A whiff can cut your raving craving

Of course smell is important when it comes to eating. When we walk into a movie theater, our sense of smell is why we're instantly dying for...

Clearing space

Let's start with the ugly truth: Your kitchen has gone to pot — and we don't mean the cooking kind, the kind you can't find for all...

Time for C.I.Y. (Cure it yourself)

Maybe you love a good Reuben sandwich. Or, maybe you just can't wait for St. Paddy's Day because of the excellent pub fare. Whatever your...

150 ways to deliver Spanish flavor

"Plancha: 150 Great Recipes for Spanish-Style Grilling" By Liliane Otal; Surrey Books, $21

Stephanie Izard wants to make you happy

A few of my friends thought I was weird for loving Julia Child, the Frugal Gourmet and Yan Can Cook, which weren't exactly on a par with...

Alton Brown gets down

You never saw a "Good Eats" show about cooking rabbit in the 12-year, 249-episode run of Alton Brown's popular Food Network series.

Modern family dinner

What does family dinner look like at your house? "The Cosby Show" or "Leave It to Beaver" but with texting teens? A scene from "Modern...

America's most caffeinated cities

A recent article in the online magazine Slate asked whether coffee was good for people, and...

Pushing peas

I'm a former vegetarian myself, so I was at once pleased and horrified when my 7-year-old twins began announcing, off and on, that they no...

Go ahead, wash the mushrooms

The call from Mark Scarbrough's mother was the last straw — and some inspiration for a new book.

Three myths about canning

When it comes to preservation, Sean Timberlake, DIY food expert, admits even accomplished home cooks are often stymied by the fear of...

Shelf Life

Pop chic

Eight how-to-eat-lobster steps

Do lobsters get the best of you? Fight back with these 8 how-to-eat-it steps.

As clear as mud? Sorting through vegetable oil claims

Vegetable oil shelves at the supermarket are crowded with the usual suspects (canola, olive, soybean, safflower, sunflower, peanut, corn,...

Good instincts

I was standing over a sizzling pan of oil studded with shredded carrot lumps when I surrendered to "Tender: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch,"...

Safety tips for glass bakeware

Two new glass bakeware items — Pyrex's Easy Grab line and Ziploc brand's VersaGlass — have arrived, making this a good time to...

New, noteworthy food products

Go nuts

Crazy quilt of food trucks nationwide

New book offers a snapshot of food trucks

Thin's in: Sandwich newcomers trim calories

The bread aisle is getting flat — with a growing number of flat breads (tortillas, pitas, nan and more) stacked on shelves. Among...

When are salads less healthy?

A fellow perpetual dieter confessed recently that, on doctor's orders to lose some pounds, she'd been digging into salads at lunch,...

Get creative with homemade baby food

Count us among the fans of Peter Rabbit Organics' new line of fruit and veggie squeeze pouches for babies, with flavor combos like carrot,...

A savvy sipper and other noteworthy products

Savvy sipper