As I've mentioned before on this blog, my fiancee has been sick for some time. This winter hit us hard, and he was sicker than ever last week. I found myself stocking up on Jell-O, pudding, soup, saltines, ginger ale and applesauce.
After he was tucked into bed and happily fed, I sat down on the couch and wondered what I was going to eat. I spent so much time making sure our cabinets were stocked with things he could keep down, I completely forgot to take care of myself.
AOL Food has an ongoing gallery of "Ten-Minute Mains" from Gourmet Magazine. I remembered seeing a fast and hearty recipe that I knew I had the ingredients for. Polenta pie with cheese and tomato sauce was a luxurious meal that I happily threw together in no-time flat. Ready-made plain polenta (in a plastic roll) proved to be a friend. After the aromas of fresh basil, tomato and cheese took over my apartment, I cuddled into the corner of my couch with a BIG bowl of this pie and found myself thinking, "What a treat."
Whether your significant other is not feeling well, or he or she is out for the night, it's important to find recipes that are quick enough to cook up for yourself. Cooking for one is not something to be ashamed of and it should not be a daunting task. Take the time on the weekend and flip through cookbooks and Web sites to find easy meals that are quick to prepare on the weeknights and reheat well for leftovers.
Think you can tell cotto salami from Dutch loaf or summer sausage? Prove you're not just full of baloney with AOL Food's Cold Cuts ID Quiz, then come back to share your score.
A 1954 Superman lunchbox broke records when it sold for a whopping $11,500 in auction. Though most vintage boxes won't score a sliver of that price, many good-condition carriers still hold their weight in worth. Here's a countdown of classic lunchboxes' blue book value. Who knows? You might have some cold hard cash collecting dust in your attic!
During the first couple of days of July, I nibbled my way through three floors of New York City's Javits Center while attending the Summer Fancy Food Show. Several other folks from AOL Food and Epicurious were also there, tasting chips, cheese, chocolates and dips. We discovered that there are quite a few people making artisanal chocolate, flavoring things with lavender and pear-ginger and doing amazing things with live foods among many other, tasty things.
We've all sorted through our samples, press kits and memories, trying to bring you what we think was the very best of the show in one fun, appealing slideshow that you can find over at AOL Food. Head on over, take and look and then come back over here and let us know what you think. Did we pick anything you love? Or did we happen to hit on a product you've tried and not liked? We want to hear what you think!
It was extremely hot and humid yesterday. Not only did it reach 88 degrees with high humidity, it was the first truly hot and humid day of the year so it felt even worse. For some bizarre reason I played two hours of tennis in the sun and cooled myself with Tropicana Summer Lemonade (which is quite good, by the way). So I wanted to do a post with a really good lemonade recipe.
Instead of that, I found a recipe at AOL Food for Frozen Lemonade Pie which sounds both filling and refreshing. You make it with a graham cracker crust and a can of frozen lemonade concentrate. The oven will only be on for 7 minutes so it shouldn't get too hot in your kitchen.
(Old Orchard also has a similar recipe for Frozen Lemonade Pie (pictured above), but it includes cream cheese.)
Sometimes I wonder how certain food holidays are created. They seem so specific. Is there an Applesauce Cake Council that demands a day of their own?
Oh, by the way, today is National Applesauce Cake Day! I've never had it, but it sounds quite good. I keep picturing something that is moist and chewy and wet and dry all at the same time. AOL Food actually has two recipes for it, one from The Joy of Cooking and the other from Woman's Day.
AOL Food has brewed up an iced tea-stravaganza! Get recipes, tips & tricks with How to Brew Iced Tea, read our ongoing Bottled Iced Tea Reviews, and slurp up fun historical and cultural facts in our Iced Tea Quiz. Don't forget to c'mon back to share your quiz scores, tea brewing strategies, and suggestions about what store-bought blends we should sample next.
I grew up with health food store peanut butter. The kind that is essentially just ground peanuts and a little salt, where the oil rises to the top and either has to be stirred in or poured off before you can make a sandwich. I was always envious of my friends who had jars of Skippy or Jif in their cabinets (our peanut butter had to be stored in the fridge so that it didn't go bad). These days I now prefer the peanut butter I grew up with, loving the flavor of the nuts and salt without any added sugar or fats.
The folks over at AOL Food threw themselves on sword of bad food and tasted 35 different jars of peanut butter in order to find the very best of the best. Their winner was Whole Foods 365 Brand Crunchy Peanut Butter. I'm not a huge fan of crunchy peanut butter typically, but hearing that a collection of reliable foodies determined that it was the best of the bunch makes me curious to give it a shot.
Okay folks, what do you think? Did the AOL Food testers get it right? What's your favorite peanut butter?
I always have a big jar of kosher salt next to my stove. However, I don't just use it to season the food I cook. Every time I use my big cast iron skillet, I grab a handful of kosher salt and use it to scour the inside of the pan. This way I protect the seasoning of the pan from the harshness of soap and still get all the charred bits of food off the bottom of the pan.
There are lots of foods that can do double-duty like my jar of kosher salt. Our friends over at AOL Food have put together a photo gallery with 23 Weird Household Uses for Food. They've got foods that can help with to clean drains, keep bugs and pests at bay or clear a clogged drain. Their salt tip? Work a good amount of salt into a grease stain on an item of clothing before washing to help remove the stain.
If you have a food tip to share, please leave a comment!
Everyone who eats out in restaurants has their list of pet peeves. My biggest is when waiters rush me though my meal.
AOL Food has a list of the 11 most annoying restaurant trends. I'm not sure if some of these are even "trends" or if they're just long-held policies that restaurants have had, like the recitation of menu specials. But some of these are spot on, such as the trend to add "tini" to the end of so many drink names and upselling. Luckily I don't eat in restaurants that have a guy who walks around with a baseball bat-sized pepper mill. Just put a normal-sized one on the table and I'll be happy.
While you're thinking about what to serve for this holiday season, here's something else to think about: AOL Food's quiz on holiday foods. Ten questions on everything from advocaat and candy canes to mulled wine and pfeffernusse.
I got eight out of ten, which is better than I usually do with these quizzes. One I guessed on and got right, and another one I got because they showed a picture that was a huge clue.
It's the holiday season, and that means lots of mashed potatoes are going to made across the land. I love them. Give me a giant bowl of mashed potatoes with butter and salt and pepper and I'd be happy. I don't eat as much potatoes as I used to, along with white rice, pasta, and white bread. But the holidays are a different story.
AOL Food has a list of 11 different ways to make mashed potatoes. You can make them with sour cream, coconut milk, with cheese and corn (cowboy style), even mashed potato tacos! I also like them with garlic, though watch how much garlic you add. I've had mashed potatoes with way too much garlic and the result isn't tasty.
AOL Food has a slideshow at their site, with ideas on how to add bacon to, well... pretty much everything. No, not your typical breafast dishes. That's too obvious. We're talking about putting bacon on hot apple pie, in oatmeal, in an ice cream sundae, and in chocolate chip cookies. Someone is even trying to get the smoky flavor of bacon inside a glass of whiskey.
A lot of these ideas are too out there for me, but I think I'd try bacon in popcorn.
I took this Halloween candy quiz over at AOL Food, and I got only three right out of ten, and two of those were complete guesses. But some of the questions are quite hard. I mean, how the heck am I supposed to know when Lemonheads were first developed or how many million pounds of candy corn Americans eat every year? I'm amazed it's even in the millions.
I grew up in New England, and I'm not sure what other families did, but we never called the nighttime meal "dinner." We always called it "supper." Now I always call it dinner. I don't know when it changed, but somewhere along the line it did.
AOL Food has a fun poll where they ask you what you called certain food things in your region. Did you call it dinner or supper (there's also an "other" option, though I'm not sure what that would be). Sprinkles or Jimmies or 100s and 1000s? Sub, Hero, or Hoagie? Soda, Pop, or Tonic?
During the first couple of days of July, I nibbled my way through three floors of New York City's Javits Center while attending the Summer Fancy Food Show. Several other folks from AOL Food and Epicurious were also there, tasting chips, cheese, chocolates and dips. We discovered that there are quite a few people making artisanal chocolate, flavoring things with lavender and pear-ginger and doing amazing things with live foods among many other, tasty things. 
It was extremely hot and humid yesterday. Not only did it reach 88 degrees with high humidity, it was the first truly hot and humid day of the year so it felt even worse. For some bizarre reason I played two hours of tennis in the sun and cooled myself with Tropicana Summer Lemonade (which is quite good, by the way). So I wanted to do a post with a really good lemonade recipe. 
I grew up with health food store peanut butter. The kind that is essentially just ground peanuts and a little salt, where the oil rises to the top and either has to be stirred in or poured off before you can make a sandwich. I was always envious of my friends who had jars of Skippy or Jif in their cabinets (our peanut butter had to be stored in the fridge so that it didn't go bad). These days I now prefer the peanut butter I grew up with, loving the flavor of the nuts and salt without any added sugar or fats. 
I always have a big jar of kosher salt next to my stove. However, I don't just use it to season the food I cook. Every time I use my big cast iron skillet, I grab a handful of kosher salt and use it to scour the inside of the pan. This way I protect the seasoning of the pan from the harshness of soap and still get all the charred bits of food off the bottom of the pan. 
Everyone who eats out in restaurants has their list of pet peeves. My biggest is when waiters rush me though my meal.
While you're thinking about what to serve for this holiday season, here's something else to think about: AOL Food's 
It's the holiday season, and that means lots of mashed potatoes are going to made across the land. I love them. Give me a giant bowl of mashed potatoes with butter and salt and pepper and I'd be happy. I don't eat as much potatoes as I used to, along with white rice, pasta, and white bread. But the holidays are a different story.
AOL Food has a slideshow at their site, with ideas on 
I guess I don't know that much.
I grew up in New England, and I'm not sure what other families did, but we never called the nighttime meal "dinner." We always called it "supper." Now I always call it dinner. I don't know when it changed, but somewhere along the line it did.
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