"aol food" news and stories

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.

Recipe for polenta pie after the jump.

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.

Cold Cuts ID Quiz

Read what my Dad had to say about lunchmeat a while back.

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!

AOL Food's vintage lunchboxes countdown

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!

[via: AOL Food]

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.)