From Scratch

This recipe is so tried and true. I’ve been making it about 20 years and my mother made it for several years before that. It’s a pumpkin lover’s cake, not a spice cake at all even though it does have some spices and raisins.
One thing I like about this type of cake — made with […]

Beauty is only a light switch away.”
Top Chef Season 3 finalist Dale Levitski, during the cast reunion October 10. A nosy viewer wanted to know if the gay chef is still single (yes) and what his type is. His answer was one of the tedious reunion’s few bright moments.

Sphere: Related Content

It wasn’t too many years ago that Americans who knew the word “chai” at all — in the beverage sense, not as the Hebrew word for “life” — simply thought of it as the word for “tea” in several other languages. Now it’s a popular category of spiced tea, properly called “masala chai.”
It’s so popular […]

Former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK), is taking matters into his own hands. He was not included in tonight’s debate on MSNBC after the cable channel’s parent company said he did not meet the polling and fundraising requirements. So he will participate — from across the street — via a webcast from his site, answering the same […]

There’s something so satisfying about a hot bowl of homemade split pea soup on a chilly day, but so dreary when it’s a puddle of green puree, reminding me of Oliver Twist and his bowl of gruel.
Like everyone, I eat first with my eyes and that means more than color. It also means texture. Shapes. Even height […]

Today’s Sunday Times of London reports the largest-ever study of organic food has concluded organics really are more nutritious, providing up to 40% more antioxidants and higher levels of zinc and iron. Milk from organic herds had antioxidant levels up to 90% higher than milk from conventional herds.
The study spanned four years and cost £12 million […]

You’ve no doubt noticed the dollar’s in the dumpster. Among other things, it means no more Canadian bargains for us; as of last night, according to Yahoo’s currency converter, 1 Canadian dollar was worth just under $1.04 US.
But many Canadians are angry over one aspect of this and with good reason. You know those dual prices […]

Several months ago Gold Medal replaced its Better for Bread flour, in the yellow sack, with Harvest King bread flour, in an earth-tone sack reminscent of Al Gore’s earth-tone alpha-male campaign wardrobe in 2000. It’s not just a cosmetic change; this is a different flour, the same one previously available only to professionals and favored […]

From Midtown to Downtown, restaurants owned by or associated with chefs we’ve come know from television are sprinkled around Manhattan like dots on a map. Actually, they are dots on a map now.
Gridskipper has published a handy and typically irreverant guide to those eateries, complete with opinionated commentaries. It’s obvious immediately that there would be […]

Adobo is both a seasoning — you’ve probably seen it at the market — and a national dish of the Philippines. With the latter, it’s a tangy soy braise of chicken or pork, and like most of my favorite dishes it consists of a few good ingredients, simply prepared. The sum is greater than the parts.
When […]

I have to be in the mood to make and decorate cutout cookies and when I am, I often turn to this recipe, which has a hint of a grownup flavor. Like all rolled cookies, these are sugary but the addition of a small amount of spice — the sort I associate with autumn — […]

   
If you use Baker’s brand White Chocolate Baking Squares, check the package. Kraft has issued a recall in the US and Canada because of possible salmonella contamination. The chocolate squares have slightly different names and packaging in each country.
The recalled product in the US carries four “best by” dates:

31 MAR 2008 XCZ
01 APR 2008 […]

The Republican field of presidential candidates has shrunk by one. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback dropped out this week, citing a lack of support and money. No surprise here; last month he gave a speech in the heavily-populated (for New Hampshire) southern part of the state and only a handful of people showed up. Perhaps it […]

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner reminds me of a petulant schoolboy. Everything’s fine on the playground as long as the games are going his way, but let him lose and look out.
His treatment this week of manager Joe Torre, who led the team to 12 straight playoffs and four World Series wins, is shameful. […]

Someone who saw the Coca-Cola Ham recipe here sent me a recipe for pork chops using Coke. She said it’s a week night favorite and popular in the South and, best of all, fast. You can count the ingredients on one hand.
It looked intriguing but awfully sweet, with Coke in the sauce and brown sugar on […]