Sometimes food can be so beautiful. These beet and goat cheese "jewels" are simply made by layering those two ingredients. The trick is that the beet coloring — from both golden and red beets — seeps into the goat cheese, which is what gives the terrine that beautiful, varied shading.

Oh boy. If you often find yourself lost in the galleries of Tastespotting, you know that the deliciousness borders on overwhelming. With that in mind, you may be thrilled or dismayed when we tell you about the latest crowd-sourced recipe site. CookieHound is basically like Tastespotting, except it's only cookies. Repeat. Only cookies. Lots and lots of cookies. 

My wife and I cook like to cook together in the kitchen. A lot. We meal plan and secure all our groceries on the weekend, effectively pulling together a menu that will feed us, both lunch and dinner, at least four days out of the week. The inspiration for what we put on our dinner plates comes from a variety of books, magazines, and online sources. Each week there is one stand out, and this week the best thing we cooked Bon Appetit's Indian-Spiced Chicken with Chickpeas and Spinach.

As I've said before, I always find the most interesting or thought-provoking things at Maria Popova's site Brainpicker. A few days ago she unearthed a rare 1961 book that is perfect for lovers of literature, art, and the melding of all that with cooking...

Jenny Rosenstrach, author of Dinner: A Love Story and the blog of the same name, summed up the last few years of her writing on the family dinner in such a funny, wise, helpful, and entertaining post last week. She laid out her 50 rules for dinner, and then her husband did the same, starting with: "When making pasta, be sure to salt the water." Want to see all of their rules for dinner? What would your rules for dinner be? 

KitchenAid stand mixers have a devoted following, and those who have one say it's totally worth the splurge. If you have a mixer, love your mixer, and find yourself squealing every year over the new 2013 KitchenAid mixer colors, then do we have a treat for you: fabulous, colorful, oh-so-cute gingerbread cookies in the shape of that beloved KitchenAid mixer!

I love washed linen napkins. They are incredibly soft and absorbent and their rumpled look suits my casual style. They can be ironed if you want a crisper look, but they are truly beautiful if you just smooth and fold them when they come out of the dryer (or off the line). Their only downside is the price, which can run as high as $30 each. But if you're like me and also appreciate frayed edges, then you can have six linen napkins for half that price, with no sewing involved. Read on for how to make this happen.

Quiche — that wonderful savory breakfast pie — is the perfect make-ahead brunch recipe. I was looking for a fresh, spring recipe when I came across this quiche from Stephanie of Desserts for Breakfast. As Stephanie says, this recipe features a "myriad of textures and flavors" — fresh peas, sweet butternut squash, a little bite and tang from the feta cheese, all topped with garlic. Sounds like the perfect midday crowd-pleaser. 

Some days you want a dessert that goes all out. Some days you want — scratch that, need — a rainbow sprinkle cake in your life. And The Cake Blog has an easy-to-follow tutorial to make it happen.