When norcalgirl21 put in a request for a Lava Cake recipe, the first thing I thought of was Nigella Lawson's Choco-Hoto-Pots, although I like to refer to them simply as chocolate pots. This is a classic Nigella recipe: simple, quick and outrageously decadent. Warm, gooey, chocolatey heaven! I have yet to serve these and not have the conversation come to a halt, leaving only the sound of spoons scraping against porcelain and the occasional sigh of pleasure. More

Name: America's Test Kitchen
Location: Brookline, MA
Size: 2,500 square feet

If you didn't know it was there, you'd never assume an authority on recipe testing and development was housed in a simple brick building surrounded by condos and coffee shops. Like its popular magazines, America's Test Kitchen doesn't look flashy, but inside it is buzzing with energy and expertise. I took a peek behind the cameras to see how a typical day runs at the culinary nerve center responsible for two TV shows, two magazines, a handful of websites, and countless cookbooks.

More

Lardy Cake. Just the name alone will cause some people to faint in horror as lard still has a bad reputation with many health-conscious eaters. But denizens of Great Britain might also smile a little, too, for Lardy Cakes are a traditional tea time treat and many Brits I know have a soft spot for this sweet, doughy, crunchy treat. And perhaps it will come back into good graces as we are rediscovering lard as a healthier fat.
More

The second series of "Downton Abbey" premieres this weekend on PBS and if you're as obsessed as we are, you might be planning your very own viewing party complete with period-appropriate food and drink. Here's an Edwardian-era cake that we highly recommend. It includes several ingredients you probably have in your winter larder ... and don't worry, it's much better than Mrs. Patmore's salty pudding! More

Do you find yourself craving a small glass of sherry before dinner? And are you a fan of the British television series Downton Abbey? Perhaps you are one of the many drinkers experiencing the "Downton effect," the term The Independent UK uses to explain the rising popularity of a once-fusty drink. More

Home-cooked pasta never seems to ooze steamy cheese quite as seductively as the dishes on TV commercials, but we don't blame our cooking skills. As the New York Times reveals in its behind-the-scenes look at the making of commercials for chain restaurants, picture-perfect fettuccine Alfredo calls for sauce injectors, tubes and a set of large hypodermic needles.

What else aren't they showing us? More

Oh yeah, what ever did happen to that school in Huntington, West Virginia where Jamie Oliver tried to overhaul the student lunches? The story, as told in a recent article on Gilt Taste, will warm even the most skeptical and embittered of hearts. More

Nigel Slater fans in America, this post might frustrate you! Unfortunately, it's still not possible to watch Mr. Slater's cooking shows in the US. (I don't understand why they're not distributed here, but that's another post.) Ahem. OK, so moving on, we can at least take a little peek at the set of his latest show, Nigel Slater's Simple Cooking, which premiered in the UK last week. More

ABC is premiering a new daytime food show next week called The Chew. It will be in a talk show format and co-hosted by Mario Batali, Carla Hall, Clinton Kelly, Daphne Oz, and Michael Symon. The video snipettes they've released so far are lively and informative, with lots of kitchen tricks and techniques, lessons on ingredients, and recipe demos. More

Did you catch CNN's special on the heart attack proof diet Sunday night? Dr. Sanjay Gupta profiled several Americans who were at risk or had already experienced a heart attack, including President Bill Clinton, and came to a singular conclusion: heart disease is essentially a foodborne illness. And some doctors believe one specific diet is the cure. More