I always find it interesting to take a few moments and look at how other countries and cultures do things. It's that type of exposure and open-mindedness that helps to accelerate new ideas. Working in the United States, I know all too well what an American lunch looks like — it's typically anything from a sandwich to a slightly smaller portioned dinner complete with sides. But what about the rest of the world? What are we missing out on? More

This time of year it seems everywhere you go—from the office to grandma's living room, from your friend's apartment to your partner's holiday party—you find a plate of cookies: decadent, sweet, sticky. It's wonderful and enjoyable, but if you're like me, at some point all that gooey sweetness fails to satisfy, and you find yourself wanting to nibble on something a little lighter, simpler, yet still festive and fitting to the season. More

There's a remarkable little pizza joint near my house. They have a big wood-fired oven crammed into a restaurant the size of a walk-in closet. There are three tables pushed against the wall, and a few seats at the bar, pressed up beside that blazing oven. Oh, and you enter through a convenience store, sidling past Diet Coke and bubblegum into this dimly-lit, miniature pizza parlor. But its size is in opposite proportion to its imagination and personality: this place turns out amazingly good pizza, including one that had me do a double-take, then fall promptly in love. More

This is my new Windmuhlenmesser Breakfast Knife and it's a beauty. What is a Breakfast Knife and why should you want one? And can you also use it for lunch, too? Read on for the details! More

Q: I've been searching for ages for a German soup recipe. I was introduced to it by a former roommate, the son of an Army chaplain who grew up in Germany, but sadly I never learned the name for the soup, much less the recipe. It involved lots of onions, garlic, bacon, mushrooms, and beer, and it was served with large sourdough bread dumplings cooked in the soup near the end.

I would love to try again, but all my book and internet searches for recipes have come up fruitless. Does anyone know what this is called, and where I can find a recipe?

Sent by Megan More

In today's shaky economic times combined with a movement to eat more sustainably, we're turning more to DIY food-related projects. From making our own bacon to building root cellars, we're learning how to do many things on our own. In this post: making your own sauerkraut! More

I've escaped to the family farm for a bit this summer, just in time for making sauerkraut. It's an annual summertime tradition carried on by my parents as it was by my grandfather, great grandfather, and great-great-grandfather, Anton, before them. Each generation made “kraut” on this very same farm; this recipe and method have remained intact with a few simple ingredients and manual tools...

It's that time of the year when people around the world go to German beer halls and German restaurants to celebrate Oktoberfest. Are you in the mood to try some homemade German cuisine this weekend? Try sauerbraten! The word means "sour roast," and the dish is a roast beef that is marinated in vinegar and then braised. More

If you're in San Francisco and you have a hankering for Kinder eggs, elderflower syrup, some spaetzle, and a copy of Der Spiegel, have we got the store for you. More