Jenny and Asmund both work in the field of architecture and do freelance design work. Their kitchen balances function and form beautifully. It's compact, full of light, and a great example of renovation on a budget, $4,000 to be exact. Join me for a slice of pear galette and a tour of this inspired space and edible garden.

More

When money and storage space are tight, buying a new kitchen gadget like a food mill or a pressure cooker is never an easy decision. Will it take up too much space? Will you use it enough to justify the price? What if you want to try it out first? A neighborhood in Portland is working on a smart solution to this problem: a community kitchen tool library. More

Have you ever heard of the staff meal, the ritual in which a restaurant's staff will sit down together for a meal before they open for service? If you're like me, you might find yourself a little envious of that meal and curious, too, about what they eat. Marissa Guggiana must have been interested as well, because she sought out restaurants that took their staff meals seriously and paid them a visit, leaving with a handful of recipes and photos to share with us in her new book Off the Menu: Staff Meals from America's Top Restaurants. More

I am home in Los Angeles for some meetings and a little early Thanksgiving with my family. I grew up in this town and the four generations before me grew up in Santa Barbara barely two hours north of here.

This is the house my parents bought the year before I was born, so I'm lucky to return to the stability of walls that held me as a child. The one room that is gone, though, is the kitchen. When I was about eight years old, my mom and her team of worker bees took an axe to the original kitchen — small, chopped up into kitchen, breakfast nook, washroom and dining room — and built the room that now serves as the larger, brighter hearth of the home.

Arguably it is warmer and more comfortable, certainly for cooking. But that little girl in the photo above didn't need much space to learn to cook, nor did the generations of cooks before her. With her rear perched on the scratched Mexican tile counter, she learned how to mix and chop and fall in love with kitchen chemistry. More

About a month ago, I had the opportunity to hike at the base of Mt Hood, Oregon with a group of esteemed food bloggers and Dr. John Kallas, an expert in wild edibles. We dove headfirst into the details of what Mother Nature can provide when you know what to look for.

Do you know much about what you can eat from your local forest floor? Here's a look at our afternoon spent foraging, then feasting, on the delicious bounty of the forest. More

Penelope and her husband Nathan transformed a bare bones, down–on–its–luck home in North East Portland into a vintage style palace to showcase their miraculous second–hand treasures. The crown jewel of this special home is their savvy kitchen, wherein Nathan traded contracting for poured concrete counters and Penelope sourced major appliances via Craigslist. This space is an inspiring example of creative, purposeful design and a whole lot of imagination.

More

If you've ever flown into or out of the San Francisco airport, you have probably looked out the window and wondered about those weird red ponds scattered along the edge of the Bay. Wonder no more: they're sea salt harvesting ponds!

I was recently invited along on Diamond Crystal Salt's annual sea salt harvest right here in the San Francisco Bay. Let me tell you, it was a fascinating trip from Bay to box. Oh, and why the startling red color in those ponds? You'll never guess. More

The iPad/iPhone has introduced a whole new way for people to engage with food. It has been particularly helpful for those who aren't exactly proficient in the art of cooking, have the courage to expand their repertoire beyond the typical pasta dinner. After the jump we've collected a few apps that could be a helpful addition to your cooking routines.

• Read the full post at Unplggd

Bi-Rite Market is a well-known San Francisco grocery store located on 18th Street, just down the block from Tartine Bakery and Delfina Restaurant. Across the street, Bi-Rite Creamery is equally famous and if you ever get a craving for salty caramel ice cream, plan on standing in line, a very long line. (Even if it's foggy and 54 degrees and you're wearing sweaters and scarves, you will stand in line.)

So what's a grocery store in San Francisco doing with a cookbook and why should you care? Take a peek at that lovely cake pictured above and then read on for my review. More

Amanda's eye for preserving period elements from her charming 1930s bungalow and updating with a graphic sensibility has resulted in one classy renovation. The space is full of light, handmade details and the smell of chocolate chip cookies Amanda had just pulled out of the oven as I arrived. The cookies (her Grandma's recipe, documented in the gallery) and the kitchen were both inspired.

More