These colorful tapas bowls are really making me want to throw a tapas party, or at least put together a few small appetizer servings. I love the design and the clear glaze. How great would they look spread out on a table?

"Go ahead and lick the spoon — there are no worries when you bake vegan!" As a guilty spoon-licker myself, reading this made me laugh out loud. I had to concede the point. These are the exact same decadent, caramel-drizzled, chocolatey, creamy desserts we know and love, but made without a single egg or drop of dairy milk entering the picture. Chloe Coscarelli won Food Network's Cupcake Wars with her vegan Chocolate Orange Cupcakes (yes, the recipe is in the book!), and with Chloe's Vegan Desserts, she shows us that cupcakes are just the tip of the iceberg.

Who would turn down childhood summers spent in France, traveling between a farmhouse in Provence and the glamour of Paris, or taking a long road trip through Bordeaux, stopping off in Saint Malo and Lyon and ending up in on a beach in the Mediterranean? Who wouldn't love to offer such a life to their own children? If that's not immediately possible for you, then you can take vicarious pleasure in reading and cooking from this beautifully photographed cookbook/memoir written by two lucky women who had that very childhood and more.

Q: A friend of mine gave me a bottle of dark cocoa balsamic and I have no idea what to do with it. I've tasted it on its own, and while it isn't an overpowering cocoa taste, it is definitely there. Any ideas?

Sent by Elizabeth

You may not think you know Normann Copenhagen, but chances are you'd recognize a few of their classic pieces. (Remember this peeler? Or this tea egg? Or these fun beater whisks?) Fans of modern design also know that you can find Normann Copenhagen pieces at stores like Horne, Huset, and The Modern Shop, but the brand has its own online webshop as well where you can peruse and purchase the full beautiful line.

Butter makes everything better. So it stands to reason that flavored butter would make everything even more better. Times infinity. Judging by the butters Lucy Vaserfirer offers in this new cookbook, I'd say this logic definitely holds true. Chipotle butter for your grilled steak? Honey-orange butter for your muffin? We have just entered buttery nirvana.

A few years ago I was looking for a simple, classic tablecloth I could use for both everyday meals and informal dinner parties with friends. I found it in the grey and white stripe tablecloth from Fog Linen Work. The tablecloth is kind of rustic, but lovely in its simplicity. And it washes beautifully.

The newest trend in beers is not so much old-school as truly, seriously ancient. That's Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione in the photo above. And the guy next to him? A biomolecular archaeologist who is helping Sam recreate a Danish beer based on analysis of residue from a 3500-year-old birch bark drinking vessel. How crazy is that?! I want some.

A good serving tray is an essential piece for any host/hostess. Besides saving you the trouble of making multiple trips to and from the kitchen, serving trays are also a nice decor element when set up on a sideboard or coffee table to corral appetizers, drinks, or dishes. Here are five handled versions we really like:

Are you ready to be wrapped in a big ol' bear hug of awesome? One that smells like fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and the unbeatable huevos rancheros you first ate on a trip to Mexico when you were a teen? Then turn to the first page of this graphic food memoir by comic artist Lucy Knisley and prepare to settle in for a happy afternoon of reading.