We just whipped up a batch of chai concentrate intended for holiday gifts. Only problem: the mix is so delectable that we want to devour it ourselves! Fortunately, it is very easy to make. More

Home cooks have to be a careful when it comes to a cookbook written by a restaurant chef. There often can be a disconnect between what it takes to get restaurant food onto our home tables when we don't have exotic ingredients flown to our doors and a dozen employees to prep them, not to mention years of professional training and the extraordinarily high btu's of a huge, multi-burner professional stove. So when I picked up San Francisco chef Mitch Rosenthal's new cookbook Cooking My Way Back Home, I'll admit I was a little cautious. Was this going to be one of those books that frustrated me with hours of prep work, and too many ingredients and complicated techniques? Read on for what I discovered. More

I love Harry Potter. I love J.K. Rowling's creativity in creating a whole alternate world full of whimsical magical things. So when I first read about Harry and his pals sipping butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, I assumed that butterbeer was about as close to a real food item as chocolate frogs or Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. (Which are now available, thanks to the magic of Jelly Belly - just watch out for the earwax ones.) So imagine my surprise - and delight - when I discovered that butterbeer is a real thing.
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Need a quick, pretty holiday snack idea or something to add to the cheese plate this year? More

Searching for a sweet yet sophisticated way to end a meal? Look no further than these Lillet marshmallows, which combine the fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth texture of homemade marshmallows with the complex, honeyed flavor of Lillet Blanc, a favorite French liqueur. More

I'm not sure why this recipe caught my imagination. I'm not usually a fan of gimmicky recipes or strange substitutes for butter and sugar in baked goods. But it did kind of make sense that a cup of sweet, sticky mashed sweet potatoes would work in a brownie. And I just happened to have some already baked sweet potatoes hanging around my kitchen. So I thought, why not? Read on for what happened. More

Looking for something sweet to bake this weekend? Check out these copy-cat soft batch cookies! I recently made a batch for my husband's birthday (he's a sucker for Keebler soft-batch cookies), and we were both really impressed with how they turned out. More

I usually find sodas to be too sweet and syrupy for my taste. But homemade sodas? I can get on board with those. And when the arrival of Concord grapes at the market coincided with the arrival of this recipe in the October issue of Saveur, I was sold. More

Good cooks understand the importance of acid in cooking, how it adds brightness and balance and can make flavors 'pop.' Sometimes all it takes is a simple squeeze of lemon or a splash of vinegar to move a dish from pretty good to spectacular, so having a few great vinegars on hand is an essential pantry item. This recipe for maple vinegar, made with four simple ingredients, produces a unique, nuanced vinegar that will work drizzled on everything from roasted butternut squash to ice cream. Seriously good stuff.

DIY holiday gift makers take note: you may want to start this one soon! More

I love celery salt. I think it's a great addition to just about any savory dish, but I especially like it on my eggs. So when I saw that Heidi Swanson posted a recipe for it on her 101 Cookbooks website, I knew I had to give it a try. Read on for my review. More