"Faith! It's the cocktail of the summer," said my colleague Janel last week when she was visiting me in Columbus. On our way to dinner we were chatting about our cocktails of choice, and Janel quite handily talked me into trying a Gold Rush for myself. Well, it wasn't that difficult. Do you know this drink? You should. More

Usually, when you offer to snap a photo of fellow tourists, the exchange is quick and polite and you forget each other long before you ever return home. But this time was different. This time I came home with a recipe. More

Last week, my boyfriend Sam strolled into the kitchen while I was in the middle of a pretty big recipe development day. The oven was cranked, the burners were going, I was simultaneously using the food processor with one hand and trying to mop up a maple syrup mess with the other. He looked at me and said he had good news. What he'd always suspected was finally being recognized: oven temperatures are a sham. It was time to relax. More

I had a pile of sweet Georgia corn on my counter this past week, and a vision to create the perfect summer soup. Soups, especially in the midst of this damp Southern heat, are not necessarily my forté, but I do know a good one when I taste it. My mission was a smooth-as-silk corn puree as yellow as the sun, jam-packed with fresh corn flavor, and worthy of any restaurant menu around. It only took three tries, but I finally succeeded. More

It's easy to get in a reading rut. I always gravitate to books that deal with food in some regard. (My boyfriend jokes that he may just walk in one day and find me reading "a real book.") The same thing happens with blogs: I have my tried-and-true favorites and don't often stray, for lack of time more than curiosity. But I recently researched summer salads for a writing project and discovered a few beautiful blogs I hadn't known before. These folks specialize in developing stunning salad recipes. Ready to hear more? More

To me, at this moment in time, hiyashi chuka just makes sense. Not only is the Japanese chilled noodle salad absolutely refreshing – a must during these sweltering days of summer – but it also features the sweetest, crispest vegetables available at the market right now: tomatoes, corn, cucumbers. Plus a light and tangy sauce that takes no time to whip up. More

Mix icy cold beer with spicy Sriracha, fresh lime juice and a couple dashes of Maggi sauce and what do you have? A refreshing, terrifically savory beer cocktail with a lingering heat that has become my new favorite summer drink. Meet the Cocky Rooster. More

In college, I occasionally worked at a small café tucked inside a local art museum. It was a ladies-who-lunch scene, and the food was brought in by a local caterer. The menu was what one might expect for that crowd—chilled soups, tea sandwiches, and dainty salads. Accompanying every entreé was a pile of tangy yellow squash laced with diced red bell peppers; it was our signature side. More

It's funny how we can maintain that we don't like a certain food, even as evidence mounts to the contrary. Me, I've had a lifelong aversion to eggplant. So when a couple of fat ones appeared in our CSA box, I automatically filled with dread. What on earth would I do with these ghastly vegetables (err, fruits)? After a bit of soul-searching, however, it dawned on me that eggplant actually stars in many of my favorite restaurant dishes – baba ghanoush, kashk-e bademjan, baklazhannaia ikra – all soft and smoky, and addictively delicious when smeared on warm bread. Now I'm kicking myself for wasting so many years not cooking eggplant at home. More

Have you ever smacked your forehead in December, wishing that you had started a DIY food gift earlier? Well, now is the time to do exactly that. Things like homemade vanilla and booze-spiked fruits are best when given several months to steep and mellow - not to mention the infamous fruitcake (which can be really delicious when you make it yourself). More