This week marks the first time I will be celebrating my birthday as a gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free person. Friends have expressed their condolences, staring into space with looks of pity (or is that horror?) as they imagine a birthday without a "real" cake. Me, on the other hand, I'm feeling energized and ready to pile my plate with a tumble of biscuits, strawberries, and cream. It's strawberry shortcake season!

Yesterday I checked out the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, an annual trade show highlighting what's new in design. It's not a kitchen-focused show, but I like going to see what's exciting for the dining room. A big reveal at this year's show was the brand-new Stockholm dining table and chairs from IKEA, made of walnut and due in stores in August! See more photos below:

If you ever wanted an excuse to start talking about yourself in the royal "we," here you go: we humans are not just human — we're also made up of about 100 trillion microbes that live on our skin, in our mouths, and in our guts. In fact, Michael Pollan says that when you count them all up, we're really only 10% human. What's more, studies are finding increasing evidence that we need these microbes for everything from helping us digest our food to feeling less stressed at work.

You may have heard that Taco Bell recently began testing a breakfast Waffle Taco at a few locations in Southern California. I haven't tried it and — being an admitted fast-food snob — probably never will, but I can understand the appeal. Hot, crisp, chewy waffles aren't just made for maple syrup or fruit. Pair them with cheese, chives, fried chicken, a runny egg, or even chili, and you have a plate of waffles ready for a savory brunch or even dinner.

Q: I am desperate to re-create Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar salad dressing with less oil. I buy Newman's regularly, only to pour (and discard!) at least 3/4 cup of oil from the bottle before using it. Newman's light dressings do not have the same appeal; I am looking for a make-at-home solution with the same exact flavor.

I had a discussion a while back that opened my eyes. After I confessed to a friend about my general dislike of mayonnaise (I know, I know), he told me that he had the same feeling. However, he’d managed to condition himself into liking the stuff. His rationale was that as a food lover, he couldn't accept just not liking a food that’s loved by so many. Do you push your taste buds in order to like new foods?

Want to jazz up your non-alcoholic drinks like sparkling water, iced tea, and lemonade? Add a sprig or two of aromatic rosemary. These five beverages are a little bit herbal, a little bit sweet, and very refreshing. 

If you're gifting a bottle of wine, you might think the bottle itself is gift enough. But if you want an extra special presentation, I have just the thing: wine wrap papers from the newly launched Bottle Stock, a small shop based out of LA catering to design-minded wine lovers. Each sheet is cut to fit most 750ml wine bottles, and the paper designs are lovely and eye-catching!

Planning meals for an entire week is a tedious task. It's difficult to plan one that gives you variety yet simplicity in your weekly labors of love. Cooking for a week is even harder — it's tough to stay motivated and energetic through all the outside stresses we encounter in the work week. On that note, I present a full menu for a household of two that gets you through the week. This is a work week menu plan you can do!

I've been making a lot of caramel popcorn recently — talk about the perfect treat for everything from Teacher Appreciation Day to a birthday potluck! But the unpopped kernels always bug me. Nothing worse than munching a handful of caramel popcorn clusters and suddenly biting into a hard kernel. I finally figured out an easy way to eliminate nearly all those unpopped kernels before they ruin the batch.