Dana Velden

There was a time when receiving a cookbook for Mother's Day may have been as exciting as receiving a vacuum. That is no longer the case.

From fudgy brownies to a luscious layer cake, here's what to make when you're hunkered down indoors.

From chocolate cakes to butterscotch pudding, there's something here for everyone!

From greens to potatoes and pilaf, these sides are totally holiday-worthy.

Apple cider vinegar is simply a vinegar made from apple juice or apple cider. It comes in two versions: filtered and unfiltered. The difference between the two is the “mother,” which is a somewhat murky collection of cellulose and acetic acid bacteria that’s removed when the vinegar is filtered. Does it matter which type of vinegar you use? Much depends on what you are doing with it. Filtered apple cider vinegar is made with apple juice and water.

Barley is one of those wonderful grains that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. With a chewy texture and nutty flavor, barley is a delicious whole grain that can be used in a number of ways, way beyond the classic beef and barley soup. It is also a very nutritious and healthy food, with lots of fiber and a number of trace minerals like selenium, manganese and phosphorus. The most important thing to know about barley is that it comes in two basic forms: hulled and pearl.

Salmon is one of the most versatile proteins to work with in the kitchen. It’s delicious and universally loved, quite good for you, and very easy to prepare. Salmon still retains its fancy and festive reputation, even though it is more readily available these days and can be purchased at a decent price point from most grocery stores. My favorite way to cook salmon is in the oven, very low and slow, with a pan of water for moist heat.

Essentially a life skill.

This is the ideal French toast: browned and crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.

These recipes teach the art of assembling a meal without turning on the oven.

Snacks and apps for when the red carpet is a spectator sport.

Want to get a beautiful meal on the table in less than an hour using only one pan? We thought so.

Christmas will be here before we know it. Let's get a head start on prep.

This easy method results in perfect chips every time.

Our basic recipe for making upside-down cakes with fresh fruits all year long.

A perfect accompaniment to your afternoon cup of tea.

From the appetizer to the main course, here's all the inspiration you need for a romantic vegetarian dinner.

Roasting nuts deepens their flavor, making them even more nutty and complex.

Skip the breakfast bowl and stir it into your cake batter instead.

They take about 10 minutes to assemble and last for weeks in the refrigerator.

Yes, there's bacon fat involved.

If you have heavy cream, you can make butter.

Nutty, oat-y, sweet with maple syrup and a touch of jam, these thumbprints will please vegan and non-vegan palates alike. They’re a hearty tasting cookie — I personally feel that two or three with a cup of strong hot tea is a wonderful way to start your day. They’re quick to mix up, easy to form and fill, and will disappear off of your cookie plate in a twinkle. I first tasted Vegan Thumbprints at a Zen Buddhist monastery deep in the California wilderness.

If you're new to the ketogenic nutritional plan, it can be hard to go grocery shopping. Carbs are everywhere! Trader Joe's can help.

While it certainly is possible to modify takeout and restaurant food to fit your keto lifestyle, it’s not easy. Many of the classic and easily available foods like sandwiches and tacos or burritos just don’t hold up when you eliminate the carb components. (Can it still be a taco if it doesn’t have the tortilla? I rest my case.) Even Chinese and Thai food can be tough, as they often contain sugar or are noodle/rice-dependent.

Chili is a beloved dish that elicits very strong opinions and allegiances. Some people are pro-beans, while others are adamantly against them. Some need tomatoes, green peppers, onions in their chili, while others are into pure Texas-style (which has no beans and no tomatoes).

One of the fun things about going keto is that I can have a lot of foods that are usually forbidden with those classic calorie- and fat-restricted diets. For instance, I can eat cheese, bacon, butter, and even heavy cream. In fact, I’m encouraged to eat these foods as long as I stay within my macros (a calculation that produces the perfect ratio of carbs, fat, and protein appropriate for my size and goals.

While I’m not an expert on the ketogenic diet, I have been practicing it for several months now and am very pleased with the results. Weight loss aside, I find my digestion and inflammation issues have lessened and my energy is great. It was a bit of a learning curve to get where I am today, though. Here are eight things I wish I had known from the get-go. Note: In keto, your daily carb, fat, protein, and calorie allotments are measured in grams and are called macros.

How to choose amongst rubble to find the jewels for your holiday gift-giving? We've done the heavy lifting for you.

There are many compelling reasons to decide to volunteer at a soup kitchen, but the bottom line is simple and sincere: You want to help. But what does it mean to be helpful in these circumstance? Sometimes that’s a complicated question with an equally complicated set of answers. Here are six things to keep in mind when volunteering at a soup kitchen.

Have you noticed the non-recipe “recipe” on Instagram? You know, where someone snaps a picture of a beautiful or delicious-looking dish they’ve just made and then gives a rough outline of how they did it in the comments? Admittedly, the Instagram mini-recipe is not for the new cook — rarely are amounts given and cooking instructions, if there are any, are minimal — but they offer the experienced cook a starting place, a source of inspiration.

When news that a series of fires had broke out in the middle of the night, almost simultaneously, in several counties to the north, many San Francisco Bay Area people took it in stride. It’s wildfire season, after all, and most of us are used to observing this play out in the wilderness, a very safe distance from our homes.

Celebrity chef Tyler Florence recently made the bold declaration that recipes are dead while attending Seattle’s Smart Kitchen Summit. In fact, he feels our whole approach to making food — from purchasing groceries and stocking our cupboards to choosing, prepping, and cooking our meals — is out of sync with the way we actually live now.

For the past five years I’ve been helping my neighbors Adriana and Nina host an Empty Bowls event in our shared courtyard in Oakland, California. The basic purpose of Empty Bowls is to raise money for our local food bank, the Alameda County Community Food Bank. And while we’ve been super successful in doing that (we raised over $10,000 this year!), Empty Bowls is so much more than collecting checks and tallying up totals.

Are you thinking of hosting an Empty Bowls gathering in your area? Empty Bowls is about raising funds and awareness to fight hunger and building community over a bowl of soup. While the emphasis is on raising funds, having a nice selection of delicious soups to serve is always a good idea. Here are some guidelines for your Empty Bowls soup selection, plus a roundup of our favorite soup recipes for a crowd.

Having grown up with a dad who spent a lot more time in the kitchen than most men of his generation, I am very happy to see that he has proven to be a man ahead of his time. As more and more guys take on the responsibilities of getting a family meal on the table, or at least delve into obsessive preoccupations with baking bread or fermenting things, we can now add cookbooks to the list of Father’s Day gift possibilities.