If you’ve noticed the ballooning sizes of the great American burger in recent years (honestly, who needs a patty that is two-thirds of a pound!), you might wonder how you can have your burger without blowing your nutrition budget. It’s a challenge, but it’s one we think we’ve mastered in a delicious way over and over. (See our collection of […]
How much fat drips off your burger?
Every cook knows about grill shrinkage—the tendency of burgers to lose juice and fat as they approach perfection. But we wondered: Do fattier cuts lose a higher percentage of their fat over heat, since fat melts and combusts easily? And if so, does a fattier grind of beef—say, the usually cheaper 80/20—end up close to the 90/10 grind that we […]
5 Tips for Healthy Outdoor Entertaining
As Memorial Day approaches, a weekend bound to be filled with good food, great friends, and lots of laughter, it’s increasingly important to plan ahead for your outdoor entertaining festivities. From safe grilling practices to hydration tricks, we’ve rounded up our top five tips to ensure that you and your family remain safe and healthy throughout the holiday weekend. 1. Stay […]
How NOT to Feed an Army
Last month I catered a reception for about 30 friends, and made enough to feed an army. More accurately, I made enough to feed a half-starved army of giants with Olympic-sized appetites. It was far, far too much, leaving me with vats of hummus, enough carrot sticks to circle the globe, and enough cheese biscuits to make Paula Dean blush. […]
Strawberry season has arrived!
I’ve come a long way with Strawberry Shortcake. Remember that berry-bubblegum-scented doll from the ’80s? Her striped socks and pink beret brought a little spunk to those fruity, freckled cheeks. And remember that other strawberry shortcake of the ’80s? When my mom bought those cellophane packages of dimpled cakes and filled them with berries and a mountain of Cool Whip, […]
Sunday Strategist: Week of May 20
Here, another week’s worth of fast, healthy, and tasty menus. It’s not the love of cooking that deters so many of us from the kitchen each night; it’s actually deciding what to cook from the millions of options bombarding us from so many different places. Here, we’ve done the planning for you. Not just menus, but healthy menus that are fast – on the […]
The Saturday Chill: Vanilla is far from boring!
So many people think vanilla = plain. One dimensional. The career back-up singer in a dessert with stronger, sexier, Tina Turner-like ingredients. The choice to resort to when you’ve got picky eaters with sad, unadventurous palates. But once you let vanilla go solo, and let it be the best it can be… whoa. Vanilla is native to tropical America, and […]
Five on Friday: Books We’re Loving Right Now
Each Friday, we share five things that are getting buzz around the Cooking Light offices—from what we’re reading around the Web, to what’s hot on Instagram, or even our latest favorite ingredient. 1. Chill By Cooking Light, Oxmoor House, $17.95; 208 pages New to your bookstore this week is our newest cookbook, Chill. Smoothies, slushes, juices, and ices–just what you need as temperatures start […]
How to Store Your Wine
The most important thing to remember when storing wine: “Don’t let it get hot,” says wine expert Scott Atkinson. Atkinson, who is a wine consultant at Western Supermarket in Mountain Brook, Alabama, where he manages over 3,000 wines, says the last place your wine needs to be is in your kitchen. That’s because temperatures tend to fluctuate when you cook, […]
Behind the Scenes: From Garden to (Photo) Table
Triumph! This peekaboo surprise greeted me in the garden as I was harvesting garlic scapes at dawn this morning. Why so giddy? Cauliflower is not always the easiest cool-season crop to grow. Well, at least in our Alabama garden. Add in our quick-rising mercury and sprint to summer heat and one may resign to attempting only in the Fall season. […]
