Summer cooking - whether it's a quick grill or just tossing together fresh cold ingredients - is marked by ease and speed. That alone, is enough to make some folks dread the transition to more complex autumn dishes, no matter how tasty they are. During these next weeks of seasonal transition, though, it's a wonderful time to synergistically blend the best of both times of year. More >>

Some of the best discoveries in the kitchen are accidents. When they are time-savers that's even more for the better. Recently, I decided to up the protein content of frozen multigrain waffles... More >>

Perking up your cooking is easy, fast - and fun. Including a mystery ingredient can be responsible for all three of those desirable results. Currently, a major sugar-free gum company even has joined the escapades and has a mystery flavor on the market. More >>

It used to be that when many of us engaged in "mindless eating" perhaps we were plunked down in front of the TV, snacking on handful after handful of chips or popcorn or so caught up in gabbing with our friends over dinner that we lost track of what we were feasting upon long before that last huge hunk of cake. More >>

July Fourth is often a time for festivities and fireworks to celebrate our nation's birthday. If we want to up the chances of enjoying more and more of our own birthdays and those of members of our families, however, we might want to turn the parties into health-improving ones. More >>

Often we buy ingredients for a specific recipe and the leftover items don't get used in a timely manner and get trashed. That's both wasted shopping time and money going out with the garbage. The easy three-course feasts below (appetizers, entrees and healthy desserts) show how simple it is to thread one or a few ingredients through every dish in the meal while still offering a tempting variety of choices. Red seedless grapes, for instance, show up in seasoned multi-item hors d'oeuvres skewers, then stuffed with its skewer companions into a delicious main course, sweet-sauced chicken and as a topping on spicy pound cake dessert toasts... More >>

Do you sometimes not only feel like an old junkyard dog - but like a junkyard itself? The Journal of Food Composition and Analysis notes, unfortunately, there's often good reason for that: almost one-third of the food the average person eats is junk... More >>

Valentine's Day is most often celebrated as a romantic holiday for two. That's fun, but what can be even more pleasurable and unexpected is to bring your whole family into the act. When you designate your entire troop as your one true love, you provide even more love and support than usual. More >>

Most of us have been taught not to "double dip" at parties. Once you've stuck that chip in the dip bowl, don't try to later steal a second bite using the same chip! However, when it comes to best utilizing your prep time for the gatherings on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day that many busy party throwers' give (like an elegant adults' evening soiree to ring in the New Year and a casual family football-watching brunch the next day), it's precisely a double dip that'll do you good. More >>

Have you ever surprised your Christmas guests with a sweet gingerbread man waving from atop their rosemary-, thyme- and brown sugar-enhanced butternut squash soup or a broiled stuffed fig side dish that's brimming with Granny Smith apples, real bacon bits and brown sugar? Sound gourmet? More >>