The only nut butter I had growing up was good ol’ Skippy peanut butter. While I still dearly love conventional peanut butter, I’ve discovered so many other options out there, including seed butters that are safe to serve and consume in nut-free environments like my daughter’s school. Seed and nut butters also contain a good dose of protein, making them perfect for snacking on. Here are five fun ways to use them!
(Image credit: Quentin Bacon)
Honey is a sweet friend to pork, made famous by the ubiquitous honey-baked Easter ham. The trouble with a ham is that it’s big enough to be a burden in a small kitchen. (Some people contend that eternity is one ham and two people.) A tenderloin, however, makes just enough for two to four servings, and still makes one fine Sunday dinner.
The culmination of the Lenten period that begins much earlier in the year, on Ash Wednesday (February 10 this year), Easter is a joyous holiday with candy, culinary delights, and animal folklore. And while each country has its own unique customs, Germany’s Easter traditions deserve particular recognition. It was, after all, in western Germany that the Easter bunny, or rather Osterhase, was born.
Is there any greater time of the week than Friday happy hour? The work week is finally done, but the weekend to-do list — filled with errands, events, and obligations — has yet to begin. It’s basically your free pass for the week.
So why not mark this magic hour or two with a fabulous cocktail … or two? Here are 12 of our favorites that are sure to get your weekend off to a good start.
In case you weren’t aware, last year IKEA, that Swedish furniture store you probably fought with your ex-boyfriend in, announced the addition of a glorious wall of pick-and-mix candies to its lineup of meatballs and modular furniture. There are dozens of chocolates, fudges, sour candies, gummies, and licorices on offer and they’re all free of trans fats, artificial colors, high-fructose corn syrup, and GMOs. It’s not exactly health food, but if you have a sweet tooth, it’s hard to resist. And at $7.99 per pound, the price is right, too.
A few scoopfuls are perfect for a movie snack or to keep in a little jar on your kitchen counter so you can pretend you’re the owner of an old-timey candy shop.
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“This wonderfully fresh tasting salad is made with 6 different fresh fruits tossed in a tangy poppy seed/raspberry/citrus dressing.”
Planning your family’s meals for the week ahead takes discipline, creativity, and culinary know-how, but feeding the appetites and fueling the energy of an entire gold-medal-vying professional sports team? That’s next-level meal-prep wizardry. So when Allen Tran, head chef and dietician for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, volunteered to share how he keeps his athletes ready to hit the slopes, we furiously took notes.
Even if you’re not Jewish, chances are you’re familiar with some of the major holidays. There’s the dynamic duo of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah — aka the High Holy Days — which skew on the serious side, and Hanukkah has become a big deal for even the non-observant (because: Christmas). But my favorite calendar day of the year is one you might not have heard of.
Hot cross buns are lightly sweetened, mildly spiced rolls with a distinct image of a cross that runs across the top. They are specifically associated with Good Friday, and have been for almost a millennium. Over time, hot cross buns in the U.S. became extremely sweet, and today are often criss-crossed with a sugary icing, but that isn’t the recipe of yore. The original crossing mixture was more of a paste. Classic hot cross buns hold genuine symbolic value that can stand deliciously and proudly alongside any holiday baked treat.
Service: The Purple Carrot
Price: The Purple Carrot has two offerings. The first is for two people, three times a week, for $68. The second offering is for four people, twice a week, for $74 dollars.
Overall impression: Mark Bittman knows what he’s doing. If you’re in a cooking rut, but want something easy and healthy, The Purple Carrot is for you. This delivery service offers creative and delicious meals you can make in under an hour.
