(Image credit: What’s Gaby Cooking)
Today is National Potato Chip Day and Pi Day, which can only mean one thing: You need this chocolate peanut butter swirl tart recipe in your life. With a salty potato chip crust and a sweet, rich filling, this treat is both a flavor and holiday mash-up of epic proportions.
(Image credit: Tara Donne)
Breakfast is probably the meal I struggle most with. I want it to be healthy, but also satisfying enough that I don’t feel hungry again by 11 a.m. I want it to be quick and easy, but also, ideally, homemade. I have my go-tos — Irish oatmeal with flax, maple syrup, and a pinch of sea salt and homemade cashew nut milk with dates, cinnamon, and vanilla — but they can start to feel really boring, really fast. And that’s when I reach for the batch of pantry cocoa brownies that I made last night.
I’m always on the lookout for great breakfast inspiration to throw into the mix and keep me from a chocolatey beginning to my day (although, admittedly there are worse things). So I was thrilled to find not one, but five smart and delicious ideas at one Miami restaurant during a visit this month.
Last weekend, we had 13 friends over for moules-frites. This — plus a big green salad, some crusty baguettes and more white wine than seems conscionable — is my favorite dinner party menu. It makes the easiest, surprisingly budget-conscious meal and might, if you play your cards right, make you feel ever-so-slightly like you’re on vacation somewhere European and full of sailor-types. Okay, maybe that’s pushing things but let’s run with it. I forgot to add, however that it’s best for 6 people, 8 at most. As soon as the mussels exceed the volume of your largest pot or the fries surpass the one large tray that fits in your oven (plus you have a salad you really only want to toss at the last minute), basically everything needing to be cooked à la minute, you’re going to have to hustle. I am constitutionally incapable of hustling; we ate dinner at 10.
I usually make my oven fries, but I decided that for a crowd it would be easier to let a fryer do the work and borrowed one from a friend (who is married to another friend who’s obsessed with fried chicken, I mean, I’m sure it’s just coincidence). Loosely following J. Kenji López-Alt’s directions, I prepped 7 pounds of potatoes the day before but as I stuck them in the freezer overnight, I realized that this was going to allot each person approximately 16 fries. Look, I know we all like to believe that we eat only 16 fries when we go out and that’s totally fine, but I think we can all agree that we are going to be happiest if person who makes your fries knows better and cooks accordingly.
(Image credit: The Recipe Critic )
Today is National Chicken Noodle Soup Day! This seems fitting, as chicken noodle soup is one of the most — if not the most — comforting dishes to eat in the winter. While this soup is not fancy or complicated by any means, there’s a way to make it even easier to get on your dinner table. (Hint: It involves your slow cooker, of course.) After a little prep, you simply toss everything in the slow cooker and let it do the hard work for you.
Swedish mega-store IKEA is more than a great place to snag cheap wine glasses and cube-shaped shelving — the stores also have an ever-growing travel section with some incredible deals on lightweight knapsacks, versatile shoulder bags, and sturdy luggage, to name a few. Most of the prices are steals, and they’re even cheaper if you’re an IKEA family member. (It’s free to join the program, so take advantage if you can.)
Here are five of the best items we’ve seen, whether you’re trekking around the globe or just skipping town for the weekend.
Pizza party! It’s like Chuck-E-Cheese for adults — only better! And without Skee-Ball! Okay, it’s completely different. But still a great idea for a party. Cooking one pie at a time in the oven, however, is hard when you’re feeding a crowd. We held a pizza party for eight, and here are the top lessons we learned.
You might be on a budget, but don’t be so fast to rule out hearty, meaty meals from your dinner plan. There are some real superstars in the meat case that deliver serious value without compromising on flavor. First, you’ll need to look beyond the chicken breast and pricey steaks; those cuts just scratch the surface of all the choices that are in front of you. We’re here to show you where the real budget buys are and the best ways to turn them into a satisfying and nourishing meal for the whole table.
The party problem: Beer and wine bottles always seem to get lined up on the kitchen counter instead of put into the recycling, which is right there — under the sink!
The party trick: Tape temporary labels to the cabinet doors to direct guests.
With its sublime mixture of creamy mashed potatoes and tender cabbage, this recipe for the Irish dish of colcannon requires a declaration of love. That’s how good it is.
Keeping with tradition, we didn’t mess with the potatoes or cabbage, but swapped the plain melted butter that is typically served in a pool on top for fragrant browned butter. We just couldn’t help ourselves! The nutty browned butter is a wonderful warm contrast to the sharp green onions that get scattered before serving, giving this dish an easy, elegant twist.
Both decadent and homey, colcannon is the perfect partner for sausages and a pint of beer. It’s also just as good at the family dinner table as a side for roasted meat or bed for your Saturday fried eggs.
