Cooking Corner from Creators Syndicate

Fabled Absinthe Makes a Comeback, Sparks Controversy for 07/11/2008

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

"Image is nothing, thirst is everything" — or so the beverage industry wants us to believe. Whip out a bottle of recently legalized absinthe at a party, as I did a few weeks ago, and the lore and the arguments flow.

Suddenly, everyone's an expert.

"It makes you trip, huh?" one guy asked while watching the louche, a cloud that forms when cold water bonds w ...

Updated: Fri Jul 11, 2008

Summer, When a Man's Fancy Turns to the Grill for 07/18/2008

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

This time of year, some people are thinking about weeding their gardens, or planning their family vacations. Bob Linsley of Washington, Ill., is dreaming about all the stuff he's going to throw on the grill, from quesadillas to "monster" chops to orange roughy. That is, when he's not running the family grocery store, Lindy's Fresh Food, with big brother Jim.

Linsley, a meatcutt ...

Updated: Fri Jul 18, 2008

Chef Gavin Kaysen Serves Up Self-Confidence in New York for 07/25/2008

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Talk about pressure. It was only the second week of Gavin Kaysen's new job last year at Manhattan's beloved Cafe Boulud, and who should come for dinner but one of America's most revered chefs and restaurateurs, Thomas Keller.

Kaysen quickly recites what Keller - of French Laundry fame - ate that night: mache salad to start, house-made pasta with white truffles, and a cote de beouf for tw ...

Updated: Fri Jul 25, 2008

It's Worth It to Eat Well When Away From Home for 08/01/2008

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

When you're out and about, do your healthy eating habits fly out the window? Despite your good intentions, does your location dictate your diet?

No matter how nutrition conscious we are at home, for many of us, a baseball game automatically means eating a foot-long and nachos. Waiting for a flight at the airport, we pack in a giant cinnamon roll. And the main feature at the movies is a j ...

Updated: Fri Aug 01, 2008

Chefs Teach How To Create Dazzling Dishes At Home for 08/08/2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Amid growing anxiety about the sagging economy, chefs nationwide are doing their part to lure diners to their culinary lairs with another form of entertainment.

Taking a cue from New York and other cosmopolitan cities, several chefs in Southern California are teaching people how to cook at home like a pro. And the chefs are doing it from the comfort of their own homes, so to speak &mdash ...

Updated: Fri Aug 08, 2008

Chefs Teach How To Create Dazzling Dishes At Home for 08/08/2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Amid growing anxiety about the sagging economy, chefs nationwide are doing their part to lure diners to their culinary lairs with another form of entertainment.

Pat Mom on the Back for Her Small Steps to Big Savings for 08/15/2008

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Women, it seems, love a challenge.

With food prices continuing to rise, we asked readers to submit their best strategies for beating the grocery-store blues. The responses were gratifying.

They were also all from women.

Working mothers, stay-at-home moms, retirees, singles. Over the past two months, e-mails poured in from women in different circumstances but all with one th ...

Updated: Fri Aug 15, 2008

Sweet Renewal for 08/22/2008

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Thirty-six years ago a farm boy from Ohio married a ranch girl from Mexico even though they didn't speak the same language.

A few years later, they sold their house and hauled a trailer to the Southern California mountain town of Ramona, to 10 acres of chaparral and rocks. They lived like pioneers, washing clothes and bathing outdoors at a spring.

Gradually they cleared the land, ...

Updated: Fri Aug 22, 2008

Lazy Late Summer Perfect for Blanket Invitation for 08/29/2008

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

On a recent balmy summer evening in a suburban California park, David Baron challenged himself to keep a budget yet still treat a group of veteran picnickers to a menu made up of homemade quinoa and cucumber salads, a cheese platter and tasty build-your-own deli-meatloaf sandwiches.

"Doing this is cheaper than dining out," said Baron, a public affairs consultant who has been pi ...

Updated: Fri Aug 29, 2008

Top That Salad With Something That's Not Out of a Bottle for 09/05/2008

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Eight in 10 Americans use the same salad dressing most of the time they reach for a plate of leafy greens. Ranch is the top choice for men and women, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Thirty percent of Americans 65 and older eat salads almost every day. Only 14 percent of people ages 18 to 34 tuck into a salad that often.

Perhaps most revealing of all the quirky nuggets found in Kr ...

Updated: Fri Sep 05, 2008

From Immigrant to Chefs' Favorite for 09/12/2008

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The seemingly endless rows of tomato plants at Valdivia Farms are thick with sun-ripened heirlooms — red, bright yellow, green and purplish globes peeking through the vines.

Workers quickly move down the rows methodically plucking the tomatoes and placing them in cardboard boxes, tossing aside bruised or split ones deemed unfit for sale.

Before long, the bed of a pickup truc ...

Updated: Fri Sep 12, 2008

Earth-Friendly Cooking Without Spending a Bundle for 09/19/2008

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I decided to find out what it would cost to remodel my kitchen completely to be a "green" kitchen. The price tag was a shocker.

It would easily cost more than $350,000 to switch to solar energy, environmentally friendly materials, low-energy appliances and everything else associated with going green. I concluded that going green was something for the affluent and, apart from re ...

Updated: Fri Sep 19, 2008

Grass-Fed Beef is a Growing Concern for 09/26/2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

In a cottonwood-shaded meadow 4,500 feet above sea level, cattle munch on rye, wild oats, bronco grass, squirrel grass and clover.

These cows wear the brand of the Mendenhall Ranch, a California outfit that is riding the hottest trend among America's conscientious carnivores.

Grass-fed beef, leaner and considered more nutritious than the standard corn-fed variety, is raised by 1,0 ...

Updated: Fri Sep 26, 2008

Any Household Can Be a Farm Team for 10/03/2008

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If high food costs and lingering safety concerns make you feel like starting a garden, you're not alone.

"We've seen a big increase in the number of people who want to grow their own food," says Renee Shepherd, the gardening expert, cookbook author and founder of Renee's Garden (reneesgarden.com), whose online seed sales have risen 50 percent since last year. "It's a life ...

Updated: Fri Oct 03, 2008

Let's Undo Lunch for 10/10/2008

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Your morning bagel is but a distant memory. The 10 a.m. granola bar has been reduced to a few crumbs stuck to your desktop.

Time to bring on the midday meal — and the daily dilemma of what to eat.

Lunchtime is no longer the leisurely three-martini repast of yesteryear. As likely as not, you now have just enough time to race out, grab some expensive and calorie-laden fast foo ...

Updated: Fri Oct 10, 2008

More People Making Their Own Preserves for 10/17/2008

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

On any given Sunday, you'll probably find Sue Heim scouting the fruit stalls at the farmers market for juicy, ripe possibilities that she can use for her weekly jam-making date with a friend.

Heim's weekend ritual of jam-making reflects a growing interest in preserves.

That interest was evident at Slow Food Nation, a gathering in San Francisco over the Labor Day Weekend that celeb ...

Updated: Fri Oct 17, 2008

Bisque Is Memorable But Labor-Intensive for 10/24/2008

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Q: Ten or 12 years ago, you published the recipe for Paul Dobson's wonderful mussel bisque. I made it a number of times for special occasions, and it never failed to impress dinner guests. Unfortunately, my recipes are not that well organized, and I no longer can find this special recipe. I'm sure that all your readers would love to have this classic recipe if you can find it in the archives an ...

Updated: Fri Oct 24, 2008

Veggie Visionaries for 11/07/2008

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Eat your vegetables. They're good for you.

If you ignored Mom when she handed out this advice, maybe you will listen better when you hear it from two moms, both named Deborah.

This attractive and useful book will make you downright eager to eat your veggies — and lots of them.

Deborah Szekely, founder of the internationally known Rancho La Puerta fitness resort and sp ...

Updated: Fri Nov 07, 2008

A Little Zing Will Make Thanksgiving Dishes Sing for 11/14/2008

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

Thanksgiving is a dicey time. Everyone has favorite dishes, and woe be to the intrepid cook with an itch to tinker with the feast.

Still, the holiday can be an ideal time to tweak things just a bit and perhaps add a newfangled side dish or sweet to the familiar holiday spread. The meal may stretch accordionwise until the newcomers are voted off the table or turned into keepers. But this ...

Updated: Fri Nov 14, 2008

Is Brining Turkey Worth a Salt? for 11/21/2008

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:00:00 -0800

To brine or not to brine: That is the vexing question that faces Thanksgiving Day cooks determined to turn out a moist, succulent roast turkey deserving of their guests' oohs and ahs.

It would seem a no-brainer to go the brining route, given its acclaim as a sure-fire way to impart moisture to cooked meat. Yet the practice of immersing a 14-pound turkey for hours in a salt-water solution ...

Updated: Fri Nov 21, 2008