How to Roast Beets in 5 Easy Steps

My appreciation for the mighty beet grew around the time they started to appear in my winter CSA box. Before I found them awkwardly interesting and, frankly, annoying at the same time. They are a pain to clean, they stained my hands several shades of magenta and would take hours to transform into anything edible. [...]

Spiced Rum Vanilla Extract

Baking cookies has always been a guilty pleasure for me. The first recipe I ever created was a monstrous cookie adapted from three distinct recipes. Even as an adult, I have a well-practiced system that ensures perfection each and every time. However, there is one special ingredient that makes my cookies even more unique than [...]

5 Steps to Perfectly Frozen Blueberries

My childhood consisted of long summer nights barefoot in the backyard with a small clear container in one hand and the lid in the other. I was a boy on a mission to capture enough lighting bugs to illuminate a small a-frame tent pitched in the field. In many ways, it was as if I [...]

French Fry Testing – All About Spices

When I agreed to work with Alexia Foods on the “Reinvent a Classic” challenge, I never would have imagined the sheer volume of potatoes I needed to consume over a three week period. I tested them fried and baked. I tried them in crinkle, shoe string, wedged and waffle shapes. I’ve even tried flavor ideas [...]

6 Tips to Always Be “Party Ready”

Life is pretty busy these days with graduate classes, leading food tours and participating in a community garden program…to name a few. But that hasn’t stopped me from wanting to enjoy the summer entertaining season with friends. I’ve developed a few techniques on how to always be “party ready,” no matter when the mood might [...]

How to Grow Tomatillos

If you were assigned to learn everything there is to know about one vegetable and grow seedlings for an entire semester without killing them, what would you select? That’s exactly what I had to do for a sustainable agriculture class this past semester. I originally posted this question on the CulinaryCory Facebook page a few [...]

3 Easy Steps to Roasted Red Peppers

Roasting red peppers is a great way to concentrate flavors and bring out their natural sweetness. They make a wonderful addition to salads, sandwiches and even pasta dishes. I’m personally a huge fan of spreading a bit of goat cheese on slices of crusty bread and top with a small cluster of slivered peppers and [...]

My New Tassimo Brewbot & Giveaway

It’s hard to bring myself to brew an entire pot of coffee because the dark rich liquid ends up getting cold by the time I reach the bottom of the pot. Plus, I like to shake things up a bit by interchanging between Chai Latte, Green Tea and rich Hot Chocolate choices on occasion. Recently, [...]

Gobble: Turkey Day Menu Ideas

Honey, Pear & Gorgonzola Crostini: Thanks to your Great Aunt Mildred for giving you the clumsy gene; have you ever pulled the turkey out of the oven only to find it on your kitchen floor? Me neither. Or at least that is what I will let you believe. Serving appetizers are a perfect way to [...]

PodCamp5 Pittsburgh Food Blogging Seminar = Success!

If I told you I wasn’t nervous about conducting a seminar on food blogging at the Pittsburgh PodCamp5 conference, I would be lying through my teeth. The butterflies in my tummy fluttered wildly during the hours before my session. It wasn’t the topic or even the act of presenting that kept my socks in a [...]

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