Posts from Advice

For years, peanut butter was always the shining star of nut butters. There was only one choice when it came to what to tuck in between slices of bread, along with jelly, of course; one choice for a nutty spread to swipe on apple slices; and one choice for a creamy snack that kicked hunger pangs from morning to night. And then almond butter crept in.

I grew up in a pristine home. I don't mean to say that it was fancy — it wasn't — but it was spotless from the fan blades down to the baseboards. This was no easy feat, considering our house was a century old and so had the unique ability to create dust after you had just wiped down that surface (whatever that surface happened to be).

Even still, those ugly faux-brick linoleum kitchen floors (and the blonde wood that later replaced them) were literally clean enough to eat off of — and that was all thanks to my German mother.

I think we can all agree that Southerners know a thing or two about entertaining. Whether they're throwing a backyard crawfish boil or a sophisticated porch party, you can almost guarantee it's going to be a good time. And with Derby Day coming up this weekend, we thought it was a good time to find out what it is that makes to-dos so special below the Mason-Dixon.

We tapped the editors of Garden & Gun magazine, that gorgeous ode to all things Southern, for their top 10 rules of entertaining.

Q: I received a package of chipped beef in my CSA this week. I've heard of creamed chipped beef, which is usually served on toast, but I have no idea what else I can do with this beef. Any suggestions?

Sent by Olivia

The first time I picked up a piece of honeycomb from my local farmers market, I was definitely intimidated. Honestly, I think I was drawn to just how pretty it looks. But once I got home, I had no clue about what to do with it. So it sat in my pantry for months before I had the courage to go back to the beekeeper at the market and ask him for advice. As it turns out, there are a whole lot of delicious ways to use it in the kitchen.

In honor of Mother's Day this Sunday, and the conversations happening around the brunch table for mothers now and future, we asked one of our favorite bloggers, LaTonya Yvette, to bring us a few meditations on what she has learned about life, love, and happiness through motherhood. — Faith

Each time I've brought a baby home after birth it's been different. The sounds, the air, the way my body acclimated — everything. You would think by my first statement that I've had about five of them; but no, only two.

But somehow, my two children have been just enough to teach me the vast difference in what I should and shouldn't do and who I think I am and want to be. More importantly, they've taught me about boundaries.

This is the macaroni and cheese recipe I grew up on — creamy sauce, chewy pasta, and plenty of cheese. It always felt like a special treat to us kids, although I suspect my mother liked it more because it was an easy stovetop dish that required almost no thought to pull together at the end of a long day.

Whatever the reason, whatever the occasion, a bowl of this mac and cheese will always spell comfort. Here's the best, most classic recipe I know, with step-by-step pictures to guide you.

What's not to love about Tex-Mex? The Lone Star State's take on comfort food is saucy, cheesy, and all-around awesome — even if it is sometimes misunderstood. To help clear up what real Tex-Mex is and how to guarantee Tex-Mex success in your home kitchen, we reached out to Lisa Fain, aka The Homesick Texan.

The two-time cookbook author and James Beard Award-winning blogger is a seventh-generation Texan (even if she does call New York home) and expert on all things Tex-Mex. Here is what she had to say about this delicious, all-American cuisine.

I don’t just like asparagus — I love it! It's a bit of an obsession for me. I'll eat it broiled, roasted, steamed, baked, and even raw. To that roster of preparations is the recent addition of oven-baked asparagus fries in all their golden, crispy-brown glory.

With the help of a breadcrumb trick that you can make use of beyond this recipe, I present the crispiest, crunchiest, tastiest asparagus I've made to date — and folks, it's all done in the oven.

There's just something about crystallized honey that tends to make people nervous. It's the polar opposite of the runny, translucent honey found in a plastic bear on grocery store shelves. Instead, it's solidified enough that you need to scrape it out of the jar with a heavy spoon; its texture is grainy and almost chewy. But this kind of honey is completely normal. In fact, I'll argue that it's even more delicious. It's just a matter of understanding how exactly crystallization happened and then knowing what to do with it.