Rick Bayless’s XOCO is just around the corner from his other restaurants, Frontera and Topolobampo. While the other two are essentially variations on the same restaurant, XOCO stands a little bit apart and offers a more unique dining experience. The restaurant is a quick service eatery – and …
Topolobampo, Chicago, Illinois
When I started to plan a recent trip to Chicago, there were quite a few restaurants that I wanted to eat at, but I really wanted to make sure that I had a chance to get into one of chef Rick Bayless‘s well known Mexican restaurants while I was …
Chocolate Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
The mention of carrot cake usually brings up memories of a moist, spicy cake laden with rich and tangy cream cheese frosting – not of chocolate. But just as zucchini can pair well with chocolate in a cake or quick bread, so can shredded carrots. These Chocolate Carrot Cake Cupcakes …
Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts
While pies and tarts usually get just a chapter or two in most cookbooks, Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts is devoted to them. The book covers a huge range of pies in the 150 recipes that it contains, all of which look just as amazing as they taste. From holiday tarts …
Perfect Lemon Bars
This is a lemon bar recipe for lemon lovers – and it just might be the only one you’ll ever need. It has a filling that is nice and thick, a great lemon flavor and a beautiful silky texture. The lemon custard is sitting on top of a layer of tender shortbread crust …
Chefn Bananza Slicer
One of the reasons that I bake banana bread and other banana recipes so often is that bananas are one of my favorite fruits and I always have them in the house. I put them on cereal, in oatmeal, in fruit salads and baked goods. I never really though that bananas were a …
Cook’s Illustrated rates Vanilla Beans
Vanilla beans can impart a much deeper and more complex vanilla flavor to a custard or other dessert than vanilla extract, but while any vanilla bean is better than none, not all vanilla beans offer the same flavors. They range in quality and price, and in a recent issue (July/Aug 2011) the test …
Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Gluten Free Thin Mints
Over the past couple of years, I have put together a collection of a number of homemade recipes for Girl Scout Cookies. My recipes are made with all natural ingredients and, rather than having to wait for cookie season to come around, you can make them yourselves any day of …
