Articles on Food and Drink

Optical Illusions That Make You Fatter and Your Wallet Lighter

One of my best friends told me that the key to food portion sizes was this: "Eat from small plates, drink from taller glasses." And optical illusions are at the root of it.

Does a plastic cork make for a lousy wine?

I remember the first time my mother opened a bottle of wine that featured a plastic cork. She gasped audibly; the family gathered in the kitchen, where we took turns poking at this

Who saves money when you pick apples? The grower.

You won't save money picking your own apples at most U-pick orchards these days -- but you might save the orchard. We went to the country to get our own apples for $10 a pound,

Get More from Pumpkin Carving by Baking the Seeds

Even if you don’t celebrate Halloween, the pumpkin is a staple food for fall recipes and decorating schemes. The bright orange squash variety i

Save the Tomatoes! Autumn Tips to Prolong the Growing Season

A cold snap is predicted for the Midwestern states over the next few days. Here are a few tips for saving the good green ones from the frost.

Trade versus localization

Localization--eating locally grown foods and buying locally produced goods--has become trendy just lately. For the past twenty years, though, globalization has been the dominate f

When’s a good time to buy Australian wine? Now. And hurry.

When I first moved to Australia I noticed 2 things about the wine: there was a lot to choose from, and it costs twice as much (if not more) than the exact same Australian wine bran

How to Make Moonshine

Making moonshine is especially easy because running it through a still makes all the delicate balancing of flavors that mark a great beer or wine irrelevant.

10 Kicky Drinks Without the Caffeine

At one point or another, you may find yourself needing to cut caffeine from your diet (or at least scaling way back). As a tribute to all those who have had to do without, I gi

Why there's no reason NOT to buy store brand baby formula.

There’s nothing like starting an article with a double negative is there? Sorry, but it was the easiest way to get my point across. As a father of a 3-year old and a soon to be 1-y

Save time, money, energy, and eat great

Depending on how old you are, your mother or grandmother probably had one of these: a pressure cooker. (She probably also had a story of one exploding, which may be why they're n

Save your Lunchmeat: Insurance for your Fridge

We often protect our computers, TV’s, and sound systems with special power strips to protect against power surges. Most families I know go the extra mile to stain-protect their li

Dump Cake and Other Sweet, Easy Treats

Yellow cake mix goes on sale all the time where I live. For under $10, you can usually score 15 or more boxes! This is great if you’re making cakes, but what if you just don’t have

Alcohol is good for your heart

After quitting smoking, having one or two drinks a day is the best single thing you can do for your cardiovascular health. [more]

Eating Locally on a Budget

Eating locally is trendy right now, and for good reasons. Local food is fresher, healthier, better tasting, better for your community, and better for the planet.

Gourmet Pizza for Less than a Buck

 I’m a pizza fanatic. I will never turn it down. Ever. While living in Omaha, I looked forward to lunches with m

How to Brown Bag it With Style

Finding time to pack your lunch for work each day can feel pretty overwhelming. Trying to be creative about it can be even more frustrating. Following are several categories of sug

Edible Flowers Make Cheap Food Beautiful Again

Those of you with gardens are probably entering a new season of produce. Squash plants are getting icky, but they are still producing more zucchini and summer varieties than you ca

Beat the heat with cool summer meals

Some summer evenings are simple too hot to contemplate firing up the stove or using the oven. Some nights, even standing in front of the grill flipping burgers sounds like a bit to

What You Don't Know About Sushi

Think you know a thing or two about sushi, eh? I thought the same thing until Trevor Corson, author of The Zen of Fish made a guest appearance on my local radio station to dispe