Kerry Diamond

Editor in Chief, Yahoo Food

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The Year in Food: What Was Hot and Tasty in 2015

It was a dramatic year on so many fronts: politics, terrorism, refugees, gender identity, police relations, race relations, the environment, and on and on. In the world of food, things were less tense, but it was still a year of significant change. The reason? Major consumer packaged goods companies began to make serious modifications to the most famous foods around, from Hershey’s Kisses to Kraft Macaroni & Cheese to Diet Pepsi. Customers clamored for ingredients they could understand, wanted less junky junk food, and giant corporations responded. It’s the beginning of a shift that will continue well into 2016. Food waste and a living wage for restaurant workers were top issues too. But there were lighthearted moments as well, filled with frozen treats (lobster ice cream, anyone?), cute kids in the kitchen, and a vegan success story in New York City.

Photo: Getty Images

The Junior League

Chefs are getting younger and younger. Just take a look at the Fox TV hit MasterChef Junior where kids whip up dishes that would challenge most adults. Then you have enterprising college students turning their dorm rooms into pop-up restaurants, and entrepreneurial teens looking for food alternatives to the typical summer job. Take New York City public high school student Harrison Geller, whom Yahoo Food discovered behind the counter of his temporary gelato shop. Sure, there will always be kids who are picky eaters, but it looks like 2015 was the year of the absolute opposite — the underage gourmand.

Photo: Courtesy of WastED

Food Waste

How much food do you throw out annually? The shameful amount we discard as a nation was a big topic of discussion this year among food activists. Chef Dan Barber led the charge with the “wastED” pop-up at his Blue Hill restaurant in New York City. He invited renowned chefs like Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm to stop by and cook with the ingredients that most professional kitchens toss into the garbage — such as vegetable pulp and cauliflower stems. Also helping the cause was the Ugly Fruit and Veg campaign, popular on social media, which challenged consumers to see the beauty in imperfect produce. A bruised peach or a dinged zucchini? Big deal.

Photo: Munchery

Food Delivery Services

You’ve heard of real estate bubbles and tech bubbles. Well, there’s a food and meal delivery bubble clearly underway. We received so many emails at Yahoo Food this year about new companies in this space, we lost track, aside from a few that sounded interesting and promising, like David Chang’s Maple. Yet investors don’t seem deterred. According to CB Insights, companies in this category raised more than $750 million in venture capital in 2015 alone, and $1 billion the year before that. Are there enough hungry (and kind of lazy) people to support all these companies? Probably not.

Photo: Stocksy

The Rise of the Vegans

For years, vegans were the butt of jokes. “How do you know someone is a vegan?” went one wisecrack. “Don’t worry. They’ll tell you.” But no one is laughing today, especially at supermarkets. More and more shelf space is being dedicated to non-meat and non-dairy options to satisfy this growing clientele. One of the hottest vegan food startups around, Hampton Creek, has raised more than $100 million from investors. The surprise bestselling cookbook of the past two years is Thug Kitchen, a compendium of profanity-laced meat-free recipes. And one of the biggest success stories in the New York City restaurant scene this year is chef Chloe Coscarelli, who opened the casual vegan spot By Chloe. It’s packed every day and even scored a New York Times review. “There is something subversive beneath the cuteness,” wrote the paper’s Ligaya Mishan. “By casting veganism as effervescent pixie lifestyle rather than moral crusade, By Chloe may be stealthily recruiting more followers to the cause.”

Photo: Pepsi

Processed Food Gets a Makeover

More and more consumers want to understand what’s in their food. They don’t want long lists of ingredients they can’t pronounce and don’t recognize. Big Food is on notice and is making changes. Some of the highlights: A new Diet Pepsi without the controversial sweetener aspartame was launched this year. General Mills is dropping the artificial colors and flavors from all of its cereals. Kraft even dared to change up its iconic mac and cheese, and is swapping the artificial orange coloring for naturally derived turmeric, paprika, and annatto in 2016. Will the taste change? We’ll know soon enough. Even Pizza Hut, not the first name in health food, announced plans to remove artificial flavors from its menu.

Photo: Stocksy

Ice Cream Nation

This year was a tough one by most measures, but, blissfully, one thing remained uncomplicated: ice cream. Maybe that’s why America’s love affair with the sweet treat is as strong as ever. According to a Yahoo Food survey from this summer, ice cream is by far the country’s favorite dessert and 86 percent of us indulge weekly. America’s favorite flavors? Chocolate, followed by cookies & cream, vanilla, cookie dough, and mint chocolate chip. (America’s weirdest flavors? Grass, lobster, and kimchi.) Innovators even offered us new ways to enjoy the stuff. One novelty that popped up this summer was rolled ice cream, which is flattened, shaved into curls, and served in a cup.

Photo: Offset

Here’s a Tip

It used to be you left 15 percent on your restaurant or dinner check and called it a day. No more. Tipping has gotten very complicated. Some restaurants have done away with it altogether, instead charging a 20 percent service fee and sharing the proceeds with servers, cooks, and coat checkers alike. It’s part of the movement toward a living wage and better salaries for restaurant workers. At other eateries where traditional tipping remains in place, diners use gratuities — or lack thereof — as a means of settling scores or making a social statement. At a TGI Friday’s in Centerville, Ohio, one tip war broke out when a server was allegedly too flirty. An aggrieved guest added zero percent to the bill and wrote this on the receipt: “He’s my husband, find your own. Good luck :)”

Photo: Samantha Bolton

The New Fast Food

McDonald’s and Burger King remain big businesses, but the fast food behemoths became more irrelevant in 2015. We’re now in the era of elevated and interesting fast food. Shake Shack, the better burger chain, went public this year and continued its global expansion. Chef José Andrés began the rollout of his veg-focused chain Beefsteak (the name refers to the tomato, not the meaty stuff) in Washington, D.C. And the enlightened concept known as LocoL and backed by superchefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson is set to open soon in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. “We believe that fast food restaurants can truly empower the communities they currently underserve,” reads the LocoL manifesto on its website. “We believe that the giant corporations that feed most of America have degraded our communities by maximizing profits over decades. We believe that chefs should feed America, and not suits.”

Photo: Instagram/@GillieHouston

Instagrammers Got the Power

The most influential foodies around today? Celebrity chefs and bloggers still have pull, but everybody wanted the top Instagrammers at their (virtual) tables this year. The social media channel has become the venue for spreading the word about what’s hot in food circles, so the folks behind the most popular accounts found themselves quite popular with publicists and the media alike. Remember when there was talk of banning cameras and smart phones from dining rooms? Instagram shut that conversation down pretty quick.

Photo: Spoon & Stable

Good Eats for All

For years, major cities like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago had the lock on great food. But no longer. Chefs are taking chances on smaller cities and towns and getting raves for their restaurants, no matter how remote. Take Chef Vivian Howard of Chef & The Farmer in Kinston, N.C., population 21,641. Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman of Hog & Hominy and Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen have brightened the Memphis dining scene, and Gavin Kaysen has done the same for Minneapolis with his popular Spoon and Stable. Ashley Christensen has transformed Raleigh, N.C., with her seven establishments, including the well-regarded Poole’s Diner. And the Indianapolis dining scene has become one to watch thanks to the work of restaurateurs like Martha Hoover of Cafe Patachou and Public Greens. It’s getting easier to find good food across America — and that might be the best trend of all.

More food for thought from Yahoo Food:

Buying These Organic Foods Is a Waste of Money

What It's Like to Feed a Family For Less Than $20 A Day

Startup Saving ‘Ugly Food’ From Landfills and Saving Customers Money

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Aziz Ansari's Netflix Series Is a Love Letter to Food

Comedian Aziz Ansari has a lot of street cred when it comes to food. His fans have known that since at least 2011, when a GQ writer followed Ansari, LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, and Chef David Chang on a booze-fueled cuisine crawl across Tokyo. There’s also the food nicknames speech from his “Parks & Recreation” character Tom Haverford (“Chicken parm is chicky chicky parm parm;” “I call eggs pre-birds or future birds”); the one-episode YouTube series called “Food Club,” in which Ansari and friends bestow plaques upon their favorite restaurants; and his role on “The Kroll Show” as chef/owner of a food truck called Molecular Pastranomy.

MORE: 5 Reasons Why the Restaurant Drama in ‘Burnt’ Look So Real

So it’s no surprise food plays a major part in his critically acclaimed new Netflix series, “Master of None.” The show is a snapshot of 30-something cool-guy urban life in the year 2015, so all the edibles, cocktails, restaurants, and bars reflect that experience. Ansari’s character Dev, an actor, loves a Negroni, furiously surfs the web for taco listicles, and gets a KitchenAid pasta maker attachment as a present from his girlfriend.

MORE: Watch Tina Fey Eat Her ‘Brownie Husband’ Just Because

There’s more. MINOR SPOILER ALERTS. Dev has sex with a New York City food critic played by Claire Danes. Dev is invited to a fellow cast member’s trailer for Cinnabons baked in a toaster oven. “We just have to wait for the glaze to thaw,” says his on-set friend. “Takes a few hours. Should be ready by nightfall.” The most cringe-worthy scene of the series plays out in the first episode and involves the morning-after pill Plan B and Martinelli’s apple juice.

MORE: James Bond Prefers Champagne, and 4 More Surprising Facts

One must be an obsessive reader of New York Magazine’s Grub Street or Eater New York to catch all the restaurant cameos and mentions. There’s a heart-to-heart talk between Dev and his dad at El Rey Coffee Bar & Luncheonette, a squabble over a King Kong sundae at Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream, sandwiches from Parm, coffee at Marlow & Sons, an after-party at Achilles Heel, a bad date at Dirty French, a walk through the mirrored hallway of Mission Chinese Food, and an ill-timed stop at the Tacos Morelos truck that provides one of the series’ funniest lines: “What am I supposed to do now? Go eat the second best taco like some kind of asshole?”

Even the end of “Master of None” has a food twist. Without giving anything away, it could bode for a delicious second season.

More Celebrity Coverage on Yahoo Food:

What Your Favorite Celebs Eat for Lunch

How Gordon Ramsey Suggests You Get Kids Into the Kitchen

Patricia Heaton Is Back, and She Wants You to Help You Throw a Party

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This Juice Guru Has Strong Opinions on Milk, the Paleo Diet, and Toxic Human Beings

Photo Courtesy of Juice Press

Meet one of the most intense people in the food world: Marcus Antebi, the founder of Juice Press. He wants to destroy corporations that market junk food to the poor and to children. He’s jumped out of planes (2,300 times), fought as a professional Thai boxer, and been sober since the age of 15. His juices and smoothies are equally intense, with names like “Mother F&*%in Fireball” and “F&*%in Genius.”

It should come as no surprise that he believes his company is “THE BEST ORGANIC BEVERAGE, FOOD, AND WELLNESS BRAND ON THE PLANET,” as the homepage of the Juice Press website declares in big bold letters, Donald Trumpian in its confidence level.

Antebi launched Juice Press in New York City in 2010, having been introduced to juicing during his time as a competitive boxer. After crash dieting for years to stay in his weight class, Antebi discovered that a plant-based diet full of superfoods, raw juices, and salads left him in a better place mentally and physically.

The New York juice scene was already crowded and competitive at that point, and there were plenty of naysayers in the media and the medical field questioning the validity of juices, especially juice cleanses. But it didn’t scare off a born risk-taker like Antebi.

It seems to be paying off. Today, Juice Press has expanded to 25 locations, including one in Connecticut, and two are currently under construction in Boston. The menu of certified-organic offerings has expanded to include a range of salads and snacks, and lots of cold-pressed juices and smoothies. The Juice Press Instagram account is filled with celebrities like Karlie Kloss and Gigi Hadid toting its bottles around town. All of this has helped Antebi outlast some of his major competitors. Last week, the New York-based Organic Avenue, which launched in 2000 and was sold for $30 million in 2009, closed all its locations and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, according to Eater.

Antebi’s goal? “I will find myself in a position of power, able to positively and accurately change humanity’s vision of food and nutrition,” he wrote on the Juice Press site. Yahoo Food chatted with Antebi recently to learn more. Watch out, world.

Photo Courtesy of Juice Press

Have you always been so intense?

I was told that at two years old I would break out of my crib and rip off my diaper and run in our furniture-less living room and do laps back and forth for an hour. At four, I locked my nanny out of her apartment and the fire department had to break in through the fire escape.

You’ve been sober since you were 15. What was your childhood like?

Ages 13 to 15 were really rough. I had very little parental supervision and a lot of bad influences around me in the early ’80s. I would smoke pot, listen to Duran Duran, take diet pills, and drive in my friend’s red Saab convertible. Luckily, they were giving away free coffee and cookies at an AA meeting, and they also validated parking, so naturally, I joined.

Where does your entrepreneurial side come from?

I come from a long line of retailers in New York City. My father was modestly successful at several retail trades, but really crushed it in the ’80s selling pinky rings to nouveau-riche people in Beverly Hills. I have retail in my blood mixing with nutrients from cold-pressed juice! It's a lively combination!

How did your interest in skydiving come about?

I was hanging off the edge of a cliff in upstate New York at age 23 when I saw parachutes opening high in the sky, over the Shawangunks Mountain. They landed at a nearby drop zone. Very shortly after, in 1992, I made my first jump and was hooked. I like the pretty jumpsuits a lot and I love the complex nature of the equipment. I retired with 2,300 jumps.

And how about the Thai boxing?

You know … when I was phasing out of skydiving, I needed something that was a little bit safer, so I decided that getting in the ring and kicking someone in the face with my shin was the way to go.

Photo Courtesy of Juice Press

Do you pursue either anymore?

So it was actually my obsession with Thai boxing and training that helped me phase out and eventually retire from skydiving. But I still train regularly in Thai boxing. My skills are still good and I dare anybody to come out here and challenge me, especially if you’re in the juice business.

Why did you decide to turn your passion for juicing into a profession?

I didn’t decide to turn juice into a business, juice decided to turn me into a business owner. I’m a servant of juice. When God told Abraham to kill his son, he didn’t argue.

How crowded was the juice field when you got involved?

There were only a handful of companies that had been around longer than me with as much momentum. Liquiteria, Organic Avenue, and BluePrint were the only companies that offered any type of competitive comparison. Today, there are even less, in my eyes.

What makes Juice Press different from all the others? You’ve definitely positioned yourself as the badass juice company.

Well, Juice Press first and foremost does not HPP juice [HPP, or high pressure processing, is a type of pasteurization] or use any processed ingredients in anything we produce and we are USDA-certified organic. Those two facts alone are like taking a baseball bat and smashing the glass storefronts of our so-called competitors. I think that our formulas are intricate and taste amazing.

You know … a lot of times, people think that there is something badass about a company that talks the way people actually talk. And they think that we are badass because we are defiant in the food industry. But what really makes us badass, in my opinion, is that there are no truly pure food companies out there besides us because, sadly, it’s just not a business model that’s easy to follow. My partners and I have worked incredibly long hours to build up a business that’s sustainable on a platform of transparency, integrity, and a real deep, deep understanding of nutrition and chemistry.

What is your response to those who say juicing is a fad?

If you remember what aerobics was in the 1980s, one could easily say that exercise was a fad. Or look at coffee. The reality is that juicing has become a lifestyle. We have daily customers who have incorporated juicing into their lives. They don't look at is as a fad, nor do we.

I’m always surprised that people pick on juice cleanses, versus truly bad things like sugary, chemical-filled sodas or junky fast food. Does it surprise you when juicing is attacked either by the media or health professionals? Or do you not care?

You know … a dog can sit in front of your TV and criticize the shapes and the lights coming from the box, but clearly cannot make an educated complaint because he’s incapable of interpreting two-dimensional images. Similarly, most people are extraordinarily toxic, their upper GI tracts are filthy, their livers fatty, and their emotions deeply, negatively impacted by the intense inflammation produced by the moronic Western diets that people lead. There’s no way in the world that people who have not experienced the power of fasting and juicing can have educated discussions about this completely scientific approach to human chemistry. There’s no wonder that something as simple as this would evoke a response of jeering from the uninitiated.

You’re pretty down on dairy. Why so?

Don’t get me started here. All you need to know is you’re not a baby cow and there’s no reason for you to wrap your lips around the teat of a 979-pound female beast. Just because some fat Dutch lady with wooden clogs did it, and lived a solid 56 years, doesn’t mean it’s a health food. I have a question for you: If you have a phlegm/mucus problem and you go to the doctor, what’s the first food group that they tell you to avoid, and then stick you on a bunch of antibiotics? “Got Milk?” How about “Got Snot?”

What do you snack on?

Cheetos and Newport cigarettes, but I’m different. Uhh … no. I don’t snack. I consume my meals and I’m done. Three to four meals a day. Eh, I’m not perfect. For me, snacks are the “small wares” at Juice Press, such as flax crackers, “Sin-O-Bun,” a raw chocolate here and there.

Do you follow a specific diet? Raw, paleo, etc.

Well, let’s start with the basics: I 100 percent avoid processed food, I am vegan 100 percent of the time, and I drink a s----ton of juice. I eat salad in bulk and cooked vegetables in bulk. I live on a plant-based diet, eat lots of probiotics, take my vitamin D. The paleo diet is completely wrong and obnoxious and… if you know anyone out there who wants to challenge me on these things, let’s do this.

Photo Courtesy of Juice Press

What’s your typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner?

Typical breakfast: smoothie or some type of blended fruit combo. Lunch: depending on the season, I eat smaller meals in the summer. Dinner: drink juice, eat salad. It’s a big luxury for me to go out and have salad and cooked vegetables at a famous restaurant with my beautiful girlfriend at a good table.

What’s next for Juice Press?

We’re working on a collapsible 16-oz. bottle. And we’re working on a clothing line made from juice pulp. Seriously. We just want to open more stores, city by city, state by state, country by country, continent by continent, and planet by planet.

Love juicing? Here’s more!

Meet the Juicing Guru Who Wants to Save the World

10 Foods to Give You Glowing Skin

4 Myths About Juice Cleansing

6 Potential Dangers of Juice Cleanses and Liquid Diets

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The Food Connection Behind Music Anthology ‘Here She Comes Now’

Gif by Samantha Bolton for Yahoo Food.

Food fans might recognize some of the contributors in “Here She Comes Now,” a new anthology about female rockers, disco queens, and alternative music icons. The book begins with a transformational moment involving Gloria Gaynor of “I Will Survive” fame, as experienced by New York Times food writer Jeff Gordinier when he was in grade school. Eventually, writes Gordinier, “Female performers and songwriters would often be the ones whose music buoyed up my spirits.” He wasn’t drawn to a single genre, or a single songstress. Instead, he had countless performers on heavy rotation: Billie Holiday, Rosanne Cash, Heart, Siouxsie Sioux, Lauryn Hill, Feist, and on and on.

“Sometimes I’ll pack up a bunch of CDs for a long road trip — yes, I’m a child of the seventies and eighties, and I still use CDs — and along the way I’ll reach into the stack and realize that almost every album I have chosen as a traveling companion has a woman at the center of it,” he notes in the introduction.

The salvation and satisfaction he found in their voices led to the book “Here She Comes Now,” which he edited with author/producer Marc Weingarten. The two lined up more than 20 writers to tell the “real, raw stories about life changed and charged up by the greatness of female artistry,” as Gordinier puts it.

Among the contributors are Kate Christensen, author of “Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites,” who writes about Tina Turner, and Charlotte Druckman, who penned “Skirt Steak: Women Chefs on Standing the Heat and Staying in the Kitchen,” who takes on Mary J. Blige. Rosie Schaap, the drinks columnist for The New York Times and author of the memoir “Drinking With Men,” covers her fascination with the late Sandy Denny of Fairport Convention. And Phyllis Grant, the blogger behind Dash and Bella, takes on a major player in the category: Madonna.

Also anthologized are Dolly Parton, Sinead O’Connor, June Carter Cash, Björk, Ronnie Spector, Nina Simone, Stevie Nicks, P.J. Harvey, and Kathleen Hanna. Gordinier apologizes for omitting the likes of Joni Mitchell, and reflects on how strange it is that female artists were once marginalized. “It seems crazy now, during a post-Madonna era in which the pop charts are dominated by Beyoncé and Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga.”

Anyone who believes chefs are the new rock stars needs a copy of “Here She Comes Now.” What’s more apt to stir your soul — a meal or music? For Gordinier and his essayists, it’s the latter.

More pop culture musings from Yahoo Food:

The 28 Best Ice Cream Moments in Pop Culture

7 Dark Secrets of Your Favorite TV Cooking Shows

6 Recipes to Pair With Your Fave ‘90s Flicks

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The Coolhaus Origin Story: $2,900, A Food Truck, and a Dream

This week, Yahoo Food is celebrating America’s favorite dessert with a series of profiles, recipes and photo galleries all dedicated to the creamy, delicious dessert. Check out ourIce Cream page for complete coverage!

For most ice cream brands, the inspiration is something sweet. For Coolhaus, it was architecture. So the founders, Natasha Case and Freya Estreller, “built” ice cream sandwiches in homage to the greats. A scoop of Tahitian vanilla bean between two chocolate chip cookies became the Mies Vanilla Rohe, while baked apple ice cream between raisin oatmeal cookies became the Renzo Apple Pie-Ano.

Case, who studied architecture and design and had worked at Disney Imagineering (the group that works on the Disney attractions and experiences, from the theme parks to the cruise ships), started making these treats for kicks. She met Estreller, who had a background in real estate and who would eventually become her wife, and the two thought the hobby could become a business. “We had different skill sets and we were 25, so we had nothing to lose,” remembered Case. 

They started the business as a food truck because that was all they could afford. 

“It was the only way to put our idea out there,” she said. They found an old postal truck on Craigslist for $2,900 and had it towed to Los Angeles, where they were based. Their first gig would be the Coachella music festival, so they borrowed $700 from Estreller’s mom, $700 from a friend, and used a credit card with a $5,000 limit to finance everything they needed.  

Coolhaus founders Natasha Case, left, and Freya Estreller. Photo: Courtesy Coolhaus

As scrappy as that seems, they were thinking big from the start.  

“We realized we could not make the ice cream in the ice cream maker at home and bake the cookies for an event like Coachella ourselves, so we found manufacturing partners right away,” Case said. “A huge reason why we’ve been able to grow so smoothly and so quickly is having other people whose expertise is all manufacturing.”

Today, there are 10 food trucks and the brand has expanded into multiple directions. The iconic silver trucks can be found in three cities: Los Angeles, New York, and Dallas (which is part of a licensing agreement with the team who runs Nammi, the Vietnamese food truck, in that city). Coolhaus has a wholesale division and sells its pre-made ice cream sandwiches, pre-packed pints, and hand-dipped ice cream bars through outlets such as Whole Foods and Fresh Direct. There’s an e-commerce shop on the Coolhaus website where fans can buy everything from hoodies to membership in the pint of the month club. And now there are two scoop shops, or sammie shops, as they like to call them, one in Culver City, Calif., the other in Pasadena, where the whole world of Coolhaus comes alive. 

Estreller has moved onto a new project—she founded Ludlows Cocktail Co.—and Case is now chief executive officer. Despite the growth and the changes, it still comes down to some fundamental items for Case—quality products made from scratch and integrity in sourcing and manufacturing. “That’s not even a discussion,” she said. “That’s how I eat and that’s the product I want to make for people.” 

Case gave us the scoop on some new items in the works. In the ice cream sandwich category, there’s a snickerdoodle cookie and strawberry ice cream combo, then a double chocolate cookies and cream offering. Two pints debuting soon are Salty S'mores, a mix of salted Tahitian vanilla bean, speculoos graham crackers, marshmallow swirl, and chocolate squares. Then, what Case is calling a play on an adult sundae: Tahitian vanilla bean, chocolate-hazelnut swirl, and coconut candy crusted almonds. 

“It’s addictive,” she said. 

Clearly, this architect of delights is not sick of ice cream just yet. “Never,” she said. “Not going to happen.”

Can’t get enough of ice cream and cookies? Here are some recipes to inspire you:

Make Your Own Speculoos Cookie Butter

Cookie Dough That’s Meant to be Eaten Without Baking

Make Two-Ingredient Nutella Banana Ice Cream

Want more Yahoo Food? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest!

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How Big Gay Ice Cream Plans to Dominate the World

This week, Yahoo Food is celebrating America’s favorite dessert with a series of profiles, recipes and photo galleries all dedicated to the creamy, delicious dessert. Check out our Ice Cream page for complete coverage!

Sprinkle-laden cones from Big Gay Ice Cream. (Photo: Big Gay Ice Cream)

When Big Gay Ice Cream launched in 2009, no one was thinking world-domination plan. It seemed like a quirky summertime thing — an old ice cream truck with a funny name run by a bassoonist and a fashion executive. But their soft serve was yummy, the founders charming and forthright, and the concept bold enough to catch the attention of jaded New Yorkers. Fans lined up daily and they were the hit of the season, like that catchy pop song you hear every time you head to the beach.

Except unlike that Top 40 tune, they’re still here. And now they do have a world domination plan, sort of. The duo behind Big Gay Ice Cream, Bryan Petroff and Douglas Quint, has expanded their operation to include two shops in Manhattan, one in Philadelphia, and one more on the way in Los Angeles. They also published their first cookbook this summer — “Big Gay Ice Cream Saucy Stories & Frozen Treats: Going All the Way with Ice Cream,” and it boasts an introduction by none other than food world royalty Anthony Bourdain.

As Yahoo Food’s Ice Cream Nation week comes to a close, we thought it would be fun to check in on Big Gay Ice Cream. Here’s an email chat we had with Petroff about brand building, book signings, and America’s ice cream preferences.

Petroff and Quint outside their NYC shop. (Photo: Big Gay Ice Cream)

It’s Ice Cream Nation week on Yahoo Food. We did a survey to celebrate and found out that 86 percent of Americans eat ice cream once a week. How often do you eat ice cream?

If you’ve seen our waistlines, you know we eat ice cream a lot more than that. But for us, it’s both pleasure and work, so we try to keep our intake to samples, tastings, and research. Sometimes, though, we have to be kids again, and overindulge in a big-ass sundae or shake.

Do you ever eat other brands, or do you feel like you’re cheating on yourselves?

Of course we eat other brands of ice cream. Ice cream is too important of a food group to stick to just one variety.

According to the survey, Americans also prefer traditional scoops to soft serve. But in the Northeast, soft serve rules. What does this say about the Northeast?

We’re certainly not going to say someone’s choice in ice cream is wrong. That’s foolish; ice cream is great in all its forms. Although one strange thing started happening after opening our shops: We began to hear from naysayers that soft serve wasn’t “real ice cream.” What does that even mean? It’s amazing how many self-professed “foodies” have no idea what actually goes in to making ice cream in general, and soft serve ice cream specifically. But, getting back to the question at hand, let’s remember this: The Northeast gave us our independence, our Founding Fathers, doughnuts, and legalized same-sex marriage. Perhaps we should continue to trust in the wisdom of the Northeast. :-)

The ice cream truck that started it all. (Photo: Big Gay Ice Cream)

Cups also beat cones. What do you think of that?

As long as there’s ice cream inside, the vessel is incidental.

And any guess as to America’s favorite flavor? Spoiler alert: It’s chocolate.

Then we’re in the minority here. Neither of us is a chocoholic. It was never our go-to dessert, even growing up. We like chocolate when it’s been kicked up a notch in some way, such as spicy or salty.

What is your favorite flavor?

We may sound, well, vanilla, for saying so, but it’s, well, vanilla. When it’s great, vanilla is like the best glass of cold milk you’ve ever had. On top of that, it’s a great blank slate for so many other flavors and combinations.

How’s the book tour going?

It’s been pretty nonstop and we still have a few more months of events planned. For a while there we were in a different city every day. I think on more than one occasion I forgot where I actually was. Fortunately, we have three great store teams to run the shops while we are on the road.

Petroff and Quint feigning boredom at a book signing event. (Photo: Big Gay Ice Cream)

Any highlights?

As crazy as the tour has been, it’s been a lot of fun. Even the turnout in cities where we aren’t located has been great. In addition to a lot of straight-up book signings and appearances, we’ve also teamed up with many chefs and restaurant owners for pop-ups and special menus. We’ve collaborated with Humphry Slocombe (San Francisco), Joe Beef (Montreal), Sunshine Tavern (Portland, Ore.), Gema Pizzeria (Montreal), Fidel Gastro’s Lisa Marie (Toronto), and in a few weeks we’ll be in Chicago with Hot Chocolate and Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits.

When you launched Big Gay Ice Cream, was there a world domination plan? Did you see a day when you’d have multiple shops, a cookbook, celebrity friends?

Yes, it’s all happening as planned. (Cue sinister laughter.) Honestly though, we had no idea what to expect when we started. We are constantly thrilled, amazed, overwhelmed, and grateful to everyone who has helped make the business what it is today.

The Greenwich Village Big Gay Ice Cream shop. (Photo: Aaron/Flickr)

What’s next for the brand?

We have a non-stop schedule of events and festivals that take us into December. So some R&R this winter would be nice. We are still working on trying to get our Los Angeles shop up and running. We haven’t given up on that, but we also have no timeline for it to happen now. That said, next year you’ll probably see a few more Big Gay Ice Cream shops open. But we’ve learned our lesson with Los Angeles: you won’t hear about them until they’re ready to open.

If someone goes to Big Gay Ice Cream for the first time, what should he or she order?

We always recommend starting with the Salty Pimp, our most popular cone. It’s a vanilla ice cream cone, injected with dulce de leche, sprinkled with sea salt, and dipped in chocolate.

What’s been the highlight of your summer?

This has been a whirlwind of a summer, but easily the two biggest highlights were the publication of our cookbook and the opening of our Philadelphia shop.

Want more ice cream? Here you go!  

Meet Monsieur Singh: Ice Cream with an Indian Twist

Our Fave Bloggers Tell Us Their Ice Cream Favorites

27 Things Ice Cream Lovers Need to Own

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Famous Ice Cream Shop Employees, Part 1: Julia Louis-Dreyfus

This week, Yahoo Food is celebrating America’s favorite dessert with a series of profiles, recipes and photo galleries all dedicated to the creamy, delicious dessert. Check out ourIce Cream page for complete coverage!

Julia Louis-Dreyfus mugs for the camera with Jerry Seinfeld. (Photo: Getty Images)

You never know who that kid dishing up your two scoops of chocolate might grow up to be. “Veep” and “Seinfeld” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus once worked behind the counter at a Swensen’s ice cream parlor in Washington, D.C.

A week after Yahoo Food asked our readers for stories about their first food jobs, we stumbled upon this story from Louis-Dreyfus. In the online series “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee,” she told former co-star Jerry Seinfeld that she was fired from her “ice cream scooper” job.

“The cash register ran out of tape and the drawer was open. I went to find somebody to help me,” she explained. “I sort of walked away with the register open. The manager, who I think was 18, but it seemed like he was 40, he came out and he says, ‘Do you have any idea what you just did wrong, young lady?’ I started crying so hard.”

“You cry a lot,” said Seinfeld.

Although the gig only lasted a week, it wasn’t a total loss, as she told Marie-Claire magazine. Scooping ice cream was a “great workout for the arms.”

Louis-Dreyfus made out better than the ice cream shop. According to Yelp, the D.C. Swensen’s is no longer in business.

More from Yahoo Food’s Ice Cream Nation series:

How Much Does America Love Ice Cream? We Have the Scoop

Canine-Friendly Ice Creams For the Dog Days of Summer

This State Is More Obsessed With Ice Cream Than All the Rest

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How Much Does America Love Ice Cream? Yahoo Food Has the Scoop

This week, Yahoo Food is celebrating America’s favorite dessert with a series of profiles, recipes and photo galleries all dedicated to the creamy, delicious dessert. Check out our Ice Cream page for complete coverage!

PHOTO: Nicole Mlakar/Offset

Every day at Yahoo Food, we hear about another ice cream parlor opening its doors, or another ice cream brand hitting the shelves of supermarkets around the country. The Instagrammers we love regularly post the prettiest swirls of soft serve on their feeds, and ice cream fans happily tweet as they stand in line at the hottest new scoop shop. Ben & Jerry’s makes national headlines when they discontinue a flavor. Recalls also make the news, as so many Americans have a pint, or a quart, or two in their freezers at home for themselves and their families, and want to be sure it’s safe to enjoy.

It’s clear that America loves ice cream. Last year, we ate $8 billion worth of the dreamy, creamy, frozen stuff. But how much do we love it? Do we love it more than cake? It is America’s favorite dessert? We decided to find out.

The Yahoo Insights team conducted a survey with more than 1,000 people around the country to learn a few things about their ice cream consumption. What did we discover? Well, the ice cream obsession is stronger than we thought. America’s favorite flavor might surprise you too. Here are the results:

SORRY, CAKE. SORRY, CANDY.

Ice cream is America’s favorite dessert. When asked to choose a favorite dessert, ice cream is the obvious winner and is twice as popular as its closest competitor, cake.

Ice cream: 41% Cake: 20% Cookies: 11% Pie: 11% Fruit: 9% Candy: 7%

While ice cream is everyone’s favorite, 13- to 17-year olds are particular fans. That age group is significantly more likely to say that ice cream is its preferred dessert relative to other age groups.

13-17 (centennials): 56% say ice cream is their favorite 18-34 (millennials): 38% say ice cream is their favorite 35+: 39% say ice cream is their favorite dessert

PHOTO: Felicia Perretti/Offset

AND OUR FAVORITE FLAVOR IS…?

America, you still like the basics. Chocolate is ranked No. 1, followed by cookies & cream, and vanilla.

Chocolate: 16% Cookies & Cream: 13% Vanilla : 12% Cookie Dough: 11% Mint Chocolate Chip: 11% Strawberry: 9% Butter Pecan: 8% Rocky Road: 6% Coffee: 6% Other: 7%

If you’re surprised that cookies & cream came in second, that might be a reflection of your age. Millennials (18 to 34 year olds) and Centennials (13 to 17 year olds) are twice as likely to choose cookies and cream as their favorite versus those 35 years old and up.

13-35: 15% say cookies and cream is their favorite 35+: 7% say cookies and cream is their favorite

ICE CREAM 365 DAYS A YEAR

Of course summer is the most popular time to indulge, but Americans like ice cream year round. Fifty-six percent say they enjoy ice cream any time of the year. Women (61 percent) are significantly more likely than men (51 percent) to say it’s always ice-cream season.

OUR WEEKLY HABIT

How often do we indulge? Well, 86% of Americans eat ice cream at least once a week, with the biggest consumption happening among youngsters and parents.

Millennials are most likely to eat ice cream daily, and are twice as likely to eat ice cream daily vs. older generations.

13-17 year olds: 20% eat ice cream daily Non-Parents: 8% eat ice cream daily 18+: 11% eat ice cream daily Parents are twice as likely to eat ice cream daily versus non-parents: Parents: 15% eat ice cream daily

PHOTO: Susan Brooks-Dammann/Westend61/Offset

AMERICAN’S BRAND STAND

The country’s favorite ice cream brand is one that’s been around since 1866: Breyers. The relatively younger Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs came in second and third. Blue Bell managed a fourth-place showing despite recent recalls.

Breyers: 16% Ben & Jerry’s: 15% Haagen-Dazs: 13% Blue Bell: 10% Cold Stone Creamery : 9% Dairy Queen: 8% Baskin-Robbins: 7% Edy’s: 6% Turkey Hill: 3% Carvel: 2%

Blue Bell is especially popular down South. Ice-cream loving Southerners are significantly more likely to rank it as their favorite versus those in other regions.

South: 19% prefer Blue Bell West: 8% prefer Blue Bell Midwest: 5% prefer Blue Bell Northeast: 2% prefer Blue Bell

THE PRICE OF A PINT

Just as Americans have gotten used to premium-priced pints, such as those from Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen-Dazs, along comes super premium. Brands such as Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream and Nancy’s Fancy (from celebrated Los Angeles chef Nancy Silverton) are charging more than $10 per pint. (That’s not a typo.) But most in the country want to spend less than $5 for a pint of ice cream.

60% of Americans want to spend less than $5 for a pint 48% are willing to spend between $3 and $5 Only a third of Americans would be willing to spend more than $5, driven by 35+.

SCOOPS VERSUS SUNDAES VERSUS SOFT SERVE

PHOTO: Mark Weinberg/Offset

Soft-serve, that mainstay of ice cream trucks, is certainly trend these days, thanks to the folks at Milk Bar, Big Gay Ice Cream, and Superiority Burger. But it gets the cold shoulder compared to good old-fashioned scoops. Here’s how America likes its ice cream.

Plain Scoop: 40% Soft Serve: 22% Ice Cream Sundae: 21% Accompanying another dessert, like ice cream with pie or cake: 9% Ice cream cake: 8%

Drill it down to just scoop and soft serve, and the vast majority of Americans prefer the former.

Scoop: 70% Soft Serve: 30%

If you’re opening an ice cream parlor in the Northeast, you might want to take note. People in that part of the country are driving the interest in soft serve, as they are almost twice as likely to prefer it versus other regions.

Northeast: 45% prefer soft serve over scoop West: 28% South: 27% Midwest: 25%

PARLOR GAMES: THE QUEEN REIGNS SUPREME

She’s not just queen for the day. Dairy Queen is America’s favorite ice cream shop.

Dairy Queen 28% Cold Stone Creamery : 20% Baskin-Robbins: 18% Haagen-Dazs: 10% Ben & Jerry’s: 9% Other 9% Carvel: 4% Local drugstore/pharmacy: 3%

Again, it’s a millennial thing. The 13-17 year olds are driving DQ’s popularity, as they are nearly twice as likely to cite DQ as their favorite versus older generations.

13-17 year olds: 42% say DQ is their favorite 18+: 24% say DQ is their favorite Among those 35+, Baskin-Robbins takes a bit of a lead. Baskin Robins: 24% of 35+ feel Baskin-Robbins is their favorite DQ: 21% of 35+ feel DQ is their favorite

WOULD YOU LIKE THAT IN A CUP OR A CONE?

PHOTO: The Picture Pantry/Offset

It’s the age-old question. Cup or cone? When visiting an ice cream shop, most Americans prefer to get their ice cream in a cup.

Cup: 57% Cone: 43%

For the coneheads out there, the preferred vehicle by far is the waffle cone.

Waffle cone: 67% Sugar cone: 16% Cake cone: 8% Cookie cone: 6% Pretzel cone: 2%

WELL, IT’S NOT HEALTH FOOD

Surprisingly, millennials are the most concerned about ice cream and their diets. (They should try the frozen bananas in a blender trick.) The millennials are the most likely to say: “I would eat more ice cream than I do now if it weren’t unhealthy.”

13-17 year olds (centennials): 34% agree with the above statement 18-35 year olds (millennials): 51% agree with the above statement) 35 year+: 41% agree with the above statement

ICE CREAM RECALLS

The recent high profile recalls from Blue Bell and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream have had an impact on the public’s ice cream consumption. But a large number of Americans aren’t even aware these recalls have occurred.

14% of Americans have been eating less ice cream since the latest recall 1 in 3 Americans didn’t even know about any recent recalls

What do you think about the ice cream survey? Tell us what you agree with or don’t in the comments below. Or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and share your thoughts and favorite ice cream pictures!

More icy treats from Yahoo Food:

Raspberry and Banana Instant Ice Cream

Blackberry Blackout No-Churn Ice Cream Cake

Why Hot Fudge Doesn’t Belong on a Sundae

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Welcome to ‘Ice Cream Nation,’ a Celebration of Our Favorite Dessert

PHOTO: Felicia Perretti/Offset

America is a deeply divided country. Nothing highlights that better than the current political climate. But regardless of our age, race, religion, or economic status, there is one thing we all agree upon: ice cream.

We love ice cream. According to IBISWorld, Americans gobbled up $8 billion worth of the frozen stuff last year.

As much as we covet ice cream today, our ancestors did too. It’s said that ice cream dates back to at least 200 B.C., when the Chinese made an early version with rice and milk using snow to chill the mixture. The Quakers are believed to have brought ice cream to America, and it was later popularized by the likes of Thomas Jefferson and first lady Dolly Madison, who loved oyster ice cream. Odd flavors are all the rage today, but recipes for Parmesan ice cream, asparagus ice cream, and chestnut ice cream could be found in 18th-century cookbooks.

As time went on, tastes got simpler and vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry were the flavors of choice. Ice cream was a basic and relatively affordable treat, and if you wanted something a little more exotic or creative, a sundae might do it for you. Premium ice cream (meaning pricy) became a thing in the 1980s thanks to brands with fancy Scandanavian-sounding made-up names, such as Haagen-Dazs and Frusen Gladje. (Anybody remember Frusen Gladje?) Ben & Jerry’s took things one step further — and wackier — with the amped-up Phish Food, Chubby Hubby, and Cherry Garcia. Fans of the unapologetically liberal brand might be surprised to learn that when Ben & Jerry’s launched in Burlington, Vt., back in 1978, its first flavor was … vanilla.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Steve’s ice Cream

Fast forward to 2015 and the ice cream category continues to grow and evolve. At Yahoo Food, every few days we hear about another new ice cream brand and ice cream parlor popping up somewhere in the country. Newcomers on the scene, such as Jeni’s Splendid, Big Gay Ice Cream, Van Leeuwen, Smitten, and Ample Hills are expanding and it’s not unusual to see lines out the door at each of their shops.

Photo: Courtesy of Smitten Ice Cream

The popularity of vegan cuisine and healthy eating has resulted in an explosion of non-dairy ice creams made of coconut milk, almond milk, soy milk, and even bananas. These once niche items can now be found in most traditional supermarkets.

To celebrate, we’re launching “Ice Cream Nation,” Yahoo Food’s weeklong exploration of America’s favorite treat. We’re taking a look at the ice cream entrepreneurs catching our eye, the recipes you can easily make at home (without an ice cream maker!), and the trends you might not have heard about just yet. (Rolled-up ice cream, anyone?)

We’ve even worked with the Yahoo Insights team on a study about America’s ice cream preferences. We found out just how much this country loves ice cream, what the top flavors are, whether the cup or the cone rules, and how often we indulge. Check out our findings in the Yahoo Food “Ice Cream Nation” report.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Morganstern’s Ice Cream

Enjoy our coverage and be sure to tell us about your favorite flavor, brand, or ice cream parlor. Let us know in the comments or on Instagram or Twitter at @YahooFood. And here’s to the one thing we all love.

Do you love ice cream? Tell us in the comments below. Or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest and share your thoughts and favorite ice cream photos!

More icy treats from Yahoo Food:

Raspberry and Banana Instant Ice Cream

Blackberry Blackout No-Churn Ice Cream Cake

Why Hot Fudge Doesn’t Belong on a Sundae

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If Martha Stewart and Lady Gaga Launched a Food Magazine…

GIF: Samantha Bolton for Yahoo Food

The latest cover signals that Gather Journal isn’t your average food magazine. On display is a rainbow-bright slice of fairy bread, the Australian childhood treat made with butter and nonpareils, standing at attention in a Plexiglas rack. What better way to illustrate the new issue’s theme,“Spectrum,” in which every page is dedicated to food of a different hue, including black and white. It’s as timely as it is tasty.

Clearly, the indie magazine is art driven, but editor Fiorella Valdesolo said Gather Journal is truly food first. “Our goal is for people to cook from Gather; that’s why we chose a recipe-driven format,” she explained. “We use food as a means of telling a story. And I think our visuals have really become our signature; they pull readers into this fantastical little world that we build around each theme.”

Photo: Samantha Bolton

Valdesolo, a Brooklyn-based writer and editor, launched Gather in May 2012 with creative director Michele Outland. The two met while working at Nylon, the downtown New York fashion publication specializing in youth culture, and they bonded over a love of food and magazines. They dreamed of doing an editorial project together, and something tied to their shared interest in cooking made sense. “We both cook at home a lot, which can be a bit of an anomaly in New York since it’s such an amazing city to eat through, and we come from households where cooking and eating was revered,” said Valdesolo.

The first issue took a village. Maggie Ruggiero and Molly Shuster came onboard as contributing recipe editors and Theo Vamvounakis as contributing prop stylist. “We called in a ton of favors from writer and photographer friends, started with a small print run of 1,500 copies, and crossed our fingers that anyone besides our parents would buy it,” Valdesolo recalled.

The founders of Gather Journal Michele Outland and Fiorella Valdesolo. (Photo: Jas Tang)

The duo was onto something, as “Spectrum” is their seventh issue. They chose color as the theme after a long, cold New York City winter. “It was dark and bleak and dismal for some months, so color was something we were really craving,” said Valdesolo. “As we started thinking about color in relation to food, it felt like such a great fit — after all, for many of us, we eat with our eyes first and color figures prominently in that.” The issue is structured so that each chapter is a complete meal within a specific shade. “So if you want a whole meal in green, we can make that happen.”

Tackling a range of dishes from a color perspective was an interesting challenge, but not a limiting one. “When you are zeroing in on color specifically, you realize the vast breadth that the spectrum of what we eat encompasses,” said Valdesolo. “I think I developed a special appreciation for all the neutrals and earth tones; there really are some beautiful nuances within that color family.” The biggest surprise? How few naturally blue foods exist in the world.

Photo: Samantha Bolton

As for recipe highlights from the issue, Valdesolo loves the soft, slow-scrambled eggs with roasted cherry tomatoes: “I could eat that pretty much every day.” And then there’s her mother’s tiramisu recipe. “I’ve been making and eating it my whole life and it’s phenomenally good.”

The Gather crew recently launched its first app in collaboration with Studio Mercury and Adobe. The app includes kitchen playlists, plus all the recipes that have appeared in the magazine. Instead of a one-time price, the app costs $9.99 per year, or 99 cents for monthly access. (Magazine subscribers get the app for free.)

For those in the New York area, there’s a Gather Journal pop-up shop at Space Ninety 8 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, now through Sept. 28, featuring a range of products curated by Valdesolo and Outland and inspired by the “Spectrum” issue.  

Gather Journal pop-up shop at Space Ninety 8 is open now through Sept. 28. (Photo: Heidi Lee)

More stories about color and food:

The Coolest Kitchen Paint Colors

Vibrant Garlic and Greens Soup Recipe

Rainbow Popsicle Recipe

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How to Survive a Crisis, by the Founder of Jeni’s Ice Creams

All photos: Jeni’s Ice Cream

How would you handle a crisis? When you’re an entrepreneur, you never want to think about this. But Jeni Britton Bauer, the founder of the popular indie ice cream brand that bears her name, had to switch into survival mode this spring when her company’s very existence was threatened.

This April, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams issued a voluntary recall and shut all of its scoop shops when the Nebraska Department of Agriculture found evidence of listeria in a randomly collected sample of its product. It might have seemed drastic to recall more than 500,000 pounds of ice cream given that no one had fallen ill, but that same month, the Centers for Disease Control reported that three deaths in Kansas were linked to listeria in Blue Bell ice cream. Britton Bauer and her chief executive officer John Lowe weren’t taking any chances.

Subsequent FDA inspections found various safety gaps that needed to be addressed before production could restart. The company, based in Columbus, Ohio, brought in food safety experts to lead a revamp of Jeni’s facilities and manufacturing process. Emergency funding was secured and new protocols put into place. The scoop shops re-opened at the end of May, were shut down after another listeria discovery, then re-opened in mid-June once a partner production facility was secured. The wholesale operation is expected to resume before summer’s end.

Jeni stands with the Nashville shop crew during the store’s opening.

When Britton Bauer launched Jeni’s back in 2002, she imagined a company that was different in every way. She practiced responsible sourcing and worked with small local farms; she wanted a premium product that didn’t rely on emulsifiers and stabilizers like other ice creams on the market. The company was structured so that it could secure certified B Corporation status, meaning it meets certain social, employment, and environmental standards, as set forth by the nonprofit B Lab.

Having a set of core values was key for Britton Bauer during the trials of the past few months. And true to her optimistic nature — pessimists tend not to get into the ice cream business — she’s looking at the silver lining of the experience. Here, she shares with Yahoo Food the 10 key lessons that kept her, and Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, from a total meltdown:

1. Set your own standards.

This is important no matter the industry you’re in, but paramount when it comes to food safety. Make sure you know all of the rules and regulations — and then go far beyond what’s required.

2. Community is everything.

Your relationships with people matter the most. If you have and maintain good relationships, people and businesses will help when you need them.

3. Put one foot in front of the other.

A crisis overwhelms your senses and abilities, often in uncontrollable ways. Focus on solving one problem at time; it’s the only way through.

Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni’s Ice Cream.

4. Keep perspective.

You may be inside the eye of your own personal hurricane, but the world keeps turning — and bigger things will continue to happen that put things in perspective.

5. Think INSIDE the box.

People always say creativity is about thinking outside of the box. It’s not. Creative thinking is about identifying and understanding a problem, and then attacking it given the finite resources and opportunities of the given moment. Know your constraints and operate within them.

6. Be your own media company.

If you have something important to say to the world, say it, when and how you want, on your own terms. Be open and transparent; be fast. Don’t rely on others to do it for you.

7. Learn to love change.

Change happens, sometimes on a grand scale like what we’ve just seen. If you’re ready for it, then you don’t get stuck on what could have been but instead on what can be. Be open to what’s possible, not just what is.

8. What doesn’t destroy you makes you stronger.

Or, as Joan Rivers said, “It doesn’t get easier, you get better.” Clichés like this exist because they’re true.

9. You don’t trade tough times.

You learn a lot about yourself and others during times of immense pressure. Great teams come together. It can be a galvanizing moment. The experience makes the pain worth it.

10. Music is the best analgesic.

The Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. Enough said.

Craving more ice cream?

7 reasons the ice cream sandwich is king of summer

Ultimate guide to pairing wine with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream

5 common homemade ice cream issues (and how to fix them)

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From Slave to Celebrated Chef: The Surprising Story of Nat Fuller

Charleston Square,“ painting by Charles J. Hamilton. (Photo: Lowcountry Digital History Initiative.)

In April 1865, one of Charleston’s most prominent chefs held a dinner to celebrate the end of the Civil War. According to published reports, toasts were made, lavish dishes were served, and songs were sung about President Abraham Lincoln and freedom. The chef was Nat Fuller, a celebrated culinary personality and recently freed slave. Prior to that evening, his guests had never dined together; they were black and white residents of Charleston, assembled by Fuller in the spirit of reconciliation.

This meal was recreated in Charleston this past April, following the shooting of Walter Scott that shook the city and became part of the larger national conversation about violence, policing, and race relations. This second reconciliation dinner was meant to once again bring black and white Charlestonians to the same table, but it had another purpose — to pay tribute to an African-American chef whose contributions had been long forgotten.

The dinner and Chef Fuller are the subject of the current podcast from the Southern Foodways Alliance, the organization dedicated to documenting the “diverse food cultures of the changing American South.” Philip Graitcer, a producer on the Gravy podcast series, traces the origin of the event, past and present, and talks to David Shields, the historian who has been piecing together Fuller’s story.

Professor David Shields (Photo: Southern Foodways Alliance)

Shields is an English professor at the University of South Carolina, but his passion is Southern food. (His new book is called “Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine.”) He learned about Fuller and dug deeper. Fuller’s name had been lost to history, but his impact on the culinary scene of Civil War-era Charleston was significant. “His story is a remarkable one on several fronts,” said Shields. While Fuller was still enslaved, he was the city’s most successful purveyor of game; he became one of the city’s leading caterers; and he ran a popular restaurant called The Bachelor’s Retreat. (At the time, certain slaves could operate businesses with the permission of their masters, who would take a cut of the proceeds.)

Interestingly, the dishes that Fuller specialized in were not the Southern staples celebrated today. It wasn’t until years later that fried chicken, grits, biscuits, and the like would come to represent the region. Fuller was a classically trained chef and served the cosmopolitan cuisine preferred by the upper class of Charleston society. A newspaper ad for The Bachelor’s Retreat promoted “oyster and calf head soups, turkey, wild duck, roast beef, a la mode beef, roast lamb, chicken pie, oyster pie, vegetables, and dessert courses” as menu options. Fuller even had flair with cocktails. The Daily Constitutionalist, a local newspaper, wrote about his Brandy Smash and went so far as to call him a “renowned genius.” “Nat Fuller … has a cunning way of fixing up water so as to take all the bad taste out of it,” read the article. “We did not get the exact receipt, but believe that ice, brandy, mint and sugar are some of the condiments used.”

Fuller was a free man for just a year and a half, having died of typhoid fever at the end of 1866. For those interested in Fuller’s life and career, Shields has published a longer biography on the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative website.

Chef Kevin Mitchell. (Photo: Southern Foodways Alliance)

The site also features an appreciation of Fuller by Chef Kevin Mitchell, an instructor at the Culinary Institute of Charleston. He oversaw the menu for the 2015 reconciliation dinner and was joined in the kitchen by other local culinary talents, including Benjamin “BJ” Dennis, a noted Gullah Geechee chef from the region, and Sean Brock of Husk. The first part of the evening took place in the same building that once housed The Bachelor’s Retreat. After cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, the 80 guests walked to McCrady’s restaurant for dinner. It was an optimistic evening, with no foreshadowing of the awful event to come only two months later: On the night of June 17, one of the dinner’s participants, state Senator Clementa C. Pinckney, would be slain along with eight other members of his church in a brutal murder that shocked the country and changed Charleston and perhaps the South forever.

Dessert is served. (Photo: Southern Foodways Alliance)

“Pinckney believed, like Fuller believed, that racism is based on mediated images and on a lack of personal face-to-face knowledge of the circumstances and situations of other people,” said Shields. “When you get people at the same table talking to one another, that’s the way you gain knowledge.”

Shields continues to hold out hope for “the possibility of a future where the friendship at the table is extended into society at large.”

More on Southern cuisine from Yahoo Food:

This couple quit their full-time jobs to sell farm-fresh peaches

Meet two of Nashville’s Indie brewers

7 questions for chef Sean Brock

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19 Cool Finds from the Fancy Food Show

The Summer Fancy Food Show, held at the Javits Center in New York City, is the biggest event of its kind, with 2,400 exhibitors from around the world showcasing more than 180,000 products. Yahoo Food stopped by the 61st annual conference to see and sample some of the offerings. There were a number of clear trends. Products for vegans and vegetarians are more popular than ever, judging from the number of nut butters, fruit bars, veggie chips, and non-dairy ice cream brands on display. Maple is having a moment, as the health conscious turn to natural sweeteners. In addition to maple syrups, you could sample maple cream (a whipped maple product similar to icing), maple crunch (tiny chunks of maple sugar), and even maple-flavored water. Similarly, coconut brands were out in force, offering coconut sugar, oil, cream, yogurt, milk, and snacks. Soda alternatives were everywhere too, from canned matcha drinks to kombucha blends to cherry juice. Despite all the “health” food on offer, America still has a major sweet tooth. There were countless chocolate companies, candy brands, and ice cream purveyors filling the aisles at the vast conference center. We picked 19 of the products and brands that caught our eye — and our taste buds. Check out the slideshow to learn more. Obsessed with trying new food products? You'll want to read these too: Use This Edible Cup and Help Save the Planet Maple Water Taste Test (It's No Coconut Water!) Flour Made From Coffee May Be the Next Big Thing in Baking

Frozen lassi

You can’t beat Monsieur Singh’s slogan: “Endorsed Daily by a Billion Indians.” The company specializes in a frozen version of lassi, the mix of yogurt, herbs, and spices popular across India. The flavors include frozen mango, frozen pineapple banana, and frozen honey lemon. Make sure to check out Monsieur Singh’s website. It gets high marks for humor.

Source: Yahoo Food

Nut and seed butter

Nuttzo takes nut butters to the next level. This product contains flaxseed, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds — all of them organic. The company’s backstory is fascinating as founder Danielle LiVolsi started the company after adopting her son from the Ukraine. She needed a vitamin-packed food to nurse him back to health and developed Nuttzo in the process. She then went on to launch Project Left Behind, an organization to help orphans around the world. Proceeds from Nuttzo help fund the initiative.

Source: Yahoo Food

Bacon spread

This ridiculously tasty spread, made of bacon, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar, is the creation of Chef Josh Henderson. His Skillet Street Food company started in Seattle with a street truck and has expanded into restaurants, a catering division, and a product line. The Bacon Spread is the signature item, but he also has a trio of pumpkin ketchups.

Source: Yahoo Food

African sauces

Surprised at the lack of African food products on supermarket shelves, Jainaba Jeng of Raleigh, N.C., took matters into her own hands. A native of The Gambia, West Africa, she launched the Kitchens of Africa line of sauces and jerk paste marinades, including the Zanzibar curry simmer sauce and Maffé peanut simmer sauce pictured here.

Source: Yahoo Food

Premium beef jerky

If you’re a food snob and a beef jerky fan, the stuff sold in gas stations and convenience stores probably doesn’t cut it. Enter Three Jerks, the company from Venice, Calif., specializing in filet mignon beef jerky. They promise no MSG, no nitrates/nitrites, and no artificial ingredients. The product comes in three flavors — Original, Memphis BBQ, and Chipotle Adobo.

Source: Yahoo Food

Cocktail mixes

This is a hot category right now, thanks in part to the growing appreciation for craft cocktails. Bittermilk, a line of cocktail mixed “compounds,” is based in Charleston, S.C., and founded by husband and wife team Joe and MariElena Raya. They debuted their limited-edition 2015 holiday mix at the food show — Gingerbread Old Fashioned, a spicy, sweet, peppery blend.

Source: Yahoo Food

Beer bread

Love beer? Love baking, but don’t have a lot of skills? Soberdough is for you. Just add a bottle of beer to the powdered mix, pop it in the oven, and you have bread. Invented by mother-son team Veronica Hawbaker and Jordan Mychal of Nashville, Tenn., Soberdough comes in a variety of flavors, including Buffalovin’ Wing and Green Chile Cheddar.

Source: Yahoo Food

Goats’ milk caramel

No one loves goats as much as the team from Big Picture Farm in Townshend, Vt. Check out their website and you’ll find drawings and photographs of the creatures, plus a goat cam! The farmers, Louisa Conrad and Lucas Farrell, produce award-winning caramel and cheese from the goats’ milk, and were on hand to showcase their newest offerings and holiday boxes. Their latest flavor is raspberry-rhubarb caramel, a sweet-tart-creamy confection.

Source: Yahoo Food

Edamame hummus

Think chickpea hummus is the only option? Apparently it’s not. The company called Eat Well Embrace Life is capitalizing on the hummus boom and looking to expand the definition of the popular dip. It offers versions made from edamame, black beans, white beans, red lentils, beets, and even carrots.

Source: Yahoo Food

Peanut butter powder

Bell Plantation of Tifton, Ga., presses fresh roasted peanuts to create a powder with 85 percent less fat and calories than regular peanut butter. Called PB2, it’s promoted as ideal for athletes looking to add protein to their meals and for chefs looking to add to add flavor and flair to their dishes. The company also produces a traditional peanut butter sweetened with molasses, and a roasted peanut butter oil.

Source: Yahoo Food

Beer jelly

Nancy Warner was obsessed with making jams and jellies when she decided to mix a batch of beer, pectin, and sugar and see what happened. Viola, beer jelly was born. Her Vermont-based company, Potlicker Kitchen, today offers a range of beer jellies, including Oatmeal Stout, Apricot Ale, and India Pale Ale. Potlicker Kitchen also makes wine jellies and a fantastic carrot cake jelly.

Source: Yahoo Food

Beet juice and beet bars

Beets haven’t had a moment the same way kale and other trendy vegetables have, perhaps because they’re messy and can stain your hands and your kitchen. But Love Beets wants to change that with its range of products. The company offers beet juices, pre-cooked beets in a variety of flavors, and beet bars (beet + blueberry, beet + cherry, and beet + apple).

Source: Yahoo Food

Liquid coffee concentrate

Instant coffee might seem like your grandfather’s product, but it’s in the midst of a resurgence. The latest version comes in liquid form — just add water, milk, ice, sweetener, whatever you like, and you’re set. Barnie’s CoffeeKitchen was promoting its Brewsticks, individual packets containing 100% cold-brewed Arabica coffee concentrate.  Flavors include Santa’s White Christmas and Hawaiian Hazelnut.

Source: Yahoo Food

Cherry juice

Orange, cranberry, and grapefruit are classic fruit juice options. Cherry juice? Not a classic, but the team at Cheribundi wants to change that. The produce lineup includes straight-up tart cherry juice, cherry juice mixed with other juices, and cherry juice mixed with iced tea. The Cheribundi team says the juice helps with pain, inflammation, and sleeplessness and promotes its beverages to athletes. The cherries are sourced from orchards in upstate New York and Michigan.

Source: Yahoo Food

DIY kimchi

There were a few DIY kits on display at the food show. The Dutch brand Boska had kits for making butter, fresh cheese, and mozzarella. Mother In Law’s Kimchi, purveyor of the Korean cabbage condiment and fermented sauces, offers a kit for those who’d like to make its signature product at home.

Source: Yahoo Food

Vegan ice cream

A number of non-dairy frozen treats were on display at the food show. Among the tastiest were Steve’s dairy-free flavors made with organic coconut cream. The on-trend flavors include Speculoos Cookie Butter, Mint Cacao Chip, Cold Brewed Cinnamon Coffee, and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Each flavor is the result of a partnership with another indie brand, including Hampton Creek’s Just Cookies, Grady’s Cold Brew, and Wafels & Dinges.

Source: Yahoo Food

Tigernut flour

The newest superfood isn’t new at all. Apparently, mankind has been eating the tiny tubers known as tigernuts for hundreds of years. Organic Gemini offers a range of products made from these chewy, slightly sweet nuggets, the latest of which is a gluten-free flour. Organic Gemini also has tigernut granola, raw snacks, and cold-pressed beverages.

Source: Yahoo Food

Macadamia milk

Now that almond milk has crossed from niche vegan beverage to mainstream, there’s room for some new non-dairy options. The Australian brand Suncoast Gold is hoping macadamia milk is the next big thing. While most Americans think of macadamia nuts as Hawaiian, the trees are actually native to Australia.

Source: Yahoo Food

Seaweed snacks

If potato chips aren’t your thing, you might like Chomperz crispy seaweed-rice snacks. These come in four flavors — original, barbecue, jalapeno, and onion — and each has a straightforward ingredient list that anyone can read and understand. The seaweed is sourced from Korea. Chomperz are produced by SeaSnax, a Los Angeles-based company that bills itself as a socially conscious, kid-inspired family business.

Source: Yahoo Food

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What This Guy Ate (and Learned) While Biking Across America

What This Guy Ate (and Learned) While Biking Across America

By Kerry Diamond

When James Marshall, British by birth, moved to the United States, one discovery shocked him the most. Americans, he noticed, seemed down on the idea of America. What happened to all the great ideals this country represented to immigrants like him? And more importantly, what had happened to the America dream?

Marshall, a filmmaker, wanted to investigate. He and a friend, photographer Todd Williams, decided to embark on a 28-day cross-country motorcycle journey in search of the American dream and document the entire trip. Using social media, they would ask people to put them up for the night and they would work to earn their keep, all the while interviewing people about their lives, hopes, and careers.

Marshall and Williams gave themselves a food budget of $250 each. (Their other costs — equipment, film crew, video production, etc. — were covered by a Kickstarter campaign and some funding from the brand Cole Haan.) The resulting 8-part series, available for free on Vimeo and iTunes, is an endearing look at life across this country. There are heartwarming moments and beautiful scenery throughout, but some sober truth, too. Hard work and big dreams, they discover, don’t always equal success.

We checked in with Marshall to hear more about his great adventure and to learn what he ate while traveling from place to place. “It was a fun, exhausting journey,” he said. “I’ve never been happier to see the Pacific Ocean.”

PHOTO: Courtesy of The American Dream Project

When did the idea pop in your head ?

The idea for “The American Dream Project” first came to me in the spring of 2014. As in immigrant here, I could see how critical America was of itself. It seemed that everyone and their dog was talking about why America was a bad place, why we are different from each other, and that the American dream was over. I think it’s important that we look inward and constantly challenge ourselves; that we sometimes just stop, take a moment, and look at what we have accomplished. I wanted to put a spotlight on what I see: some of the people and places that I believe make America great.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The American Dream Project

A lot of folks gave you a place to stay. Did they also feed you?

Thank God, yes! It is really challenging to eat healthy while on the road. Wondering/hoping what we would be fed became a fun game. Would we get a home-cooked meal? Would it be an old family recipe with secret ingredients? Would we like it? Would there be homemade cake?

What were some of the most memorable meals?

We had some great meals, but I must first mention the most memorable drink. The second episode shows us stopping in Rendville, Ohio, a tiny town of just 35 people. After working our bums off all day we were rewarded with a few sips of genuine moonshine. Whoa! It was like drinking paint stripper! I’m still not sure if I actually enjoyed it, but it was definitely memorable. It was so strong. I think my insides were burning. I could barely speak after taking a sip.

And the food in Rendville was also super good. Our hosts Corlyn and Ted put on a real spread for us. Actually, the townspeople all brought something to contribute to an elaborate feast that fed the entire crew. Very sweet, and generous people. We had barbecued chicken, basted in a secret and spicy family recipe that was so good it made time slow down. There were huge bowls of colorful salads: reds, greens, yellows… all locally sourced. There were also huge bowls of different rice dishes that were full of surprising flavors. What I enjoyed most was that it normal for everyone to contribute to the meal and to welcome strangers into their town.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The American Dream Project

Was it weird staying with strangers?

Yeah, a little, but you get used to it pretty quickly. It’s like staying round your Auntie Val’s house. You love being there, but you’re worried about breaking the china or using too much hot water in the morning. You want to be respectful of their home and their generosity, and it’s great to stay for a short while and then be on your way. I was always worried about overstaying our welcome.

When you were driving from destination to destination, what did you do for food? I saw you drinking some gas station coffee, which couldn’t have been fun.

The gas station coffee wasn’t fun — but it was like brain rocket fuel, strong enough to keep me mentally awake for hundreds of miles on the motorcycle. As for food, I’ve been an athlete most of my life so I really try to eat healthy when I can — with the occasional blowout of course. We’d stock up on fruit and the healthiest things we could find in the hope our little stockpile would last until the next oasis of healthy in the desert of junk food.

PHOTO: Courtesty of The American Dream Project

Were there a lot of protein bars involved?

Too many for my liking! I have always been a fan of protein bars, because they’re great when nothing fresh is available. But I stopped enjoying them so much after surviving on them when I ran across the Sahara — that’s another story for another time. But, while they are a little harder for me to stomach now, they are still a good substitute when there is little choice available. And, of course, I always had back-up Snickers bars if the going got tough.

Did you lose weight? It seemed like a physically grueling trip.

I lost about 10 pounds, which I think was due to stress. I had passed my motorcycle test just a few weeks before we left New York City so I was constantly worried about crashing the bike. There were a couple of very close calls where I hit things in the road, or had to swerve to avoid someone texting while driving. That scared the heck out of me.

Did you stick to the $250 per person limit?

Yes, pretty much. The $250 was for food and lodging. I think I went over a little, and Todd was left with a few bucks. We had to stay in a motel during the horrendous storm between Missouri and Iowa [Episode 4]. I was honestly scared for my life! We should have stopped hours before, but we just kept on going. It was so stupid to drive in those conditions. Eventually, it got so dangerous that we had to find a motel and dip into our slush fund.

Did the project change you?

Yes, it did. I am less worried. I realized how much I enjoy meeting and listening to strangers. We all walk past so many people every day, and now I wonder more about each of them. Who are they? What situation do they go home to each day? What makes them laugh? What have they been through to put that expression on their face today? I try harder to give more people the benefit of the doubt: Yeah, that a–hole was rude to me, but maybe he has a sick kid at home and is just having a crappy day. We’re not really that different from each other.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The American Dream Project

What surprised you most about the project?

I was really surprised how people we had never met before just opened up their homes to us. We were complete strangers to them. They put a roof over our heads, fed us, and on some occasions, they even gave us warmer clothes to wear. Their first instinct was to be kind and to trust.

Our perception of other people in America is mostly wrong. I traveled 5,000 miles across the U.S., met hundreds of people, from so many different backgrounds, ethnicities, religious beliefs, sexual persuasions, and social classes, and can honestly say that the vast majority of these people are kind, considerate, and have the same fears and needs as the rest of us. Yes, there are a few a–holes that are just bad apples, but in my experience, these are the tiny minority and they get too much of the spotlight. There really are more good people than bad, and we really do have more in common than not.

PHOTO: Courtesy of The American Dream Project

You made a stop in Braddock, Pa., and saw Chef Kevin Sousa’s Superior Motors restaurant in the works. That’s a big project that a lot of the food media is watching with interest. Any observations about Braddock and that project in particular you can share?

I cannot say enough good things about the place or the people. It was an honor to witness the rebirth of a town that has been truly challenged. Braddock had been a steel superpower, a goliath of global industry that was crippled by the deindustrialization of America. Without jobs, 90 percent of the community up and left, which totally decimated the town. The town was then taken over by gangs and drugs, and almost pushed over the precipice.

Now, over a decade later, and with the strong leadership of Jon and Gisele Fetterman [the mayor and his wife], the town is on the verge of a complete 180. The gangs have gone and the town has an impressively strong togetherness.

Kevin Sousa and Jon Fetterman aren’t just building a restaurant; I believe they have also created a tipping point for Braddock. They have food education programs, a community-managed farm, and now a community-driven restaurant that will be staffed by local residents, trained by Kevin himself. This restaurant could be the final piece of the puzzle for Braddock to start a really great new era.

Any general food observations from the road?

Yes. It is really tough to eat well when there are strip malls and cheap food available everywhere. I saw huge signs for pizza, burgers, burritos, and hot dogs all at unbelievably low prices. After spending hour after hour, day after day, driving through town after town, I would think about the obesity problems we face across the country. Coming from a single-parent family, I now appreciate how hard my mum worked to feed us healthy food. I had a lot of time to think, and this occupied me a great deal.

It made me think of the stories my grannies told me about England during and after the second World War: Food was scarce and people across England were starving. Fast food didn’t exist and all store-bought food was rationed. People were encouraged to “Dig for England,” meaning to grow their own food in their yards. And they did, out of necessity. It must have been tough work, but they did it. America is a place full of resourceful and resilient people. Could we now “Dig for America?” and grow our own food to combat the rise of obesity?

These people are dreaming big and changing lives:

Is this the most important food truck in America?

Growing Warriors turns veterans into farmers.

How you’re saving the world by eating Ben & Jerry’s.

[kerrydiamondyahoo]

Brutal: A Cool, Quirky New Magazine About Food

By Kerry Diamond

Gif: Samantha Bolton

Among the growing crop of indie publications is a sleek and slightly strange standout called Brutal. Is it about food, fashion, or art? Editorial director Gheanna Emelia said it’s all of those things — and more.

“We’re a playfully smart art magazine with a fresh and raw take on how to document the increasingly intersecting worlds of food and fashion — and whatever else lays beyond,” she said.

The small staff of three, plus the Brutal writers and photographers, fully embrace how quirky the magazine is. “At Brutal, there’s no dichotomy between the beautiful and the weird,” Emelia said. “We strive to produce stories that embody that juxtaposition through stirring visuals, smart writing, and a sense of humor.”

Photo: Courtesy of Brutal Magazine

The second issue of Brutal just hit newsstands. Inside, readers will find interviews with Ivan Ramen’s Ivan Orkin and Del Posto’s Mark Ladner (who shares three simple pasta sauces). Jade Lai, the founder and designer behind fashion line Creatures of Comfort, talks about natural wine. Los Angeles-based artist Zoe Crosher shares her art and food collaboration with Blue Bottle Coffee’s Caitlin Freeman, which includes a recipe for stout cake with tequila ganache and tobacco-smoked sea salt. This issue also includes Brutal’s first fashion editorial.

Gif: Courtesy of Brutal Magazine

For more about the magazine and the special events and dinners hosted by Brutal, visit brutalmag.com.

Love magazines and cookbooks? Check out these:

The new issue of Lucky Peach is here.

Cookbook loves are obsessed with this little company. 

Dream of writing a cookbook? This is for you. 

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8 Things McDonald’s Can Do to Save Itself, According to Serious Foodies

McDonald’s needs to focus on its core business, chefs say. (Photo: iStock)

Remember the old McDonald’s slogan “You deserve a break today”? The executives running McDonald’s must be thinking just that — about themselves.

Everybody loves to pick on the fast food giant. Its board members have been called dinosaurs. Its own workers are protesting over wages. Shareholders aren’t happy, as sales are down. The introduction of the new Hamburglar character was met with jeers on social media. And analysts were unimpressed with the turnaround plan unveiled by new chief executive officer Steve Easterbrook.

His 23-minute presentation on transforming McDonald’s into a “modern, progressive burger company” was long on corporate jargon and short on one crucial element: the food.

Sure, with 1.9 million employees worldwide, more than 36,000 locations, and 69 million people served daily, there’s a lot to think about besides burgers, shakes, and fries. So Yahoo Food turned to the people who do think about food, all day long. We asked some of the chefs, bakers, and ice cream makers lauded for their creativity, thoughtful sourcing practices, and entrepreneurial spirit for input. What would they do to save McDonald’s?

Above, from the McDonald’s website, for customers curious about the fast food chain’s ingredients. 

1. Get serious about sourcing.

McDonald’s has a perception problem. Many people don’t believe the items it serves are actual food. (Just look at the company’s own website. There’s a clickable box that reads, “Do you make your fries with real potatoes?”) Almost everyone interviewed mentioned sourcing as the biggest issue. “Bring in product traceability and make a big deal about it in the stores,” suggested Andrea Reusing, the chef of Lantern in Chapel Hill, N.C. Preeti Mistry, the chef of Juhu Beach Club in Oakland, Calif., would like to see McDonald’s make big changes to its supply chain. “Mandate to all their growers that they switch to organic farming methods within a three-to-five year phased process or drop them as suppliers. Create a higher level of standards for how their growers and ranchers farm.”

Shake Shack’s burger has shown food can be delicious and fast. (Photo: Getty Images)

2. Up your burger game.

Bryan Petroff, the co-founder of Big Gay Ice Cream in New York and Philadelphia (and soon Los Angeles), said it wouldn’t be an understatement to call McDonald’s burgers “vile” and that the company needs to make taste and ingredients paramount. “Put a Big Mac up against ‘Big Macs’ made by Shake Shack or In-N-Out Burger and I guarantee you that no one will pick the McDonald’s Big Mac.” A few chefs suggested organic and grass-fed options. “Higher quality ingredients and a slightly thicker patty would make a great burger,” said Kris Yenbamroong, the chef of Night + Market and Night + Market Song in L.A.

A Double Double from In-and-Out Burger. (Photo: Facebook)

3. A veggie burger is a no brainer.

Introduce an improved, protein-based version of the old McVeggie Burger. “This would be a great option for vegetarians and people trying to reduce meat in their diet,” said Mistry. “McDonald’s is sometimes the only option for people traveling or in remote areas or in a late-night pinch.” But don’t do it as an afterthought — make it delicious, said Erin McKenna, founder of Erin McKenna’s Bakery, the vegan outposts in New York, L.A., and Walt Disney World in Orlando. “Make it an item that even meat-eaters can’t resist.”

4. Focus, focus, focus.

“If Ronald McDonald and I were to sit down, the first thing I’d say to him is that he should get rid of everything that is not his core business,” said Amanda Cohen, the chef of Dirt Candy in New York. “That menu needs a trim.” Said Yenbamroong, “McDonald’s used to be known for doing a couple of things real well. Recommitting the company to those items and making them better than ever would go a long way.” They could take a note from In ‘N’ Out Burger, the wildly popular West Coast chain that officially has six things on its menu: hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries, milk shakes, beverages (a.k.a., soda) and the Double-Double.

The McRib has been on and off the McDonald’s menu for years. (Photo: Getty Images)

5. A few things have to go.

What to get rid of? “The McRib is particularly disturbing to me,” said Mistry. And the Artisan Grilled Chicken sandwich. “This is a menu item with no constituency,” said Reusing. “It alienates everyone.” Another item that must go: salads. “I personally don’t want a salad from McDonald’s,” said Alex Raij, the chef behind La Vara, El Quinto Pino, and Txikito in New York. Nor does Cohen, who runs a vegetarian restaurant. “You shouldn’t sell anything you can’t do well, and the things you have to do to a salad to make them portable and have a long shelf life don’t add up to a good salad,” she said. And while you’re at it, 86 the Snack Wrap. The group we interviewed particularly loathed these burger alternatives. “What else can explain why they took one fried Chicken Select, added a few pieces of the same iceberg lettuce from their sandwiches, wrapped it in corn glue—oops, I mean a tortilla—and passed it off as the thing that was going to save them?” asked Petroff. Yenbamroong seconded that. “What kind of serious burger place serves wraps?”

A McDonald’s Happy Meal, featuring apples. (AP)

7. Get healthier, but not with health food.

“They could simply make what they already serve so much better,” said Cohen. “Get the sugar out of their ketchup. Use better cheese and vegetables.” McKenna, mother to two young children, would love to see a dairy-free sundae. “The kid who’s allergic to dairy would finally be able to enjoy an ice cream instead of sitting on the side eating those apple slices.” Raij suggested sweet potato fries and dairy-free fruit shakes. Also, many said downsize instead of Super Size. “Institute rational portions and calorie counts,” said Reusing.

Brooks Headley’s cult veggie burgers. (Photo: Instagram)

7. Collaborate with smaller brands and cool food personalities.

Take a page from Shake Shack, the fast food darling of the culinary set. The mini chain works with a range of indie brands to source everything from beer to relish to dog biscuits, and it incorporates local purveyors into each location’s menu. You’ll find Rick’s Picks, Abita Brewing Co., Brooklyn Brewery, Bocce’s Bakery, Kiskadee Chocolates, South End Buttery Bakery, Mast Brothers, and others among the mix.

Shake Shack also has served up limited-edition burgers from David Chang and modernist Italian chef Massimo Bottura. McKenna thought it would be fun to see the cult veggie burger from award-winning pastry chef Brooks Headley on the menu. Why not bring some cool eats to markets without a diverse food scene?

8. No pressure, but make the world a better place.

“McDonald’s is everywhere, which is its biggest problem and its biggest strength,” said Cohen. “It has fabulous economies of scale, but it also has to be all things to all people and that’s hard. Their biggest strength, though, is their potential to do good.“ With some of the changes above, plus a bigger focus on the well-being of its staff, customers, and the neighborhoods in which it does business, people would view the fast food chain in a very different way. "McDonald’s is in a position to change the world if they wanted, and it wouldn’t be hard.”

More fast food news, from McDonald’s to Chipotle to Snoop Dogg:

McDonald’s CEO Says He’s ‘Incredibly Proud’ of Pay Hike Amid Protests

Meet the Farmer Who’s Helping Chipotle Go Organic

That Time Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson Went To a KFC in Amsterdam

[kerrydiamondyahoo]

Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman Talks Love, Loss, and Home Cooking

Kimberly Schlapman in her new cookbook, “Oh Gussie!” (Photo credit: @ohgussie/Instagram)

Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week is “Oh Gussie: Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly’s Southern Kitchen,” from Kimberly Schlapman, a founding member of platinum-selling country music band Little Big Town.

Schlapman is a bona fide country star. Her band, Little Big Town, is one of the hottest on the music scene right now, garnering attention, awards, and raves with each new album. Their sixth and latest release “Pain Killer” has made a huge splash and even generated a little bit of controversy thanks to the single “Girl Crush,” which the band performed with Faith Hill last week during the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.

Schlapman is a diva alright — but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s a domestic diva. Schlapman recently released her first cookbook, “Oh Gussie! Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly’s Southern Kitchen,” a humble collection of family recipes handed down from her grandmothers to her mother to her over the years. Translating these culinary heirlooms into something the modern home cook could easily follow took a lot of work. “Some of the recipes have grease stains on them and you can’t read them very well,” said Schlapman, who wrote the book with author Martha Foose. “Some of them say, ‘add a dab of this and stir for a little while’! It took me a long time to test these and get ‘em just right.”

Schlapman on stage with the rest of Little Big Town. (Photo: Little Big Town.)

Equally hard was writing the personal stories sprinkled throughout the book. “The publisher let me make this a bit of a memoir. It was quite the labor of love,” said Schlapman. “It was very emotional writing about my grandparents who have passed. And writing about my late husband. Probably the most emotional part of the book was writing about him.”

Halfway through “Oh Gussie!” Schlapman shares how she lost her first husband, in 2005, to a heart attack. A thoughtful neighbor dropped off a walnut cake and at times, it was the only thing the devastated Schlapman could bear to eat. “What I learned about my grief is that if I share it with others, it helps my feelings and it helps someone else,” she said. “I was glad I got the opportunity to tell those stories.”

A collard green grilled cheese recipe from the new cookbook, “Oh Gussie!” (Photo: @ohgussie/Instagram)

The idea of seeing one through good times and bad with food is central to “Oh Gussie!” Schlapman, after all, was raised by a woman who celebrated and commiserated with others by cooking for them. “When I was growing up, my mother taught me that’s how you take care of people. If someone had a death in their family, or if they had a baby, if they lost a job or got a new job, she was at their doorstep with some kind of yummy dish in hand, whether it was a cake or a pie or a casserole,” remembered Schalpman. “I would go with her to deliver things to these families and I would see them either happy or grieving and I learned that’s how you love on people.”

So it turns out you can communicate via pie. “Sometimes we can’t think of the words,” she continued. “But when someone knows you spent a little time making something with love, it says a lot.”

Despite the honest moments about loss, “Oh Gussie!” is a very cheerful book, filled with pictures of Schlapman at home with her husband, Stephen, and their daughter, Daisy Pearl. The book has an upbeat spirit similar to the one she projects on her cooking show, “Kimberly’s Simply Southern.” You can see past episodes on YouTube.

Kimberly includes her mother’s biscuit recipe in her new cookbook “Oh Gussie!” (Photo: @ohgussie/Instagram)

The recipes in “Oh Gussie!” skew Southern and traditional, but some are updated for a modern palate and a country star waistline, such as the okra hash, made with coconut oil, and turkey meatballs. There are new classics, too, including the kale salad with dates and grilled watermelon with goat cheese and prosciutto. 

While the Little Big Town star hopes the book inspires people to cook, her real dreams is that it spurs a renewed interest in eating with your loved ones. “Any time I’m home, even if I’m throwing together sandwiches because we only have 10 minutes, we’re going to sit together, hold hands, and say a prayer,” she said. “We’ll eat and talk to each other about our day and I just think that’s so very important.”

And one last thing. What in the world does “Oh Gussie” mean? As she explained on Hank FM radio, “It’s a Southern saying and I say it all the time. It means all kinds of things. It means ‘I’m excited’ or ‘I’m nervous,’ or ‘Oh, that’s incredibly delicious!’ Any time I need a good clean saying, I pull out ‘Oh Gussie.’”

No doubt she says it a lot these days.

Little Big Town are big foodies. Here are some of their favorite recipes:

Little Big Town’s Vegetarian Collard Greens

Little Big Town’s Party Food Recipes, From Chorizo Nachos to Healthier Pretzel Dogs