Rachel Tepper Paley

Editor

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12 Thanksgiving Shortcuts They’ll Never Suspect

Planning an entire Thanksgiving menu and executing it to perfection can be a tall order, but relax! There’s nothing wrong with taking a shortcut here and there. Plenty of kitchen whizzes only look like culinary superheroes, and tons swear by timesavers they’ve learned through years of knocking out Thanksgiving feasts.

Those tricks include putting a fresh spin on canned or boxed ingredients (it’s really possible), choosing recipes that don’t require an oven, and judiciously outsourcing entire dishes. Making these shortcuts work comes down to a little creativity. Case in point: A dollop of homemade whipped cream mixed with caramel sauce truly goes a long way on a store-bought pie.

Read on for some of our favorite shortcuts from real people — not chefs — that will save you from stressing but won’t give your loved ones the impression that you’re cutting corners.

Jazz up canned cranberry sauce

If you don’t have time to make the fresh variety, breathe a little life into canned cranberry sauce with orange juice and spices, or fold it into a simple batter to make a tasty cranberry loaf. If all else fails, shape the jiggly stuff into cute forms with cookie cutters. Here’s a video breaking down these tricks.

Baked Brie is the easiest appetizer of all time

Pick up a wheel of Brie from the grocery store, top it with almonds and honey, and pop it in the oven for a few minutes. The result? A bubbly, sweet, and savory treat that’s so easy to make, it’s criminal. Here’s a recipe. Or for a slightly fancier version, check out this recipe for baked cheese with fresh figs or pears.

A simple dessert for vegan guests

“Canned coconut cream + maple syrup + vanilla bean = vegan vanilla mousse for any diet-restricted guests,” suggests Yahoo Health intern Emily Sundberg, who also blogs at She Loves Everything. “Just whip them up in a blender or counter mixer.”

  Photo: Stocksy

 Upgrade a store-bought pie

Easy toppings — like freshly whipped cream or cute pastry cutouts — are a great way to impress guests at dessert time without actually having to bake a pie. Here’s how to make them. And if that’s not your style, “Throw a store-bought pie in the blender with almond milk for a new twist on dessert,” Sundberg says. See how she did it here.

All hail store-bought graham cracker crust

“I will go to the grave maintaining that homemade pâte brisée is better than store-bought,” says Yahoo Food reader Alana Horowitz Satlin. “But premade graham cracker crust for pumpkin pie is awesome and tastes the same as making your own.”

Don’t knock canned crescent rolls

You can do so many things with them! For instance, personal chicken pot pies, an ooey-gooey Hershey’s Kiss roll, or any of these delicious things. Of course, even on their own, baked crescent rolls are a crowd pleaser.

Skip the drippings when making gravy

“What’s more stressful than cooking the turkey itself is actually the gravy,” says Yahoo Food assistant editor Donna Yen. “You wait for hours for that bird to roast, and then when it’s go time, you have to struggle with hot turkey drippings and fuss with flour. All the while, hungry guests are watching your every move.” Instead, Yen suggests making your gravy before the bird even hits the oven. Here’s a drippings-free gravy recipe.

Photo: Stockfood

 Doctor boxed stuffing with fresh ingredients

“Add sautéed mushrooms and sautéed crumbled sweet Italian turkey sausage to Stove Top Stuffing,” suggests reader Judy Fox Tepper (who happens to be this editor’s mother!). “Stuff it in the bird so it soaks up its juices. Delicious and easy!”

The Crock-Pot is your friend

“My brother makes the mashed potatoes a day ahead. Then, a few hours before Thanksgiving dinner, he dumps them into a Crock-Pot with two sticks of butter to reheat,” says Yahoo reader Carol Blymire. “The are amazing potatoes!” Of course, you can always make the mashed taters in the Crock-Pot from start to finish, or explore other slow-cooker Thanksgiving options.

Go the no-bake route

Oven space is precious on Thanksgiving Day, so choosing dishes that don’t require cooking will keep you sane and help get dinner on the table in a timely fashion. Looking for recipes? Try no-bake pumpkin cheesecake bars, a no-bake layered chocolate cake, no-bake Oreo tart, or no-bake pumpkin chiffon pie. Find more no-bake dessert ideas.

Give yourself a head start

A little planning goes a long way. Ina Garten has tons of advice on the subject, from make-ahead gratins to pie crusts whipped up way in advance. Yahoo Food reader Rani Schloss also has a suggestion: “Roast a whole mess of root vegetables up to a week in advance, but not quite until they’re done. Then just stick ’em in the oven for about 20 minutes before they’re ready to serve. They’ll be perfect!”

On the subject of planning, set the Thanksgiving table the night before

Don’t save this task for the last minute. Setting the table the day before not only gives you more time to perfect your Thanksgiving feast — it also means you won’t be scrambling to arrange place settings last-minute before guests arrive.

  Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

[racheltepperyahoo]

12 Thanksgiving Shortcuts They'll Never Suspect

Planning an entire Thanksgiving menu and executing it to perfection can be a tall order, but relax! There’s nothing wrong with taking a shortcut here and there. Plenty of kitchen whizzes only look like culinary superheroes, and tons swear by timesavers they’ve learned through years of knocking out Thanksgiving feasts.

Those tricks include putting a fresh spin on canned or boxed ingredients (it’s really possible!), choosing recipes that don’t require an oven, and judiciously outsourcing entire dishes. Making these shortcuts work comes down to a little thoughtfulness. Case in point: A dollop of homemade whipped cream mixed with caramel sauce truly goes a long way on a store-bought pie.

Read on for some of our favorite shortcuts from real people — not chefs — that will save you from stressing but won’t give the impression you’re cutting corners.

Jazz up canned cranberry sauce

If you don’t have time to make the fresh variety, breathe a little life into canned cranberry sauce with orange juice and spices, or fold it into a simple batter to make a tasty cranberry loaf. If all else fails, shape the jiggly stuff into cute forms with cookie cutters. Here’s a video breaking down these tricks.

Baked Brie is the easiest appetizer of all time

Pick up a wheel of Brie from the grocery store, top it with almonds and honey, and pop it in the oven for a few minutes. The result? A bubbly, sweet, and savory treat that’s so easy to make, it’s criminal. Here’s a recipe. Or for a slightly fancier version, check out this recipe for baked cheese with fresh figs or pears.

A simple dessert for vegan guests

“Canned coconut cream + maple syrup + vanilla bean = vegan vanilla mousse for any diet-restricted guests,” suggests Yahoo Health intern Emily Sundberg, who also blogs at She Loves Everything. “Just whip them up in a blender or counter mixer.”

  Photo: Stocksy

  Upgrade a store-bought pie

Easy toppings — like freshly whipped cream or cute pastry cutouts — are a great way to impress guests at dessert time without actually having to bake a pie. Here’s how to make them. And if that’s not your style? “Throw a store-bought pie in the blender with almond milk for a new twist on dessert,” Sundberg says. See how she did it here.

All hail store-bought graham cracker crust

“I will go to the grave maintaining that homemade pâte brisée is better than store-bought,” says Yahoo Food reader Alana Horowitz Satlin. “But premade graham cracker crust for pumpkin pie is awesome and tastes the same as making your own.”

Don’t knock canned crescent rolls

You can do so many things with them! For instance, personal chicken pot pies, an ooey-gooey Hershey’s Kiss roll, or any of these delicious things. Of course, even on their own, baked crescent rolls are a crowd pleaser.

Skip the drippings when making gravy

“What’s more stressful than cooking the turkey itself is actually the gravy,” says Yahoo Food assistant editor Donna Yen. “You wait for hours for that bird to roast, and then when it’s go time, you have to struggle with hot turkey drippings and fuss with flour. All the while, hungry guests are watching your every move.” Instead, Yen suggests making your gravy before the bird even hits the oven. Here’s a drippings-free gravy recipe.

Photo: Stockfood

  Doctor boxed stuffing with fresh ingredients

“Add sautéed mushrooms and sautéed crumbled sweet Italian turkey sausage to Stove Top Stuffing,” suggests reader Judy Fox Tepper (who happens to be this editor’s mother!). “Stuff it in the bird so it soaks up its juices. Delicious and easy!”

The Crock-Pot is your friend

“My brother makes the mashed potatoes a day ahead. Then, a few hours before Thanksgiving dinner, he dumps them into a Crock-Pot with two sticks of butter to reheat,” says Yahoo reader Carol Blymire. “THEY ARE AMAZING POTATOES.” Of course, you can always make the mashed ‘taters in the Crock-Pot from start to finish, or explore other slow-cooker Thanksgiving options.

Go the no-bake route

Oven space is precious on Thanksgiving Day, so choosing dishes that don’t require cooking will keep you sane and help get dinner on the table in a timely fashion. Looking for recipes? Try no-bake pumpkin cheesecake bars, a no-bake layered chocolate cake, no-bake Oreo tart, or no-bake pumpkin chiffon pie. Find more no-bake dessert ideas here.

Give yourself a head start

A little planning goes a long way. Ina Garten has tons of advice on the subject, from make-ahead gratins to pie crusts whipped up way in advance. Yahoo Food reader Rani Schloss also has a suggestion: “Roast a whole mess of root vegetables up to a week in advance, but not quite until they’re done. Then just stick ‘em in the oven for about 20 minutes before they’re ready to serve. They’ll be perfect!”

On the subject of planning, set the Thanksgiving table the night before

Don’t save this task for the last minute! Setting the table the day before not only gives you more time to perfect your Thanksgiving feast — it also means you won’t be scrambling to arrange place settings last-minute before guests arrive.

  Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

[racheltepperyahoo]

New Doritos Flavor, Doritos Mix, Hits Stores

Some good news for indecisive Doritos lovers out there: A new Doritos variety packs four different Doritos snacks of varying shapes and flavors into one bag.

Doritos Mix, currently in stores nationwide, comes in two versions: Cheese Explosion and Taco Explosion. Both feature the classic Doritos triangle, Dinamita rolled tortilla, a twist, and an open triangle in various cheese and taco-inspired flavors.

Yahoo Food editors got their hands on both varieties, and can report that there’s not a ton of nuance to either. There are some vaguely taco-like notes in the Taco Explosion, but beyond that everything tastes like corn chips encrusted in Doritos dust. Not that that’s a bad thing — we found ourselves absentmindedly chomping through the Cheese Explosion flavor, because what’s not to like?

Doritos Mix comes in two sizes — a 3.0-oz. bag for the suggested price of $1.49 and a 9.5-oz bag for the suggested price of $4.29.

Related:

Lay’s Reveals 4 New Flavor Hopefuls in New ‘Flavor Swap’ Contest

A Coffee Expert Reviews Lay's Cappuccino Potato Chips

We Got a Sneak Peek at Lay’s New Flavor Contest

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At the Crossroads of Venice and London, a Food Writer Finds Her Voice

Photos courtesy of Skye McAlpine

To say Skye McAlpine is a wanderer is putting it mildly. The blogger behind From My Dining Table began life in London, then moved with her family at age 6 to Venice, Italy. But what her parents intended to be a year-long flirtation with spaghetti Bolognese and gelato wound up being more permanent than expected — they couldn’t have anticipated completely falling in love with Venetian culture. McAlpine spent the remainder of her childhood in Venice.

As an adult, McAlpine studied ancient literature at Oxford University and married an Englishman. These days, she splits her time between London and Venice, spending about six months in each a year.

“It’s kind of perfect for me,” McAlpine said of her nomadic lifestyle. “My home is a bit of a moveable feast, I guess. I love Venice — it feels like my true home. It’s peaceful and quaint. But I love that London is such a contrast. It’s such a vibrant, trendy city.”

Related: Why This Blogger Wants More Men to Get Into the Kitchen

Chocolate, blackberry, and thyme cake.

McAlpine’s culinary identity is a fusion of the two cities. The English sausages, sponge cake, and hearty roasts of her parents hold a special place in her heart, although Italian fare speaks straight to her soul: fluffy panettone at Christmas, creamy saffron risotto, grilled baby artichokes drizzled with olive oil, and endless plates of fresh pasta.

McAlpine didn’t start cooking much herself until college, when circumstance demanded it. “The cafeteria in college I found to be quite soulless,” she explained. She began “obsessively reading cookbooks,” particularly titles by cooks of Italian fare Marcella Hazan and Anna Del Conte, and experimented with the recipes she found. Even more than cooking itself, she loved way the people responded to her food. “I found it was such a great way to forge friendships,” she said. “And I think that’s where I really learned how to cook.”

Related: After Trying Every Diet Imaginable, This Woman Created Her Own

Sweet rosemary and dark chocolate tart.

After college, McAlpine earned a master’s degree (she studied the influence of Greek and Roman literature on Shakespeare) and a Ph.D (on the 17th century translations of Latin love poetry). Publishers came knocking, asking her to write a book. But McAlpine suffered a severe case of writer’s block. “Where to start?” she wondered. As an exercise, a friend suggested she begin with a subject she loved, to help find her voice. Her chosen subject? Food.

“I just stuck with that!” McAlpine said with a laugh. "The book kind of fell by the wayside, but I knew it was the right way to go.”

Her blog, From My Dining Table, which began in 2014, features recipes that draw on the many influences in McAlpine’s life. Treacly mince pies and hot cross buns recall her life in England, while mint and vegetable risotto and maccheroni al forno con tartufo gianco (truffled macaroni and cheese) speak to her Italian side. The site has exploded in popularity — to date, she boasts nearly 85,000 followers on Instagram.

Related: How This Blogger Channels Nostalgia Into Modern Home Cooking

Asparagus, pecorino and mint tart with a flaky spelt pastry crust.

"I’m loving the direction of From My Dining Table,” she said, adding that she has major designs on the future. A cookbook is in the works, and she’s taking on more and more freelance writing assignments. She’s also begun hosting cooking workshops in Venice, which help students explore the secret, real side of the city.

But for McAlpine, the focus will always be on capturing beautiful moments.

“The thing about food is that you put all this effort into cooking something, and it’s really beautiful and special, and then it’s gone,” she said. “If you can capture that memory in some way, that’s really special.”

More amazing food bloggers who should be on your radar:

Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green’s Neon-Colored Kitchen

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

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What NFL Players Are Eating to Prepare for the Super Bowl

These days, many professional football players consider meal planning a quintessential aspect of their training regimens, and it’s in large part thanks to Dr. Susan Kleiner, a sports nutritionist who headed the NFL’s first full-time nutrition program back in the early 1990s for the Cleveland Browns.

Back then, the biggest challenge was getting athletes to lay off the Big Macs and deep-fried foods, Kleiner told Yahoo Food. But a lot has changed in the intervening two-plus decades.

“Today, we understand the power of sports nutrition,” Kleiner told Yahoo Food. That means eating “a diet rich in plant foods, although at heart it’s an omnivore’s diet.”

So what might players on the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos be eating in the run-up to Super Bowl 50? Kleiner gives us her best predictions below.

Photo: Stocksy

Carbs, Carbs, and More Carbs

“They must have carbs stored in their muscles around [the time of] their training and games, so they’re fully fueled,” Kleiner said, adding that knowing they’re fueled is just as important to an athlete’s confidence. “If they are under-fueled, just like anyone, they will not perform at peak levels.”

Good carbs to nosh on? Beans, legumes, nutrient-rich grains, and starchy vegetables, Kleiner said.

High-Performance Fats

It’s no secret that football players take a beating on the regular, but the right diet can improve the speed of their bounce-back.

“Muscle soreness from their athletic endeavors — on top of tissue soreness from bruises and other injures — does much better when they have a diet rich in anti-inflammatory foods,” Kleiner said. “Healthy, high-performance fats — olives and extra-virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds, nut butters and seed butters, and avocados — all of these present important foods that we focus on as anti-inflammatory.”

Known as monounsaturated fats, they’re much different from those found in fried, packaged, snack, and fast foods, Kleiner explained. “Those are high in fats that promote inflammation,” she said.

Photo: Stocksy

Deeply Colored Vegetables

Carotenoids, the compounds responsible for the deep shades of red, yellow, orange, and green in certain fruits and vegetables, are well-known antioxidants, which may help reduce inflammation. Naturally, Kleiner is a fan.

“Cherries, berries, citrus fruits, tropical fruits — all of them play an important role in a football player’s diet,” she said, as do vegetables like kale, spinach, collard greens, chard, and carrots.

Best of luck to the players headed to Super Bowl 50. Remember to eat up, and eat wise!

Still planning your Super Bowl party menu? Consider these dishes:

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Dip with Rosemary from ‘Dips & Spreads

Stromboli with Sopressata, Rapini, and Provolone from ‘Beer Bites’

Make These Insane 6-Foot Nachos for Your Super Bowl Party

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Your Ultimate Guide to Finding the Perfect Dip for Your Super Bowl Party

It’s Super Bowl season, which for food-minded fans means much more than just yards down or touchdowns scored. No, sir — it’s an opportunity to throw the most epic, taste bud-tingling Super Bowl shindig of all time.

We’re talking crispy game-time wings that put guests in a trance of flavor-induced bliss. Six-foot-long plates of color-coded nachos that inspire tears of joy. And, of course, complete and total dip domination. 

With so much on the line, everyone can use a little help in that last department. Enter our nifty dip matrix, which we’ve compiled to help you easily achieve Super Bowl party nirvana. Whether you’re feeling something low-brow or fancy, healthy or gut-busting, we’ve got you covered. Check out the links to every recipe below.

Photograp: Oliver Barth

Low-Brow and Healthy

Unintimidating, party-pleasing dishes gets a nutritious makeover by adding boatloads of veggies and nixing dairy. Take, for instance, hearty broccoli hummus packed with heart-healthy tahini and hot creamy kale dip swirled with nutritional yeast and a handful of raw cashews. Even ranch dip, a Super Bowl classic, is lightened with aid from cauliflower and almond milk.

Photo: Donal Skehan

Fancy and Healthy

In the market for healthy fare to class up your get together? We’re partial to eye-popping beetroot hummus, which naturally sports a gorgeous deep purple hue; legendary chef Jacques Pépin’s cannellini bean dip swirled with cholesterol-lowering olive oil; and tangy lemon-parsley tahini. A simple feta dip is healthy in moderation, especially when paired with elegantly trimmed veggies.

Photo: Dennis Prescott

Low-Brow Calorie Bombs

Let’s face it: For plenty of us, the Super Bowl is no time to cut calories. Enter this total show-stopper of a seven-layer dip piled high with refried beans, chili-spiked sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and Cheddar cheese. Its meatier cousin, the layered taco dip, packs the same Tex-Mex punch with the addition of spiced ground beef, black beans, and zesty Monterey Jack cheese. Of course, classic spinach and artichoke dip is always a crowd-pleaser, especially when served piping hot and stuffed with melty Parmesan, creamy mayonnaise, and tangy sour cream.

Photo: David Malosh

Fancy Calorie Bombs

If you really want to go all out, give amped up caramelized onion and bacon dip a whirl. This high-end spin on the classic onion dip kicks things up a notch with help from red wine vinegar, thyme, and deep-fried shallot rings. There’s also onion cranberry pecan baked Brie, which is nearly more like a classy fondue than a dip. For a silky, refined starter, we favor herbaceous green goddess dip packed with piquant chives and aromatic parsley, tarragon, and basil. But the fanciest Super Bowl dish of them all? Caviar dip, which is briny and creamy all at once.

Need more Super Bowl recipes? Give these a whirl:

Super Bowl Food: Rich, Creamy Kale and Artichoke Dip

Pretzel Pigs in a Blanket Made Easy with Crescent Rolls

Oven-Baked Spicy Korean Chicken Wings for Game Day

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Rocco Dispirito’s New Cookbook Is Making Waves

There’s only one new cookbook amid the familiar titles on Amazon’s list of the ten best-selling cookbooks for January. The honor goes to The Negative Calorie Diet by celebrity chef Rocco Dispirito, which claims to help readers “lose up to 10 pounds in 10 days with 10 all-you-can-eat foods.” 

It’s a bold claim, to be sure, but it’s clearly fired up some readers. “You don't feel like you are dieting, just eating a healthy and nutritious diet,” praised Amazon user Diane Iafrate. The sentiment was echoed by user Dana Berkowitz, who added that the book might appeal to people who overeat when stressed. “[W]ith this book you can eat when you are stressed and not gain weight if you stick with leafy greens and fat burning foods,” she wrote.

Related: Rethink Healthy Eating With Recipes and Advice From ‘Cook. Nourish. Glow.’

Still, some readers aren’t convinced. Writes user C. Black, “As I sit here chewing my apple-lime-cilantro smoothie (it's that thick), my stomach is protesting in hunger. Part of me wants to add some onion and tomato to make it pico de gallo flavored. That would be an improvement on what I'm ingesting now. Even using the fiber and protein powder, I am in a constant state of hangriness.”

The Negative Calorie Diet is Dispirito’s 12th cookbook, and spotlights fiber-rich dishes that he says help the body burn body fat. Dispirito claims that nutrient-dense foods — like dill smoothies, blueberry smoothies, and flounder with Catalonian eggplant relish — promote skin renewal, prevent heart disease, and slow down brain fog.

Related: Get Everything You Need to Go Paleo in ‘Paleo Perfected’

As for other best sellers? The Whole30 continues to dominate sales nearly 10 months after its debut, as do other health-minded titles including Inspiralized, The Skinnytaste Cookbook, two Trim Healthy Mama cookbooks, and Thug Kitchen.

Check out the rest of January’s best-selling cookbooks on Amazon below:

1. The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig 2. The Negative Calorie Diet: Lose Up to 10 Pounds in 10 Days with 10 All You Can Eat Foods by Rocco DiSpirito 3. Inspiralized: Turn Vegetables into Healthy, Creative, Satisfying Mealsby Ali Maffucci 4. The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science by J. Kenji López-Alt 5. Great Food Fast: Bob Warden’s Ultimate Pressure Cooker Recipesby Bob Warden 6. The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor by Gina Homolka 7. Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook: Eat Up and Slim Down with More Than 350 Healthy Recipes by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison 8. Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck by Thug Kitchen 9. The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime: Comfort Classics, Freezer Food, 16-Minute Meals, and Other Delicious Ways to Solve Supper!by Ree Drummond 10. Trim Healthy Mama Plan: The Easy-Does-It Approach to Vibrant Health and a Slim Waistline by Pearl Barrett and Serene Allison

Click here for Amazon’s hour-by-hour best seller list.

More cookbooks that should be in your library:

A Cookbook to Take You Beyond Beer and Pizza for Your Super Bowl Party

Get Ready for Lunar New Year With ‘Lucky Rice,’ an Asian Fusion Food Cookbook

Discover Rich and Varied Vegetarian Cooking With ‘Vegetarian India’

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Why This Blogger Wants More Men to Get Into the Kitchen

All photos courtesy of Nick Evans

Growing up in small town Wyoming, Macheesmo blogger Nick Evans didn’t put much thought into what went on his plate. Both his parents worked, leaving little time for meal planning or family dinners. 

“Food had an almost utilitarian feel,” he told Yahoo Food. “You’d just grab whatever was there and you’d eat it. It wasn’t until after college that I started to really enjoy sitting around and having a nice dinner.”

After attending college at Yale University, where he lived on a steady diet of pizza and dining hall food, Evans moved to Washington, D.C., for a job in IT. There he lived in a group house with a bunch of other recent grads, who similarly were just learning how to fend for themselves.

Related: After Trying Every Diet Imaginable, This Woman Created Her Own

Grilled cheese club sandwich.

“We would frequently have big house dinners where we’d get together and everyone would cook a thing,” Evans recalled. “That was when I really began to enjoy cooking — and realized I was halfway decent at it.”

Evans started out with easy, crowd-pleasing dishes. There were plenty of hearty Italian specialties like spaghetti and meatballs, plus simple seafood dishes made with fresh fish from a nearby market. Then he moved in with his girlfriend.

“She hated cooking,” Evans said with a laugh, adding that she still does — and that they’re now married. "I had this realization that if we weren’t going to eat take-out every day, I was going to have to be in charge.”

Related: How This Blogger Channels Nostalgia Into Modern Home Cooking

Cheesy monkey bread.

In 2008, Evans began poking around various food blogs. He was drawn to their recipes and thoughtful writing, but couldn’t help but feel ever-so-slightly alienated. “There were very few, if any, guy food blogs,” he said. “So I just got the idea to start posting the things I was cooking. It was more to keep myself honest.”

Thus Macheesmo was born. The site features plenty family-friendly fare, since Evans does all the cooking in his household, which now includes son Theo. Think goat cheese-stuffed bell peppers, hearty beef Burgundy, and baked coconut chicken tenders. There’s plenty of “dude food,” too, like loaded potato wedges, grilled jerk chicken wings, and protein-packed breakfast sandwiches.

Related: How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

Fall veggie hash.

The site caught on in a big way, and 2014, Evans was asked to appear as a contestant on NBC’s Food Fighters (he won $70,000!) and authored a cookbook, Love Your Leftovers. These days, he splits his time between freelance food writing and IT work.

So how does being a man affect his perspective as a food blogger? “A lot of the female food bloggers are my friends,” Evans said. “I think it’s just a voice — when I write something, it just has a slightly different voice than if my wife wrote it. I don’t think one is necessarily better than the other. It just is what it is.”

Mostly, Evans hopes that Macheesmo encourages other men to get into the kitchen. “Chefs tend to be male, but then for some reason cooking at home for your family [is thought of as] more of a feminine thing,” he said. “I don’t know why that is! I try to defeat that stereotype any day that I can.”

More amazing food bloggers who should be on your radar:

Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green’s Neon-Colored Kitchen

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

[racheltepperyahoo]

Foods Presidential Candidates Love the Most: Scrambled Eggs, Mexican Food, and More

Graphic: iStock/Yahoo Food

In an election year, the public is endlessly curious about the personal details of the men and women running for president, and we’re no exception to the rule. As candidates stuff their faces at campaign stops across the country in diners, delis, and barbecue joints, we can’t help but wonder: What do they really like to eat?

Fortunately, there’s plenty of material on the subject. We combed the Internet for the juiciest morsels about each candidate’s favorite foods, guilty pleasures, and go-to meals. Our findings were fascinating, from Donald’s Trump’s odd pizza-eating style to Hillary Clinton’s preference for fiery fare, not to mention Ted Cruz’s hatred of avocados.

Do any surprise you?

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Bernie Sanders

The junior senator from Vermont hasn’t spoken much publicly about his favorite foods, although he recently divulged to People that he’s partial to scrambled eggs for breakfast. At dinner, though, he’s all about pork chops. Most telling about his culinary preferences? His self-professed secret talent: “I’m pretty good on the grill,” he said.

Photo: Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump

There’s so much to say about Donald Trump’s appetite. He doesn’t drink alcohol, despite slapping his name on everything from a Virginia winery to now defunct vodka, beer, and premixed-cocktail brands. He’s all about snacks on the campaign trail, though not much else.

“I have lost 15 pounds on the campaign trail,” he told People. “I never thought it, but speaking is almost a form of exercise. ... When you are speaking to 12,000 great people, you don’t feel like eating.”

Still, when he has an appetite, Trump apparently enjoys cherry-vanilla ice cream and See’s candy, according to Us magazine. He also loves medium-cooked bacon and over-well eggs for breakfast, although these days he often skips the meal altogether.

Here’s where things get weird: “I scrape the toppings off my pizza — I never eat the dough,” Trump told Us.

Photo: Keith Turrill/Corbis Images

Hillary Clinton

Anecdotes abound regarding the former secretary of state’s all-time favorite foods. In her high school days, Clinton often ordered the Oliveburger at the Pickwick, a Greek coffee shop in Park Ridge, Ill. “It’s six ounces of grilled ground beef sirloin on a toasted hamburger bun with a thick topping of chopped, pimento-stuffed green olives,” said current owner George Paziotopoulos, according to Slate. 

Years later, as first lady, Clinton opted for the soy-protein-based Boca Burgers defrosted by White House chef Walter Scheib. On fancier occasions, though, Scheib said Clinton displayed a predilection for lamb.

It’s unclear where Clinton’s breakfast preferences stand. In 2008, Slate reported that she professed a talent for making “pretty good soft scrambled eggs.” However, Clinton recently told People that her breakfast go-to is actually “well-done scrambled eggs.” Which one is it, Hillary? Perhaps this is an instance of the candidate flip-flopping?

At any rate, it’s more or less certain that Clinton is a fan of spicy food. Scheib told Slate that during her White House days, Clinton went wild for sweet potatoes spiked with fiery red curry paste. After that, Scheib always kept the White House kitchen stashed with assorted hot sauces. 

This jibes with Clinton’s favorite thing to eat on the campaign trail: “Jalapeños. I started during the ’92 campaign, and I believe they keep me going!” she told People.

Related: Wine Ice Cream Exists, and Hillary Is a Fan

Photo: Jerry Mennenga/Corbis Images

Ted Cruz

The junior senator from Texas loves hearty beef enchiladas; thick, creamy pints of Guinness; and egg-white sandwiches from McDonald’s. But don’t even think about serving him avocado.

“I despise avocado. It’s the only food I dislike, and I dislike it passionately,” he told the Des Moines Register. “Which is ironic, because I’m Cuban and my dad grew up with avocado trees in his backyard. My whole family eats avocados like crazy, but I can’t stand them.”

On the campaign trail, he’ll opt for barbecue or Mexican, plus tons of fast food. On days off, though, he makes a beeline for California Pizza Kitchen with his family.

Related: Lobster on Menu Again for Obama’s 2nd China State Dinner

Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Ben Carson

If elected, the retired neurosurgeon would be America’s first vegetarian president. In 1990, he predicted in the Vegetarian Times that the diet would catch on. “It might take 20 years,” he said. “But eventually there will no longer be a reason for most people to eat meat. And animals will breathe a sigh of relief.”

In line with this thinking, last year he announced on Facebook that his favorite food is pizza. “The more veggies the better,” he said.

Photo: Getty Images

Jeb Bush

The Texas-born former Florida governor is all about Mexican food, specifically enchiladas and chilaquiles. And his secret talent? “I cook and can make a mean guacamole — the recipe remains top secret!” he told People.

Not that he ate much of that on the campaign trail last year: He lost about 30 pounds on a low-carb Paleo diet. During that time, Bush’s plate was piled high with things like salad with grilled chicken, turkey jerky, and almonds, plus a banana and cup of coffee for breakfast.

Related: These 8 Presidents Really Knew How to Drink

Photo: Bill Clark/Getty Images

Marco Rubio

Pizza finds another fan in Marco Rubio, although he’ll often opt for chicken quesadillas on the road. Breakfast is a healthier meal — he usually eats two hard-boiled eggs, whole-wheat toast, blueberries with honey, orange juice, and black coffee.

Also, we know that he likes drinking water. A lot.

Related: Guacamole-gate: Why Everyone (Including President Obama) Hates This Recipe

Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images

John Kasich

Little is known about the Ohio governor’s favorite delicacies, but he has gone on record saying that pasta is the first dish he’d make in the White House kitchen. “My favorite food is pasta,” he told TheSkimm. “I guess it’s not good for us, but I don’t care.” 

Pasta has played a role in Kasich’s campaign as well: Back in September, he tucked into a pre-debate plate of pasta on Snapchat.

Photo: Chris Carlson/Getty Images

Chris Christie

The governor of New Jersey may not always see eye to eye with fellow candidate John Kasich, but they’d probably happily share spaghetti dinner.

“I guess my favorite food would be pasta,” Christie said during a school tour in his home state, according to the Star-Ledger. The governor added that a meatball or two “always makes it a little better.”

Back in 2013, Christie went on a diet that caused him to be “not nearly as interested in food as I used to be.” He also confessed to disliking most vegetables — in fact, he’ll eat only green beans, lettuce, and cucumbers.

More recently, Christie admitted to rarely eating breakfast except for the odd bowl of Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal. He doesn’t drink coffee, either. 

Christie does, however, indulge in nachos on the campaign trail.

Related: Michelle Obama, Family Meal Champion, on the Cover of the New ‘Cooking Light’

Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Martin O’Malley

In 2014, former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley confessed his favorite food to the Des Moines Register: pizza. Perhaps that’s why he’s held pizza-party-themed campaign events and conducted media interviews at pizza joints. (Last year, O’Malley chatted with Politico at Baltimore pizzeria Joe Squared, where he ordered the “Baltimore Redevelopment special.”)

Pizza aside, O’Malley is reportedly a fan of Indian food — a go-to for family gatherings — and has come out in support of the local food movement.

Photo: Dennis Van Tine/Getty Images

Carly Fiorina

While she’s crisscrossing the country, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO has a taste for breakfast sandwiches and Panera’s tomato soup. Aside from a love of chocolate, cereal, and yogurt, though, little else is known about her favorite foods.

She did, however, recently chew on dog food in a recent video and admit to eating milk bones as a kid.

Photo: Chuck Burton/Getty Images

Mike Huckabee

The former governor of Arkansas is a man of simple tastes when it comes to food. It’s scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee for breakfast, while his favorite dinner is a plate of steak and potatoes. He apparently makes an “amazing” chili, though ... “with deer that I kill.”

Huckabee claims to eat healthier now than in his earlier days, telling Runner’s World in 2005 that he’s “someone who did it wrong for 47 years, digging my grave with a knife and fork.” Huckabee clearly still has food on the brain, though — get a load of his food-based political metaphors.

Photo: Stephan Savoia/Corbis Images

Rand Paul

From the sound of it, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul doesn’t put a lot of thought into what he eats. When asked about his favorite food by the Des Moines Register, he said, “Artichokes. No, I’m just kidding. I don’t know.”

More presidential food stories:

President Obama’s Long Lost Restaurant Review

Turkeys at the White House: A History of Presidential Thanksgivings

Fine China, Jazz Music, and Barack-omole at White House State Dinner

[racheltepperyahoo]

Exclusive: Whole Foods Now Sells Its Most Eco-Friendly Farmed Salmon Ever

Photo: Eising Studio/StockFood

Attention, Whole Foods shoppers: The grocery giant announced Thursday that it now sells the most environmentally friendly farmed salmon ever in its nearly 36-year history. The fish, which is currently in stores nationwide, is the first Norwegian-farmed salmon to earn a yellow “Good Alternative” rating from the Monterey Bay Aquarium's respected Seafood Watch program.

It’s big news for several reasons. These days, about 70 percent of the world’s salmon is farmed, and 60 percent of that comes from Norway. Plus, salmon is the most popular item at Whole Foods’ seafood counter.

Farmed salmon tends to get a bad rap because many of those farmers treat their fish with antibiotics and pesticides. Also they often have a poor ratio of how much food is needed to produce new fish. The industry standard is 1.6 pounds of food to raise a single pound of salmon, which is taxing on the environment.

The new salmon at Whole Foods — sourced from Norwegian fish farms Kvarøy and Selsøyvik — requires less than one pound of food to create a pound of fish, making it more environmentally friendly. A Whole Foods spokesperson said it’s the first time such a thing has ever been achieved in salmon aquaculture.

Related: Why You Shouldn’t Be Alarmed by Crystals in Your Canned Tuna

Pens at salmon farms Kvarøy and Selsøyvik. (Photo: Kvarøy and Selsøyvik)

“It’s the holy grail because you’re not using more protein to make protein,” said Steven Damato, co-founder of Blue Circle Foods, which worked with Whole Foods, Kvarøy, and Selsøyvik to bring the fish to market. “You’re becoming a net protein producer,” he said.

Then there’s the issue of contaminants. Many feeds designed for farmed salmon contain them, notably heavy metals and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls), which can show up in the fish itself. But the farmed salmon currently sold at Whole Foods is raised on a feed called In the Blue, developed by Whole Foods, Blue Circle Foods, and the feed company BioMar.

Unlike other feeds, which are made with whole fish, 50 percent of In the Blue is made with fish trimmings that might otherwise be thrown away. They’re pressed into oil and cleaned of contaminants, producing an eco-friendly product that Whole Foods says is just as effective as traditional feeds. Trimmings are not counted when calculating the salmon’s fish-in, fish-out ratio because technically, no new fish are removed from the sea to produce its feed.

“We want to reduce the number of fish we’re taking out of the ocean,” Damato explained. “The more we can reduce that, the healthier it is for the ocean.”

Related: Oyster Fraud: The Restaurant Industry's Dirty Little Secret

Carrie Brownstein, the seafood quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market, told Yahoo Food that it’s been a long process. In the lead-up to 2007, when Whole Foods made public its new standards for farmed salmon, the grocery chain began searching in earnest for farmers that fit its vision. “We use a very in-depth process for developing the standards,” she said, adding that a third-party company makes sure farmers are in compliance.

The strict standards — which include a low fish-in, fish-out ratio, low contaminants, no artificial preservatives, no antibiotics, and no colorants — were too rigorous for many of Whole Foods’ suppliers at the time, and Brownstein said the grocery chain axed about half of them. “The people who stayed in the program were the people who said, ‘We can do that,’ ‘We’re close to doing that,’ or ‘We’re already doing that.’”

Related: Is Kale ‘Healthy?’ Diet Language Goes Under the Microscope

Image credit: Blue Circle

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program explains on its website how it decided on the yellow rating for salmon raised at Kvarøy and Selsøyvik. “Salmon are stocked at lower-than-typical densities and no antibiotics are used during production,” the site reads, adding that farm methods allow for less use of chemicals.

Fortunately for Whole Foods’ customers, the improvement in quality won’t come with a hefty price tag. The eco-friendly farmed salmon costs the same as the chain’s previous farmed salmon offerings: $9.99 a pound for frozen, and no higher than $12.99 a pound for fresh. The goal, Brownstein said, is simply to offer a better product.

Alf-Gøran Knutsen, the third-generation owner of Kvarøy and Selsøyvik salmon farms, explained the rationale for bringing his companies up to Whole Foods’ standards. “We didn’t need to take it another step forward — that’s something we wanted to do because we wanted to be one of the leading companies developing Atlantic salmon in Norway,” he said. “I care about the environment, and I care about producing something healthy.”

Still curious about Whole Foods? Here are more stories:

How to Hack Whole Foods

Whole Foods Opening Lower-Priced Stores to Snag Millennials

How to Save Money at Whole Foods

[racheltepperyahoo]

After Trying Every Diet Imaginable, This Woman Created Her Own

Photos: Daniel Restrepo

By the time she’d reached her mid-20s, Sassy Kitchen blogger Julia Gartland was at her wit’s end. Since age 15, she’d battled stomach issues for which there was no obvious cause and tried every diet imaginable in an effort to quell them.

There were the vegetarian and vegan regimens and then, on the other end of the diet spectrum, her flirtation with paleo. She tried dairy-free and all-raw diets too, and even sought out the services of a holistic doctor. At that point, what did she have to lose?

“I tried so many restrictive diets, and I had pretty much cut anything you can imagine out,” Gartland told Yahoo Food. She wasn’t happy about it, either. Although food hardly played a starring role in her Los Angeles childhood, now it was all she could think about.

Related: How This Blogger Channels Nostalgia Into Modern Home Cooking

Summer corn and heirloom salad 

Early on, Gartland had tested negative for celiac disease, but later, one of her doctors suggested that she might have a gluten sensitivity. In the months and years that followed, Gartland found that avoiding gluten was the only thing that alleviated her symptoms — although it certainly wasn’t a silver bullet.

“I’ve never really found the answer to what’s wrong with me,” Gartland said with resignation. “I don’t even think that gluten is the ‘thing.’ I think it just helps. I still have issues here and there, but it’s the only thing that’s really made a dent.”

Gartland went gluten-free in 2009 and almost immediately became frustrated with the lack of culinary options. “It was just when gluten-free was becoming a word people knew, so resources weren’t super-great,” she recalled. “I started reading food blogs to find information about what I could eat, and that’s how I fell in love with the whole food blog thing.”

Related: How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

Roasted cauliflower with marjoram, pine nuts, leeks, and lemon

She started Sassy Kitchen not long after as a means of documenting her exploration of gluten-free fare, but over time, Gartland developed a personal diet that belies any conventional label. It’s sort of like a best hits from all the diets she’s dabbled in: mostly vegetarian, a very small amount of meat, little dairy, and no gluten. 

“I just didn’t want to have to clarify the way that I eat anymore,” she explained. “It was really exhausting to carry around the vegan badge all the time. I wanted to eat what I wanted to eat and not answer for it.”

Sassy Kitchen itself is a collection of beautifully photographed and styled recipes, a reflection of Gartland’s day job as a New York City photographer and stylist. (Food isn’t her only subject: She’s also an accomplished still life and lifestyle photographer who’s worked with brands like H&M, Staub, and Trish McEvoy, to name a few.) The recipes are in line with Gartland’s diet, of course, but also reflect an innate California-ness.

Related: How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

Chickpea pizza with arugula, pistachio nettle pesto, and burrata

“It’s very clean and seasonal, but very California. I didn’t realize that was part of my sensibility until I talked to other people,” Gartland said. “I grew up eating sprouts on my sandwiches, and that’s not a thing anywhere else. Hippie California food is very dear to me.”

That includes “hippie bowls,” which according to a blog post are “those meals-in-a-bowl that have an air of West Coast hippie and are more about foraging in the fridge than actual cooking.” They’re stuffed with nutritious grains, including quinoa, sorghum, amaranth, millet, black rice, beans, and lentils, plus raw and cooked vegetables, eggs, feta, and even kimchee.

For now, Sassy Kitchen is just a side project. Gartland’s focus remains on her photography and styling business. But it’s a deeply satisfying hobby, in more ways than one.

“I’m very open to not doing just food,” she said. “That’s not my whole world. But I do love it at the same time.”

More amazing food bloggers who should be on your radar:

Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green’s Neon-Colored Kitchen

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

How Food Network Inspired This Blogger to Cook for Her Family at 14

[racheltepperyahoo]

Lay’s Reveals 4 New Flavor Hopefuls in New ‘Flavor Swap’ Contest

On the heels of its successful “Do Us a Flavor” contest, Lay’s is once again asking fans to weigh in on its flavor roster. This time, though, Lay’s will pit four of its classic flavors against new, revamped versions in what it’s calling a “Flavor Swap.”

Here’s how it works: Beginning Feb. 8 and through March 21, potato chip aficionados can vote for their favorite flavor in four “swap” categories — heat, cheese, barbecue, and spice — which each features a classic flavor and a brand new one. All flavors will be in stores nationwide by the promotion’s start. 

There’s a lot on the line: a $1,000 daily giveaway prize and $250,000 for one especially lucky fan. All you have to do is cast your vote on a soon-to-be-announced website.

We got a sneak peek at flavor hopefuls earlier this month, and can attest that the new flavors don’t suck. We’re especially fans of one new entry, Korean Barbecue. 

The chip tastes “straight off the grill,” as one editor put it, having the surprisingly spot-on flavor of a flame-grilled hamburger or steak. One editor said this “tastes like summer,” while, ironically, our vegetarian editor asked for seconds and thirds, exclaiming, “This is delicious!” A smoky, meaty taste you can get in chip form? We’re sold. 

Here are the suggested swaps, according to a press release:

Heat Flavor Swap: Lay’s Flamin’ Hot vs. all-new Lay’s Fiery Roasted Habanero 

Cheese Flavor Swap: Lay’s Cheddar & Sour Cream vs. all-new Lay’s Smoked Gouda & Chive

Barbecue Flavor Swap: Lay’s Honey Barbecue vs. all-new Lay’s Korean Barbecue 

Spice Flavor Swap: Lay’s Kettle Cooked Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper vs. all-new Lay’s Kettle Cooked Olive Oil & Herbs

Do any tempt you? Let us know your thoughts below!

More potato chip stories to munch on:

Potato Chip-Coated Chicken: Why Didn’t We Think of This Sooner?

Kelis’ Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt Potato Chips

Behold! The Glorious Homemade Potato Chip

[racheltepperyahoo]

Is Kale ‘Healthy?’ Diet Language Goes Under the Microscope

Photo: Darren Muir/Stocksy

What does “healthy” mean, anyway? In this compelling Washington Post piece, food writer Michael Ruhlman questions our perception of the word and the underlying concept that certain ingredients are inherently healthy or unhealthy.

“Our food is not healthy; we will be healthy if we eat nutritious food,” Ruhlman writes. He holds up kale as a striking example: Kale is not “healthy,” although it’s nutritious. “Words matter. And those that we apply to food matter more than ever.”

Related: 8 Healthy Food Trends to Look for in 2016

Though some might write this distinction off as a matter of semantics, the article contends that anointing certain foods as “healthy” may prove problematic. One can not live on kale alone, for instance, although it’s part of a diet that contributes to one’s health. 

The word “healthy” can in fact obscure the true nutritional value (or lack thereof) of foods, Rulhman ventures, and it isn’t the only word that’s troublesome. “Protein,” “mechanically separated meat,” “natural,” “all-natural,” and “refined” describe concepts that are far more complicated than much of the public understands.

Photo: Jeff Wasserman/Stocksy

Protein, for instance, has “positive health connotations.” But the much maligned pork crackling — fried pig skin from which most fat has been rendered out — is "composed almost entirely of protein.” Ruhlman recommends it as a “‘protein snack’ during your on-the-go day.”

Related: Meet the Man Who Wants Doctors to Be Cooks, Too

So far the article page has garnered nearly 350 comments, which reflect a wide range of opinions on the subject. There’s certainly plenty of support for Ruhlman’s assertions:

“To call any food or type of food 'healthy' is to make the whole concept of nutrition very one-dimensional, and then it becomes easy to fall for marketing tricks and health fads that are anything but healthful,” writes user Paulo Reyes. “It's a magic word, like the more you have of something 'healthy' the healthier you'll become.”

On the other hand, plenty think the piece is a bunch of handwringing. “I feel this article is an unnecessary complication of a simple message,” writes user Sung Park. User MrsRenard agreed, calling Ruhlman’s distinction between the words “healthy” and “nutritious” “a little petty.”

Where do you stand on the subject? Let us know in the comments below.

Considering a diet makeover? Check out these stories:

8 Satisfying Smoothie Recipes to Mix Up This Winter

A 6-Week Plan for Cutting Out Processed Foods

What the Amount of Sugar in a Single Red Bull Looks Like

[racheltepperyahoo]

How This Blogger Channels Nostalgia Into Modern Home Cooking

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Today, we delve into the world of Jessica Merchant of How Sweet It Is. Check back every day this week for a different How Sweet It Is recipe.

Photos courtesy of Jessica Merchant

Each and every holiday season, How Sweet It Is blogger Jessica Merchant bakes a batch of cookies that she’ll never so much as nibble on.

“There were cookies that I made with my grandmother every year, and I still make them,” Merchant explained to Yahoo Food from her Pittsburgh home. Among them? “Coconut thumbprint cookies. [She’d] dye the icing for the center pink and green, and she’d also dye the coconut pink and green. It’s a seriously retro throwback.”

The old school flavors don’t tempt Merchant — “I’m more of a decadent peanut butter and chocolate lover,” she said — but the coconut thumbprint cookies’ place in Merchant’s family’s history keeps them in her repertoire.

“I am a seriously nostalgic person, even to a point sometimes that it holds me back,” Merchant said. “I’m just very sentimental... and that to me is what food is all about. That’s why I started cooking on my own.”

Related: How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

Fontina and white cheddar skillet macaroni.

For Merchant, that came after marriage, as she fine tuned her own interpretation of her family’s cuisine. Growing up, Merchant didn’t have much reason to cook. Her mother ruled the kitchen with an iron fist, dictating the week’s meals without much desire for outside input. Monday night was reserved for ground beef tacos served in hard yellow shells, while Thursday was always pasta night. Pork chops and chicken marsala popped up at least once a week, while homemade pizza and stovetop pot roasts made frequent appearances.

It wasn’t adventurous fare, Merchant admitted, but it was always hearty and tasty, instilling in her a deep-seated love of food. It also encouraged a healthy relationship with fitness and diet. “It wasn’t like she served kale salad, but we ate pretty seasonally and the portions weren’t crazy,” Merchant said. “I think that was the key.”

It helped, too, that her father was an avid bicyclist. Merchant definitely inherited his love for exercise — once out of college, she supported herself as a personal trainer. All the while, though, Merchant’s diet never changed. “Even though I was never considered skinny or thin growing up, I was raised with this very healthy mindset,” she said. “I feel like I got really lucky.”

Related: After Rehab, an Addict Finds New Life in the Kitchen

Peppermint pattie brownies.

Merchant later drifted into a boring desk job, which she hated. To pass the time, she secretly started a blog. 

“I didn’t tell anyone — I didn’t tell my husband, didn’t tell my parents,” she said. What began as an online diary eventually morphed into a food blog, which over time developed a following to Merchant’s great pleasure.

In 2009, about a year after starting How Sweet It is, Merchant was successful enough to quite her day job and work full-time on the blog. She also developed a massive social media following — nearly half a million followers across Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter — which ultimately helped land her a cookbook deal. Her debut cookbook, Seriously Delish, debuted in late 2014.

Merchant thinks her success boils down to one thing: relatability. “I have a very relatable palate,” Merchant said. “I just cook what I like. Sometimes it does lean more toward the kind of foods that my mom makes, but I feel like it appeals to the majority, which I think is why my blog took off early on. You build a certain trust.”

Related: A Fascination With Cakes Sent This Indian Home Cook on a Baking Journey

Crispy chickpea burgers.

On How Sweet It Is, one finds homey dishes with modern twists, like fontina and white cheddar skillet macaroni and peppermint pattie brownies. There are about two dozen takes on the burger, and enough cupcakes to make your head spin. It’s the kind of crowd-pleasing fare that’s unintimidating but never boring.

Merchant, who gave birth to a son last year, has no plans to slow down anytime soon. Nor will she change How Sweet It Is to compete with other blogs in the ever-crowding food media landscape.

“I definitely don’t have a niche, which everyone says is the worst thing ever in food blogging,” Merchant mused. But she’ll pay the critics no mind. “I cook everything, because I love everything,” she said.

More amazing food bloggers who should be on your radar:

Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green’s Neon-Colored Kitchen

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

How Food Network Inspired This Blogger to Cook for Her Family at 14

[racheltepperyahoo]

What Happens When a Pastry Chef Is Forced to Go Gluten-Free

Every week, we spotlight a different food blogger who’s shaking up the blogosphere with tempting recipes and knockout photography. Today, we delve into the world of Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille. Check back every day this week for a different Cannelle et Vanille recipe.

Photos courtesy of Aran Goyoaga.

There’s a cruel irony to Aran Goyoaga’s gluten sensitivity. After all, the blogger behind Cannelle et Vanille — herself a trained pastry chef — practically grew up in her grandparent’s pastry shop, located in the French side of Basque Country, churning out brioche and croissants. Indeed, before her diagnosis, Goyoaga’s life revolved around gluten.

Although as a child she wasn’t allowed the floured surfaces of her grandparents’ shop — that was a blue collar job, and Goyoaga’s parents had loftier aspirations for her — Goyoaga couldn’t help but give into the allure of sugar and butter. 

After a brief stint studying business at university, at 24 she moved to the United States to study international pastry and baking at Florida (now Lincoln) Culinary Institute in West Palm Beach. While in school, she slaved over fancy tarts and mini eclairs for the local Ritz-Carlton, a challenging job she relished all the same.

Related: How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College

Gluten-free pear and hazelnut tart.

“I loved working there — it was a great place,” Goyoaga told Yahoo Food. But life took a turn three years later, when she and her husband were expecting their first child. “To be a good pastry chef, you can’t work part time. It has to be everything you do, because I would never say it’s a 40-hour week. It’s a 70-hour week, standard. I couldn’t sustain that. Financially it didn’t make any sense, and career-wise it didn’t make any sense, either.”

So Goyoaga hung up her toque and headed home to France to raise her child. Before long, though, she was practically climbing the walls with boredom. 

“I wasn’t super happy to not have that creative outlet in food,” she said. “And that’s when I started the blog.”

Goyoaga’s first post on Cannelle et Vanille — which means “cinnamon and vanilla” in French — went up in January of 2008. For the first few months, her content wasn’t exactly geared toward the masses. “I still had very much a fine pastry chef mentality; [I’d use] glucose syrups and measure out 80 grams of egg whites. People were like, ‘What does that mean?’”

Related: After Rehab, an Addict Finds New Life in the Kitchen

Citrus yogurt cake.

Over time, Goyoaga tweaked her approach, creating recipes more geared toward the everyday baker, which meant thinking less like a Ritz-Carlton chef and more like a home cook. But before the transformation was complete, Goyoaga fell seriously ill.

"I did a bunch of tests, [and] finally, my doctor said, ‘You can’t eat wheat anymore,’” Goyoaga recalled. Her first reaction was shock — she’d grown up eating gluten around the clock and never thought twice about it. Then she got down to business, adapting her pastry-centric lifestyle to fit a gluten intolerance. 

“Wheat was something that I used every day, so it was an interesting time [getting by without it],” Goyoaga said. But she’d always enjoyed playing with ingredients, and began to consider her new diet an exciting challenge. “It drove me even more,” she said. “At the time, everything that was gluten-free or allergy-free wasn’t very refined, but I wanted to bring my pastry background and pastry technique into the world of gluten-free.”

Related: A Fascination With Cakes Sent This Indian Home Cook on a Baking Journey

Apricots and raspberries in an oat crust.

Goyoaga did just that. Today, her blog features elegant dishes like pistachio nougat, rum-spiced pear and hazelnut tarts, and salted buckwheat chocolate chip cookies, all sumptuously styled desserts only revealed to be gluten-free upon closer examination.

The appealingly visual nature of Cannelle et Vanille is part of what has caused it be wildly popular on social media (her photographer skills are self-taught.) The site boasts tens of thousands of followers across several platforms, notably Instagram, on which 260,000 people tune in for Goyoaga’s gluten-free creations. The success has earned Goyoaga a book deal (in 2012, she released Small Plates and Sweet Treats: My Family's Journey to Gluten-Free Cooking) and acclaim as the host of food photography and styling workshops.

For the most part, Goyoaga is at peace with her diet, and she’s certainly glad for the success of Cannelle et Vanille. There are still things that get to her, though.

“When I go to Paris, I can’t eat the apple brioche, and it makes me sad,” Goyoaga said. But then, she brightens: “But not really, because I was getting so sick. So it’s not even worth it!”

More amazing food bloggers who should be on your radar:

Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green's Neon-Colored Kitchen

After Breast Cancer Diagnosis, a Baking Blogger Uses Cake to Tell Her Story

How Food Network Inspired This Blogger to Cook for Her Family at 14

[racheltepperyahoo]

9 Foods to Eat on New Year’s for Good Luck in 2016

Happy (almost) New Year! People around the world are readying to pop some bubbly and ring in 2016. But New Year’s traditions vary from country to country, and they’re downright fascinating.

Did you know, for instance, that grapes play a huge role in New Year’s festivities in Spain, Portugal, and Mexico? Or that a special soba meal is eaten in Japan only on Dec. 31? We bet plenty of you are unfamiliar with the meaning behind America’s own hoppin’ John, a Southern specialty of black-eyed peas and rice.

Scroll through the above slideshow to learn more about New Year’s food traditions from all over the globe. Have you tried any of them?

Still planning your New Year’s menu? Try these dishes:

How to Make the Ultimate Cheese Platter

Carla Hall’s Pecan Shortbread Recipe

6 No-Fail Appetizers Perfect for a Party

Grapes

In Spain, it’s tradition to scarf down 12 grapes at midnight — one for each of the clock’s chimes. The custom can be traced to 1909, when a grape surplus in the country’s Alicante region inspired growers to find a way to offload their crop. The idea later spread to Portugal, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. According to Epicurious, “Each grape represents a different month, so if for instance the third grape is a bit sour, March might be a rocky month.”

(Photo: Stockfood)

Lentils

Italians believe that lentils’ coin-like shape represents luck and wealth, which is why they’re served after midnight on New Year’s Eve. They’re often accompanied by the spicy pork sausage cotechino and zampone, a pig trotter stuffed with sausage meat.

(Photo: Stockfood)

Hoppin’ John and Collard Greens

This Southern specialty, a dish of rice and black-eyed peas, is traditionally served on New Year's and will bring whoever eats them a dose of good luck. “Eating those two dishes will ensure prosperity in the new year,” explains Serious Eats. “[The] collards represent greenbacks and the black-eyed peas coins. Or so they say.”

(Photo: Stockfood)

Soba

The buckwheat-based soba noodles eaten in Japan on New Year’s Eve are called toshikoshi, which translates to “to climb or jump from the old year to the new.” Soba’s shape and length are also thought to signify a “lean and long life.”

(Photo: Stockfood)

Tteokguk

This rice cake soup is customarily eaten in Korea on the first day of the Lunar calendar, called Seollal, which isn’t until February. In modern times, however, Koreans also eat tteokguk on Western New Year’s Day. Korean food blogger Maangchi explains its significance: “Traditionally, according to Korean age reckoning, everyone’s age went up one year on Seollal, and the process wasn’t totally complete until you had a bowl of tteokguk.”

(Photo:neoadam/Flickr)

Cakes

Round or ring-shaped cakes are eaten around the world, representing the cyclical nature of life. There’s vasilopita in Greece, galette des rois in France, banitsa in Bulgaria, and Rosca de Reyes in Mexico. Inside many cakes is secreted a gold coin or figure, meant to symbolize a prosperous year ahead for whoever finds it.(Photo: Stockfood)

Pickled Herring

New Year’s tradition in Poland and parts of Scandinavia dictates that people eat herring at midnight — it’s thought to herald a year of prosperity. The tradition is a nod to herring’s abundance in these places.(Photo: Stockfood)

Sauerkraut

Eating sauerkraut on New Year’s Eve is considered good luck in Germany. The number of shreds of cabbage in the dish of sauerkraut represents the amount of goodness and money you’ll have in the new year. Here’s how to make your own. (Photo: Thinkstock)

Pork

In Germany and Austria, eating pork is a must on New Year’s. In Germany, pig-shaped marzipan treats are even given as gifts. The Goethe Institute explains: “The reason they’re tied in with good fortune is quite simple: to possess plenty of pigs was a sign of wealth and prosperity in the Middle Ages. Their owners would never go hungry.”(Photo: Stockfood)

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Yahoo Food’s Blogger of the Year: Lyndsay Sung of Coco Cake Land

Photo: Coco Cakeland

We had a tough time deciding which of the talented cooks and photographers featured on Yahoo Food over the last 12 months deserved the mantle of Food Blogger of the Year. There were so many to choose from!

We were inspired by A Brown Table’s Nik Sharma, whose courageous professional plunge — quitting his job as a scientist to become a pastry chef — had us all rooting for him. (His gamble has definitely paid off!) Then there was Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby Cakes, whose new cookbook recently earned her an NAACP Image Awards nomination. (How cool is that??)

Related: Food and Art Intersect in Billy Green's Neon-Colored Kitchen

But when push came to shove, we knew the honor must go to Lyndsay Sung of the baking-centric blog Coco Cake Land. We first got to know Sung back in 2014, when she let us pick her brain for the best-ever holiday gift ideas. (Hamburger gift wrap, anyone?) But only a few months later, a breast cancer diagnosis rocked Sung’s world.

She told us about the heart-wrenching moment she knew something was wrong back in November: “I felt a thickening of flesh where my breast meets my rib cage, and I was like, ‘Huh. That could just be my rib?’ [But] it turned out that there were two tumors in there,” she said. “My happy, pretty-pictures, cake-filled life screeched to a weird halt.”

Sung charged full steam ahead into a year of treatments, which left her feeling fuzzy and weak. Her posts slowed because she lacked the energy to bake much of anything, plus her appetite was nearly nonexistent. But in October, Sung mustered the strength to share her story the best way she knew how: with cake!

Related: This Blogger Discovered the Secret to Becoming a Better Cook

If cake seems like an odd vehicle for Sung’s breast cancer story, then you haven’t seen the post. Read it, and you’ll understand. The post’s starring attraction, two pink-hued, breast-shaped cakes, manage to convey a levity and humor that scary words like “cancer” and “tumor” tend to quash. They were a reflection of Sung herself, whose lighthearted, goofy affect remained in tact throughout her ordeal.

Now on the mend, Sung is back to baking and ready to tackle the writing of her forthcoming cookbook, which was put on hold during treatment. Her determination, joy, and downright gorgeous cakes continue to impress and invigorate us, and we’re so excited to see what 2016 will bring for her. 

Congrats on being Yahoo Food’s Blogger of the Year, Lyndsay!

More inspiring bloggers you need to know:

After Rehab, an Addict Finds New Life in the Kitchen

A Fascination With Cakes Sent This Indian Home Cook on a Baking Journey

How a Love for Paris Inspired This Blogger to Ditch College