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Butter me up: Paris gets its first boutique devoted to France’s favorite fat
PARIS | The contradiction of the trim Parisian and the butter croissant now has a storefront. Le Butter Shop, billed as Paris’ first boutique devoted entirely to butter, opened last month a short walk from the Eiffel Tower — with 30 varieties from small family producers in Brittany, the Loire Valley and northern France. France […]
Read our big scoop: Ice-cream cones, the ingenious invention of American immigrants
DETROIT | Read this quickly, before it melts. Ice cream was a rare and expensive treat for centuries because of the difficulty of storing ice. In the summer of 1790, President George Washington spent $200 on ice cream, the equivalent of $7,259 today, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. By the 1800s, inventions like […]
Once shaped by court rituals, China’s imperial cuisine lives on today
BEIJING | It is said that Empress Dowager Cixi once dreamed of a pastry during the final decades of imperial China. The same treat was served to her at breakfast the following morning. Delighted, she summoned her chef and rewarded him with a silver ingot. “It was originally called ‘minced pork pancake,’ but because it […]
Pamela Anderson recommends Watermelon Granita for a cool, no-fuss summer dessert
My cookbook “I Love You” began as a box of recipe cards: a housewarming gift for my sons, inspired by our homegrown traditions and world travel. Since I don’t have a strong sweet tooth, dessert for me is more about being social and having something to share over cards, tea and coffee. A treat for […]
The latest thing in cocktails is spicy and savory. Tips and recipes for home bartenders
LONDON | Spicy drinks are having a moment, and it’s no longer just standard spicy margs and bloody marys. Bartenders are getting experimental to create the perfect combination with a kick. “The same way that you want to season a steak or a pork chop, you want to add multiple layers. And I think spice […]
A hot dog Reuben is the deli classic you didn’t expect to make in an air fryer
Here’s a whimsical take on a classic deli sandwich, made with hot dogs rather than the more standard corned beef, from our cookbook “The Instant Air Fryer Bible.” Any hot dog will do — beef, pork, turkey even vegan hot dogs — although the best results are had with more standard, backyard-barbecue dogs, rather than […]
Nutrition apps can help build healthy habits. For some users, their gaming features carry risks
Green means go, red means stop. Trophies or confetti come with good performance, and people who fall behind get nudged to do better. Those brightly colored engagement tactics long ago jumped from smartphone games to everything from online shopping to sports betting and classrooms. So it should come as no surprise that many nutrition-tracking apps […]
What’s the perfect American hot dog? Depends where you grew up
Few foods feel more American than the hot dog, a mainstay at ballparks, street carts and Fourth of July barbecues. But to simply call hot dogs “American” is to miss a whole lot of nuance, and potentially offend local connoisseurs across the country. How to prepare and eat a hot dog is a matter of […]
After helping the US win the Cold War, the all-you-can-eat buffet is fading. Thanks, COVID
LAS VEGAS | On a cool fall evening after the end of World War II, Las Vegas watched “officialdom and ‘cafe society’ turn out for the opening of America’s first all-you-can-eat buffet,” a local paper wrote. It was a big night in a small town that dreamed of hungry visitors. The glazed ham and prime […]
This Stars and Stripes Pie is designed to wow on the Fourth of July
For the Stars and Stripes Pie in my cookbook, “50 Pies, 50 States,” I wanted something that would be a showstopper at any Fourth of July barbecue. I got fancy, using foil as a divider when filling the pie to mimic the color blocking of the flag. I used two fillings — strawberry and blueberry […]