Traveling by Fork

By Marilyn Hunter

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” – Lao Tzu

I also believe a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single bite. There are so many ways to travel. My family taught me the joy of a journey through books, movies and food. I like to think of our dinner table as a place to gather together for sustenance and adventure – a way to explore and discover. Eating together and trying new foods is such a great way to learn about different cultures, traditions and customs.

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Leftover Cream of Tartar? Try these Great Uses

By Katie Barreira

Cream of tartar is another one of those pesky ingredients that gets used by the quarter teaspoon and stays forgotten in the back of the spice rack. A byproduct of winemaking, this acidic powder is commonly used in angel food cake to prevent darkening, in meringue to stabilize beaten egg whites (or I like to lightly beat a pinch into whites for a super fluffy and satisfying egg white omelet) and in sugar syrups to inhibit crystallization.

When I got to thinking about all the different ways to use cream of tartar, I decided it would be a fun challenge to try and employ all (or most) of them in a single recipe. There’s less than a teaspoon, but a little goes a long way!

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Potatoes on the side, please

By David Hu

Often when I’m cooking, I get so caught up in the main dish that I run out of time or forget to make a side. There’s no excuse for skipping a side dish with these Parmesan Potato Wedges. The dish is extremely simple so you can work on it in between tasks for the main course. The other great thing is that this dish is cooked in the oven so I don’t have to watch it constantly and it frees up precious space on the stovetop.

Red bell peppers add color and a bit of sweetness and the Parmesan adds a nice cheesy tang.

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Asian Style Crab Cakes

By Lori Powell

For the New Year I am striving to eat less meat and increase my portion of vegetables and other lean proteins, such as fish.

So when I was developing a recipe with crab meat for Prevention magazine (I am the Food Director), and I had 8 ounces left over, I thought crab cakes would be a delicious way to use the remainder.

I used what I had on hand in my pantry to create the following Asian Style Crab Cakes with watercress and pickled beets…such as panko, eggs, scallions, fresh lime, watercress, mayo, pickled ginger and beets, and a touch of seasoned rice wine vinegar.

I never order crab cakes out since they are usually made with a lot of filler, such as breadcrumbs, and never enough crabmeat. I want to see the chunks of crabmeat in my cake and so they are one of those dishes that I love to make at home. Plus they are super easy and cook quickly.

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Pantry Clean-Up: What to do with Garam Masala

When visiting Cape Cod, one of my favorite pilgrimages is to the Atlantic Spice Company, a wholesale distributor of high-quality herbs and spices. The deceptively stark warehouse is, on the inside, a Mecca for foodies. It is also the prime culprit of my pantry mayhem.

Whether it’s stocking up on discount staples, like salt and pepper, snatching up an item I’ve heard of, but never tried (this year it was bee pollen!), or shopping for a recipe-specific ingredient, I can’t get out of that place without an armload.

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