Blog Posts by Epicurious.com

Epicurious and Gourmet Live editors share their favorite holiday cookie recipes, perfect for gifting any time of year
by Sara Bonisteel, Epicurious;

Photos: Kimberly Sentner; styling: Sara Bonisteel













A good Christmas cookie is a memory wrapped in wax paper. It conjures warm thoughts of holidays spent with loved ones and promises of new experiences yet to begin under the tinseled tree. We at Epicurious believe that just as you can never give or get too many presents, you can never have too many holiday cookie recipes in your recipe box. So, 10 editors of Epicurious and Gourmet Live swapped our most beloved family recipes, from Vanilla-Cherry Chocolate-Chip Cookies and red-and-green-sprinkled Santa's Whiskers to Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies and Pecan Pralines. Be sure to scroll down and read our guide to cookie swaps for tips on hosting your own.

Below is our gift to you, 10 treasured recipes in this virtual Christmas cookie swap (click the photos for the recipe):


Simply Splendid Sugar Cookies
Tanya Steel, Editor-in-Chie

Recipes for a dozen edible gifts--including fudge, Cheddar shortbread, barbecue sauce, and macaroons--plus where to buy the best alternatives to homemade

by Megan O. Steintrager, Epicurious

If you are--or aspire to be--the type of DIY person who sees any holiday or birthday as an excuse to grab the candy thermometer, you'll love the Christmas gift recipes we've gathered here. They include top-rated and surprisingly easy chocolate-walnut cookies, your own "house barbecue sauce," and ten more treats. But if that old "what I'm making for dinner is restaurant reservations" joke is more your style, we've got you covered too. Each edible gift recipe is paired with an online source for a just-as-delectable treat. So whether you make it, buy it, or buy it and make believe you made it, your friends and family will be thrilled.

More from Epicurious:

Favorite Casserole Recipes

The Best Cookbooks of 2012

Healthy Comfort Recipes for Any Day

Top 12 Cold-Weather Soups

Six rules for recycling presents (yes, even foodie presents) without fear
by Siobhan Adcock, Epicurious















Regifting stories gone horribly wrong are the stuff of legend, and every year you probably hear a new one…

"I accidentally gave my aunt the cookie tin she gave me two years ago."

"I got caught big-time! I didn't count on there being a second card--addressed to me--inside the box!"

"The rice cooker I got from my cousin actually had leftover rice in it. But, hey, at least I know it works."

"My family has been shamelessly passing around the same reindeer candle for seven years."

Horror stories notwithstanding, regifting does have its upsides. You don't have to be a tacky, sneaky cheapskate to appreciate the eco-value of "recycling" something you haven't used. Indeed, sometimes it takes a true friend to recognize when a gift was really meant to belong to a buddy instead, someone who would love it and get good use out of it.

So, if you're a closet

by Sara Bonisteel, Epicurious; Illustration by Myldwin Pierre
















It's time again to look into the crystal ball for predictions of upcoming food trends for 2013. As in years past (2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008), our editorial team sifted through ingredients, food news, and pop culture to compile our culinary forecasts for the coming year, which we've divided into Front Burner (trends you'll likely see dominate) and Back Burner (things whose popularity has peaked) categories. Agree with our findings? Are we off base? Share your opinions on the predictions, and weigh in on what you think we'll see in the world of food next year!

STATE OF THE FOOD NATION
Front Burner: Collaborations

Playing nice in the kitchen is the order of the day. The food world can take a lesson from Grant Achatz and Daniel Humm, chefs who switched restaurant spaces for 21st Century Limited. Achatz's Alinea cooked its signature fare in Humm's 11 Madison Park space for a week in September and Humm followed suit in

10 cookbooks worth gifting for the holidays
by Esther Sung, Epicurious















This was the year for cookbooks dedicated to specific topics such as ice cream, whole grains, and Middle Eastern cuisine. The number of first-time authors who are either chef-contestants or food bloggers went up. Trying to choose the crème de la crème of the year's cookbooks might seem like a fool's errand, but we're up to the task. Below, you'll find our ten picks. These books reflect a diverse array of cuisines, specialties, and personalities, but the shared characteristics of all the titles--clear, precise instructions for the home cook, authoritative without being pedantic, lush food porn--make them all worthy of gifting (or requesting) this holiday season.

First on the list is our own debut cookbook, The Epicurious Cookbook: More Than 250 of Our Best-Loved Four-Fork Recipes for Weeknights, Weekends & Special Occasions by Tanya Steel & the Editors of Epicurious (Clarkson Potter). In our first venture from

Craft impressive Halloween jack-o'-lanterns with our easy design, carving, and cleanup tips
by Kendra Vizcaino-Lico, Epicurious; photos by Sara Bonisteel

With Halloween just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about costumes, candy, party favors, and, of course, pumpkins. Carving jack-o'-lanterns is one of the most beloved ways to celebrate the holiday, but it can be one of the most dangerous. There are easy steps you can take to stay safe and have fun while creating your masterpiece.

If you take some precautions, use the proper tools, plan ahead, and pick your pumpkin wisely, you can save yourself a world of trouble and carve an impressive ghoulish gourd.

Read on for tips on choosing the right pumpkins and 10 steps to crafting the perfect Halloween decoration.

See more: Healthy Comfort Recipes for Any Day

4 TIPS FOR PICKING THE PERFECT PUMPKIN
* Size Matters
When selecting a carving tool, bigger isn't always better. Larger cutting tools like chef's knives give you less

From the cute to the ghoulish, these six Halloween trick-or-treat bags are perfect for hauling, collecting, and storing pounds of that sweet, sweet candy

by Sara Bonisteel, Epicurious

photographs by Kimberly Sentner; styling by Ma'ayan Rosenzweig and Sara Bonisteel

A s dusk falls on All Hallows' Eve, millions of trick-or-treaters will flood the streets with empty bags in hand. If the spirits align, these miniature pirates, princesses, ghouls, and superheroes will return home with a bounty of sugary treasure.

Parents may remember an era when the only true trick-or-treat bag was a pillowcase, but times have changed, and for the better. There are endless options, and here are six of the cutest and coolest, all from national stores or Web sites.

More from Epicurious:

Essential Tools for Portion Control

25 Sandwich Makeovers

Cooking With 5 Ingredients or Less

Tips for Cooking with Fall Inregedients: Pumpkin, Apple, Pear, Cauliflower and more

Which is better: A Snickers or a Baby Ruth? We asked kids and adults to taste seven pairs of candy bar doppelgängers and name their favorites

by Carolina Santos-Neves, Epicurious

While most of us think we know what candy bar brands we prefer, only a blind taste test can reveal the truth. So we put our money where our mouths are and set our to find the best miniature (or "fun size") candies for your trick-or-treat or candy bowl stash.

To make things more interesting, we decided to pit lookalike candies against each other. Our doppelgänger contestants included Hershey's Reeses Pieces vs. Mars Peanut Butter M & Ms, Hershey's Bliss dark vs. Dove Promises Dark, and five other pairs. In addition, we had two separate panels: one composed of adults and another with kids ages 10 to 17.

Methodology: In a blind taste test, eight adult and eight kid judges compared the flavor and consistency of seven varieties of chocolates and their doppelgängers. Each judge then identified his or her