Blog Posts by Epicurious.com

Healthy, fresh upgrades for your kids' lunchbox favorites

by Kendra Vizcaino-Lico, Epicurious

Kelly Senyei and Lauren Salkeld; food and prop styling: Kendra Vizcaino-Lico Back-to-school season means stocking up on school supplies, helping your kids with homework, and coming up with creative and healthy ways to make brown-bag lunches more exciting. These simple variations on kid-friendly, classic sandwiches are sure to please even the pickiest palates. Go beyond the basics with quick and easy add-ons that will help save time and make healthy and delicious lunches for your kids.

More from Epicurious:

Top 7 Celebrity Juice Cleanses Essential Tools for Portion Control Best Burger Recipes Cooking With 5 Ingredients or Less

A collection of the famous author and TV chef's best advice on buying eggs, proofing yeast, clarifying butter, and more 

featuring excerpts from Julia's Kitchen Wisdom

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes From a Lifetime of Cooking was Julia Child's final cookbook, published just four years before her passing in 2004. She called it "a mini aide-mémoire for general home cookery," and based the slim volume on her own "loose-leaf kitchen reference guide gradually compiled from my own trials, remedies, and errors-corrected as I've cooked my way through the years."

See more: Healthy Comfort Recipes for Any Day

The pages are filled with classic recipes, including roast chicken, boeuf Bourguignon, scalloped potatoes, and chocolate mousse, and yet it is hardly a book for novice cooks. In fact, in the introduction, Child very clearly addresses her audience as "those who are tolerably familiar with culinary language; whose kitchens are normally well equipped with such

We tested 10 varieties to find our top three frozen waffle favorites
by Carolina Santos-Neves, Epicurious.com
You don't have to be a kid to love waffles-parents love them, too, especially on busy school mornings when breakfast prep puts a premium on speed. But at any age and any moment, cravings can occur for a waffle topped with maple syrup, whipped cream, ice cream, or all of the above. When convenience counts, the frozen waffle is hard to beat.

Some of us on the Epicurious editorial team are huge fans of both frozen and homemade waffles, while others were resistant to the store-bought variety. There was only one way to resolve this great debate: to taste frozen waffles of all sorts, from "home style" to gluten-free to multigrain. We sampled them all in one sitting, and it was mostly pure bliss, with only a few disappointments. The result? We all agreed on three winners that we'd gladly serve to friends (and pretend we made them ourselves).

See more: Healthy Comfort

Healthy tips to keep you energized-whether you're running a marathon or just want more stamina in your everyday life

by Megan O. Steintrager, Epicurious.com

It happens to all of us: You promise yourself you're going straight from the office to the gym, but come quitting time, you're too exhausted to lace up your sports shoes. Heck, you barely have the energy to make yourself a snack. But chances are a snack is exactly what you need. "Food is fuel," says sports nutritionist Nancy Clark, M.S., R.D., and if you want to have energy for peak performance in athletic events-or for daily life workouts like your job or chasing a toddler-you have to fill up your tank with quality "gasoline."

To get tips on eating for energy and fitness, Epicurious spoke to Clark, as well as three top athletes: swimmer and Olympic gold medalist Dara Torres; gymnast, Olympic gold winner, and Dancing with the Stars winner Shawn Johnson; and Garmin-Slipstream Pro Cycling Team member Timmy Duggan.

You're

Photos: Selma Dakota, Extreme Images; Jonathan Chester, Extreme Images; Ardie A. Davis

by Ardie A. Davis and Paul Kirk, Epicurious.com

The humble rib, a delicacy since man discovered fire, is one of America's favorite things to eat. But the vast majority of the time we feast on ribs at roadside rib shacks and barbecue joints rather than make them at home. If you've never grilled or smoked ribs on your own and don't know where to start, or even if you know a lot, listen up. We've run and competed in hundreds of rib contests, and there's always more to learn. In this basic primer we'll share our secrets to shopping for, prepping, and grilling or smoking ribs, plus provide recipes from our new book, America's Best Ribs. But, before we jump into the details, here are 10 dos and don'ts for mastering ribs.

See also: Healthy Comfort Food Recipes for Any Day

Ardie A. Davis and Paul Kirk's Rib Commandments

1. Fresh First, Frozen Second: There is no doubt that fresh meat is best, but frozen ribs can be delicious, too; if using frozen meat, always thaw before cooking.

2. Avoid

Photos by Ma'ayan Rosenzweig

by Kendra Vizcaino, Epicurious.com

Moms are busy 364 days a year taking care of everyone else, but come Mother's Day, Mom gets to sit back and be spoiled. Well, at least that's always the plan. This year, show your mom just how much you appreciate her by giving presents that can be enjoyed every day of the year. From frames decorated with pasta to edible candied flowers, these five food-inspired crafts are easy enough for children to make with some adult assistance. With just a few household and pantry items, along with some basic art supplies, you can create charming gifts that any mom, grandmother, or aunt is sure to love.

Related: The Best Mother's Day Brunch Ever

Kitchen Caddies



If it's hard to keep track of cooking utensils, help Mom keep them organized with a decorative kitchen- tool holder.

Equipment: Wooden utensil caddy available at crafts shops or home stores, sponges, scissors, water, tempera paint

Appropriate for: Children 2+ years old, with help from a grown-up

by Carolina Santos-Neves, Epicurious.comPhoto by Romulo Yanes/Gourmet


In cooking school this weekend, we spent the morning making stocks and the afternoon crafting an array of sauces. I love a good sauce. Whether it's salad dressing or, well, just sauce I love it...especially with veggies and rice. I find that it can make for the perfect meal. So this was an exciting day for me.

See also: How to Throw a Perfect Taco Party

Most of the sauces we make on Saturday called for mire poix (generally chopped or minced celery, onion, and carrot), stock, and whatever the flavor profile was like curry, or a red wine based sauce. And all of them called for roux, a.k.a. 4 tablespoons of butter (or 3 1/4 tablespoons of oil) to 7 tablespoons of flour.

In general roux is used as the thickening agent in the three mother sauces of classical French cooking. It was the first time I ever made roux. It's fairly simple, but there are three types: light or white, which adds little flavor; brown, which add a slight nutty flavor; and

by Carolina Santos-Neves, Epicurious.com

What's the best taco you've ever sunk your teeth into? Was it in Mexico? Los Angeles? San Diego? Your hometown? Or in your own kitchen? Or perhaps you are one of the many pilgrims still in search of your perfect taco.

See also: Healthy Comfort Food Recipes for Any Day

A truly euphoric taco experience is defined differently depending on whom you ask. Some people prefer corn tortillas over flour. Some prefer their tacos stuffed with pork; others, pulled chicken or fish. Some like their tacos to be sauce-free, and some enjoy a little guacamole and sour cream. We asked 10 food critics from 10 American cities to tell us how they found their favorite pick and what makes it so special. Read on to see if your top taco made the list.

Austin, Texas: Tacodeli

According to Rachel Feit of The Austin Chronicle, "tacos are like flavor bombs." For Feit, a memorable taco starts with great fillings, meaning slow-cooked meats stewed with plenty of chiles and