Blog Posts by Esquire.com

Hulton ArchiveBy Eric Gillin

Step 1: Spy on Her

Before you buy anything, gather information. Identify one of her close friends who can keep a secret and might already know what your fiancée wants. Examine a ring she already owns. Take pictures, if you don't know what kind it is. (You don't.) When she isn't looking (she isn't), steal the one she wears on a ring finger. But briefly, for sizing.


Step 2: Determine Your Budget

Take your monthly income, subtract your monthly cable and utility bills, multiply that by the inflation rate in your local area, then realize the economy isn't getting any better and neither are any of us. Look, just get her a large-enough piece of metal and diamond that doesn't make you go broke or look like a cheap bastard.

FOR THE BEDROOM: 10 Ways to Have Better Sex, According to Science

Step 3: Time Your Spending Well

Once said piece of metal and diamond gets in your possession, you're going to want to get rid of it like week-old sushi. How you propose is personal, Read More »from How to Buy Her a Wedding Ring

Chaloner WoodsBy Tom Chiarella

Step 1: The First Look

Don't stare. Think of it like a video game, where every second you stare at the woman you want - the junior geology major, the senior lawyer, the one with the hair - ticks off tiny slices of your power meter. Your eyes are your reserve.

Staring is always obvious. To someone. She knows, or she will be told. Then she'll be left considering you, before you've even said a word. This is good. Most men should be written off. But you? This is bad. So, take a look. But limit yourself.

If you haven't talked to her after ten stares, reconsider whether you have the stones for this. If you don't, then stare all you want, from the choir-box of the quaking and unresolute. There's always a seat for gapers and mouthbreathers.

If she catches you staring, hold the stare for a three count, and go back to your work. If she stares at you, consider writing her off. If she stares at your car as you drive by, consider writing her off. But you

Read More »from The Ultimate Guide to Courtship

By Elizabeth Gunnison

To Mario Batali's ever-expanding culinary empire - Iron Chef America, Eataly, The Chew - add one more project: cookbook numero dieci. Yes, the Orange One's tenth book hits shelves on Tuesday. Molto Batali: Simple Family Meals from My Home to Yours is divided into twelve chapters, each dealing with a different month of the year and incorporating seasonal ingredients and techniques. We went ahead and selected what is undoubtedly the most manly recipe of the whole book: October's Beef Short Ribs Braised in Chestnut Beer, reprinted below.

THE BEST NEW RESTAURANTS EVER: Did Your Favorite Make the List?

Braising, for the uninitiated, is the best cooking technique that you never really use. It combines liquid, low heat, and long cooking times to create fall-off-the-bone tender meat. When beer is involved, well, all the better.

"Braises are easy to do right and also have a great ability to sit and rest if guests' eating time needs to be flexible," says

Read More »from Mario Batali's New No-Fail Dinner for Fall

MORE FROM ESQUIRE:

Fall Cooking Ideas - The Easiest Recipes for Right Now

The Healthiest Beers on Earth

10 Ways To Heat Up Your Love Life

25 Dinner-Date Tips for a Perfect Date Night

The Best Men's Stores in America

Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.

Read More »from Esquire's Best New Restaurants of 2011

By Elizabeth Gunnison

As holidays go, Columbus Day leaves me at something of a loss for what to do. There are no fireworks, no parades, no costumes, candy, or obvious incitements to revelry. It's too cool to barbecue and too warm for ski trips. But while it lacks much in the way of usual celebratory tradition, it does in fact have what qualifies as a signature dish: a little-known Italian chicken soup called Mirao.

FALL COOKING IDEAS: The Easiest Recipes for Right Now

Mirao is thought to have been one of Christopher Columbus's favorite foods, according to Chef Cesare Casella, the Dean of Italian Studies at the International Culinary Center. Casella is currently recreating the dish at his New York restaurant and meat shop Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta, and he gave us his recipe. If you make it, we're pretty sure you'll be known as the most diehard Columbus Day devotee in your neighborhood, or ever.

It's also pretty unusual as chicken soups go, what with the cloves,

Read More »from The Columbus Day Soup Columbus Ate

By Chef Shane Solomon, Pizzeria Stella, Philadelphia

Philadelphia is a red-sauce town - what we call "gravy" - but I'm not a big fan of spaghetti and meatballs. I prefer to make a meatball that stands alone, maybe resting on a small base of polenta or some good grilled bread. Nothing that detracts from the meatball itself. This habit of mine is likely rooted in the various Italian regional ways of serving meatballs without pasta, sometimes as a second course, or even the Sicilian polpettine alla griglia (grilled meatballs with a touch of lemon) that make me think meatballs are related to the ground-meat kebabs of the Arabs and Greeks who dominated that island for centuries.

FALL COOKING IDEAS: The Easiest Recipes for Right Now

In any case, making a tender meatball relies on a few basic principles: First there's ratio, and about 20 percent of the meat mix should be fat. In my restaurant - and this is a huge benefit of being a pizzeria - I can grind the end nubs of

Read More »from The Meatball Recipe to Conquer All Others

Everybody loves ribs and seven-layer dip - really, they don't even need to be particularly good ribs or seven-layer dip. But you know what everybody does not love? Being fat.

We're aware this might not seem like the most helpful topic as we approach the start of the NFL season. Now is the time for heavy eating. But the fact is, the stereotypical (and delicious, really) diet of pork fat, chips, and beer is unlikely to leave you feeling either svelte or spry. In fact, it'll probably make you feel a little doughy.

So in the spirit of killing that post-summer gut, should such a conundrum arise, we've enlisted chefs Richard Blais and Art Smith - both of whom have their own recent experience dropping some major pounds - to offer guidance for keeping things healthy during every tailgate-worthy moment of joy henceforth. Without giving up the things we appreciate in our food. Like, you know, flavor. And, no, it doesn't involve any kale or rice cakes. We promise.

ULTIMATE

Read More »from 8 Ways to Eat Healthier for Football Season

Cook Corn

Instead of boiling corn on the cob, dot it with a little butter, salt, and black pepper. Place on a baking sheet and roast (350 degrees) until tender. Caramelize a little honey in a sauté pan and, when the corn comes out, brush with the honey.

-Alex Guarnaschelli, Butter, New York; host of Alex's Day Off (Cooking Channel)

ULTIMATE LABOR DAY MENU: The Easiest Grilling Ideas for Right Now

Bread Meat

After you've breaded a piece of meat for panfrying (dip in flour, dip in a water-and-egg-white mixture, dip in bread crumbs), spray the breaded meat with a little water from a spritz bottle. The moisture will prevent the crumbs from absorbing too much oil while still preserving that crispy crunch.

-David Burke, David Burke Kitchen, New York

Make a Sandwich

Less is more. Proportion is key, making sure each element balances the next. I like a fresh slaw tossed in a light vinegar for some crunch and some acidity. Throw in the protein of your

Read More »from How to Cook Everything a Little Better